From the Haut-Doubs to Provence, Herbelin keeps forging ahead. After two openings in Paris, the French watchmaker is inaugurating its third boutique, this time in Aix-en-Provence. It marks another step forward for a brand that has shown a particularly heartening vitality since its “four musketeers” took the helm. It is also a fine way to prepare for its 80th anniversary, which is fast approaching!
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From the Jura to Provence, a French elegance
Herbelin has chosen to settle at 15, place François Villon, in the heart of the Allées Provençales in Aix-en-Provence. This is its first location outside Paris, following the openings on rue Bonaparte in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 2022 and on rue Royale in 2025. The choice of location is no coincidence. A city of art and history, Aix-en-Provence cultivates a certain art of living, built on understated elegance, refinement and authenticity. These values sit rather well with the identity of the watchmaker from the Franche-Comté region.
Spanning 100 m², this new address gives pride of place to light and fine materials. Twelve display windows on the facade invite passers-by to discover the brand’s creations, while the interior combines brass, walnut and the deep blue that is the signature of its visual identity. The layout favors conviviality and closeness, with various areas for display and advice. Visitors will naturally find the brand’s iconic collections, including Newport, Cap Camarat and Antarès, as well as the new models that punctuate Herbelin’s watchmaking calendar.
More than a mere retail space, this boutique has been conceived as a genuine meeting place between the brand and lovers of fine watchmaking. It is a way of extending the brand experience beyond the traditional display cases of multi-brand retailers.
A fine momentum since the arrival of the “four musketeers”
At Passion Horlogère, we have been following with particular interest the evolution of this house, founded in 1947 by Michel Herbelin in Charquemont, in the Doubs. It is a family business that has come through the decades while preserving its independence and identity, reinventing itself whenever circumstances demanded it.
Since 2020, a new generation has been breathing remarkable energy into the company. Maxime and Mathieu Herbelin, the founder’s grandsons, together with Cédric Gomez-Montiel and Benjamin Theurillat, form what we affectionately dubbed the “four musketeers” in an earlier article. Four complementary personalities, united by a shared ambition: to grow Herbelin without letting it lose its soul.
A new identity, revisited collections, a firm assertion of French expertise, international development and now a growing number of its own boutiques: the initiatives keep coming. But this transformation goes beyond a change of image. It reflects a genuine development strategy, one that seeks to combine watchmaking tradition, desirability and closeness to customers.
Our visit to the Charquemont workshops in May 2025 showed us just how much this ambition rests on a solid industrial and human reality. Herbelin watches are still designed in France, fitted with Swiss movements, then assembled, regulated and inspected in the Haut-Doubs. Each timepiece undergoes 65 quality checks before leaving the workshops. This commitment to quality takes on its full meaning at a time when provenance and the reality of craftsmanship are genuine concerns for watch enthusiasts.
A new milestone ahead of the brand’s 80th anniversary
With Aix-en-Provence, Herbelin reaches a new stage in its distribution strategy. The brand, which reports an annual production of 85,000 watches and a presence in 54 countries through 1,860 points of sale, is showing that it intends to raise its profile while favoring a more direct relationship with its customers.
This third boutique also illustrates the renewed confidence of a brand that has no wish to disown its origins in order to win over a new generation of enthusiasts. Quite the opposite: it is precisely by drawing on its history, its independence and its expertise that Herbelin appears to be building its future.
As it approaches its 80th anniversary in 2027, the Charquemont company is demonstrating that a French family-owned watchmaker can perfectly well combine loyalty to its roots with new ambitions. From the Jura to Provence, the road already traveled is remarkable. And something tells us the “four musketeers” are not done surprising us yet!
HERBELIN Boutique Aix-en-Provence, 15, place François Villon, 13100 Aix-en-Provence. Open Monday to Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Telephone: 04 42 24 26 51. Website: www.herbelin.com.
Frequently asked questions
It is located at 15, place François Villon, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, in the heart of the Allées Provençales.
The boutique is open Monday to Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It can be reached by phone on 04 42 24 26 51.
Aix-en-Provence is the brand’s third boutique and its first location outside Paris, following rue Bonaparte in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 2022 and rue Royale in 2025.
The boutique presents the brand’s iconic collections, including Newport, Cap Camarat and Antarès, as well as its new models.
This nickname, coined by Passion Horlogère, refers to Maxime and Mathieu Herbelin, the founder’s grandsons, along with Cédric Gomez-Montiel and Benjamin Theurillat, who have led the company’s new generation since 2020.
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