CW |INNOVATION
Nothing unites young and old so effectively as a shared passion. For some it is sport, for others it might be music,
art, classic cars, travel or history. But the common denominator which enabled 28-year-old Johannes Jahnke and
87-year-old Jean Fillon to form an almost instant bond is their mutual fascination for horology - or, more specifically, for solving the problems it so often produces. By Simon de Burton.
timepiece
A singular J
stop watches designed for sport and aviation, which were sold under a variety of high quality dial names in Switzerland, Germany and Japan. James Aubert SA, as the company continues to be known, also developed complicated mechanisms for niche markets as well as more widely used products. Today, more than 63 years after his arrival, Fillon still wields his watchmaker's tools with the deft hand of a far younger man while his mind is as quick as ever to find solutions to those tricky horological conundrums which leave the less experienced entirely stumped. Johannes Jahnke, meanwhile, has already packed a remarkable number of achievements into his 28 years. Born in the former East Germany, he grew-up watching (and helping) his father repair everything from old watches to the family motorbike, a 1951 BMW, which had to be kept running as a matter of necessity. After completing his military service, Jahnke studied in the famous watch-making town of Glashütte before becoming apprentice to Marco Lang, a fifth-generation watchmaker who was one of the founders of Dresden-based Lang & Heyne.
One of Lang's dreams was to establish an entirely
electricity-free workshop in which components are made using manually-powered lathes - a return to the truly 'hand- made' watch. It was an idea that Jahnke could relate to ➸
8 Orderline 0844 875 1515
ean Fillon was just 24 years of age when he arrived at James Aubert, the Swiss movement manufacturer that had been established in the early 20th century to specialise in supplying chronograph mechanisms for the leading watch brands of the day.
Following founder James Aubert's death at the young age of 59, Fillon was recruited as a director of the company and expanded the business to include the production of
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