1791
 
Despite being orphaned at a very early age, Jean-François Bautte was a determined young man. He was apprenticed successively as a case-fitter, engine-turner, watchmaker and goldsmith, and at the same time completed his education. In 1791, at the age of 19, he put his name to his first watches.
This date marks the birth of GIRARD-PERREGAUX.
Jean-François Bautte was a talented watchmaker and became well-known for his ultra-thin models. He founded a manufactory in Geneva which, in a revolutionary move, housed all the watchmaking crafts of the period under one roof. There, he modestly welcomed the most distinguished visitors of his day, one of whom was the future Queen of England, Victoria.
A brilliant craftsman and a shrewd entrepreneur, he did business with all the courts of Europe, making him one of the most celebrated watchmakers of his time.