Bernhard Lederer has long been one of the quiet achievers of contemporary horology. Born in Germany, he trained as a watchmaker before moving to Switzerland in the early 1980s, where he founded BLU (Bernhard Lederer Universe) in Geneva. From the outset, his work combined technical invention with an eye for unconventional time displays, from orbiting satellite indications to jumping hours.

Bernhard Lederer

Lederer was also a founding member of the AHCI, underlining his place among the pioneers who gave independent watchmaking credibility and visibility in the 1980s and 1990s. His watches under the BLU name were produced in small numbers but stood out for their originality, often rethinking how time could be read rather than simply how it could be measured.

After a quieter period, he re-emerged in 2020 with the Central Impulse Chronometer, a project he had been refining for over a decade. Using a double-gear train and independent escapements linked by a central remontoir, it delivers exceptional stability while paying tribute to George Daniels’ work on the independent double-wheel escapement. The watch was widely praised for both its ingenuity and its restraint.

Rather than chasing recognition, Lederer has built a career on patient experimentation, returning to the fore only when he has something genuinely new to say.