Orphaned at a young age, Jean-François Bautte (1772-1837) had to grow up quickly. He embarked on an apprenticeship at a young age, amassing an incredible understanding of watchmaking as well as several associated trades such as case assembly, guilloché and goldsmithery. In 1791, just 19 years of age, Bautte signed his first watches in the cradle of Swiss watchmaking, Geneva. This event sowed the seeds for what would later become known as Girard-Perregaux, the esteemed Maison based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In the same year Bautte signed his inaugural watch, an English clergyman discovered titanium in Cornwall, England. William Gregor (1761-1817) was fascinated with minerals and spent time studying sand deposits in the Manaccan Valley. He was able to isolate calx, formed from heating a mineral. This process left behind an unknown metal. Gregor named the residual metal ‘manaccanite’, a material that later became. Known as ‘titanium’, a name inspired by the great titans of Greek mythology. The Manaccan Valley is approximately 1400 km from Geneva, yet both Bautte and Gregor were driven by the same innate need to discover, invent and learn.