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Modus HorlogerieModus Horlogerie

French watchmaking workshop.

Catalogue watches ship from our Lyon watchmaking workshop. A watch that gets stuck at any step doesn’t leave: it goes back on the workbench or is pulled from the batch.

Quality inspection station in the Modus Horlogerie workshop
Binocular magnifier and tools on the Modus workbench

Three instruments, no assembly line.

A binocular magnifier for the dial and indices, a pressure chamber for water resistance, a timegrapher for timekeeping. These three instruments decide whether a watch ships or not.

One at a time, not in batches.

Case, dial, hands and strap are fitted by hand, then every watch is regulated individually. That’s what limits our volumes: a series can stay out of stock for weeks rather than ship unregulated.

Fitting the case and strap by hand
Seiko NH35 automatic movement

Seiko calibres, repairable anywhere.

We buy our movements from Seiko: Seiko NH35, NH34 GMT, NH70 skeleton, VK63 meca-quartz. They aren’t in-house calibres, and that’s deliberate: any watchmaker knows how to open them and parts are available everywhere. An in-house movement would cost three times as much and couldn’t be repaired anywhere but here.

See our Seiko movements

None of this can be automated.

A Seiko automatic movement is regulated by hand, one position at a time. That’s what takes time, one watch after another.

Five steps.

A watch that gets stuck at any of them doesn’t leave. It goes back on the workbench, or it’s pulled from the batch.

01

Visual inspection

Checked under a binocular magnifier. Dial, hands, indices, sapphire crystal.

02

Water-resistance test

Pressure test, 5 ATM (50 m).

03

Movement

Timegrapher test in 5 positions. Regulated if needed.

04

Adjustment

Power reserve set within tolerances.

05

Caseback

Screw-down, gaskets and engraving checked.

Around the workbench

  • Receiving — References and batches checked on arrival.
  • Packing — Modus watch box, warranty card, certificate.
  • Shipping — Secure packaging, tracking number sent by email.

The watches that
leave this bench.

Six series, all through the same workbench.

Our automatic watches, on the wrist.

+1 000 customer reviews

Modus dive-style watch with black dial on a leather strap
Depth
Meridian Minuit GMT on the wrist, blue and black bezel
Meridian Minuit

Very high-quality watch, very fast delivery, very responsive customer service.

Khalid Khalid

May 2026

Translated from French

Modus dive-style watch with green bezel, worn at the wheel
Orbit Mécanique skeleton watch on the wrist, octagonal steel case
Orbit Mécanique

Very happy with my purchase from Modus. The watch is superb and works perfectly. It's very well made. It made quite an impression on my friends.

Bruno.

May 2026

Translated from French

Gold and black Modus dive-style watch held in the hand, leather strap
Modus watch with blue guilloché dial on the wrist

I'm very satisfied with my purchase, the value for money is unmatched.

Coudert Michael

May 2026

Translated from French

Two-tone gold and steel Modus watch on the wrist
Depth Automatic with black dial on the wrist, steel bracelet
Depth

Great quality product, delivered in 3 days… just perfect!

Cedric Lemanissier

April 2026

Translated from French

Meridian GMT with blue dial on the wrist on a station platform
Meridian
Axis Automatic with anthracite dial on a five-link bracelet
Axis

The products are high quality, and so are the accuracy of the delivery and the watch descriptions. A serious company you can trust completely.

Philippe Pothier

April 2026

Translated from French

Orbit chronograph with blue guilloché dial on the wrist
Orbit
Gold and black Interval chronograph worn with a driving glove
Interval

Very good value for money, fast and reliable shipping.

Cell

May 2026

Translated from French

Orbit Mécanique skeleton watch held in front of a rock face
Orbit Mécanique
Gold-tone Modus watch with copper dial on the wrist
Prism

Good quality watches, shipped quickly.

Luka S

May 2026

Translated from French

Interval chronograph with black dial and light sub-dials on the wrist
Interval
Orbit with blue tapisserie dial held in the hand, octagonal case
Orbit

Very fast and efficient after-sales service.

Arnaud Pennequin

April 2026

Translated from French

Gold and chocolate Interval chronograph on a rubber strap
Interval

Flawless and beautiful, nothing more to add!

Etienne Magerand

April 2026

Translated from French

Incredible product.

Matheo Haas

May 2026

Translated from French