Warning: this site is not affiliated with any employer, and is solely made as an independent researcher. It contains constructive criticism and does not try in any way to be disparaging. To restore the truth is not to disparage, it is the duty of the researcher.
For general information on the Chronospédia project and its dangers for horological heritage, read this page.
Since 2022, or even earlier, Mr. Simon-Fustier has been presenting his project Chronospédia as an encyclopedia containing open source, or open access 3D models, without ever clearly specifying what he means by this. This leitmotif undoubtedly appeals to many people, particularly because it is in keeping with the times. But what is it really?
The term open source is fairly well defined. In general,
it applies to software whose source code is available. Almost all commercial software is not open source. To take an example from the world of CAD, the software SolidWorks
is not open source. The user, even if he/she has paid for a license, does not have access to the software's source code.
The notion of open source is often synonymous with free, because many open source software programs are designed and maintained by volunteer communities, who do not exploit the software commercially.
Source code is also used in the case of certain data that is transformed. For example, in the scientific community,
many researchers use the formatter
LaTeX, where there is a textual source code that is usually converted into a PDF. If you use
Microsoft Word, you can also convert a docx file
to a PDF and view the docx as a source file.
In the case of 3D model files, the source code is ultimately
the code directly used by the CAD software. For SolidWorks,
these are usually SLDPRT files.
This term is much less commonly used, but its meaning is still fairly clear. It refers to data that is freely accessible, as opposed to data that is only accessible in a restricted way or by subscription. The idea behind open access is that everyone can access a resource for free.
In the case of 3D models, this concept can mean that these models are accessible to everyone, without authentication, without a specific subscription, and without having to pay anything.
The Chronospédia narrative, from both Mr. Simon-Fustier and Mr. Protassov, is structured around numerous false premises, presented to audiences who are generally not experts in the conservation of horological heritage, not researchers, and not 3D experts. Furthermore, the narrative is seemingly endorsed by various researchers or curators, most of whom have no experience in heritage inventory or 3D, and who are unaware of the urgent needs to conserve horological heritage or the needs of researchers in this field. It is therefore possible to say anything and everything, obtain titles, and even pretend that the titles are not what they are. Anything goes, especially with libraries and museums!
The entire speech is based on lies and approximations. Thus, Mr. Simon-Fustier's motivation seems to be to want to save the horological industry. He says that
Unfortunately for Mr. Simon-Fustier, what he says is false, and for several reasons. Mr. Simon-Fustier was speaking in the context of towerclocks, which I know well (I have examined a thousand of them and published several articles on the subject), and anyone who works on tower clocks knows that they are very simple mechanisms, and that the main difficulty is cleaning them. The know-how of disassembly is not lost, because it is not specific to horology. And the know-how of setting and reassembling such a clock is not lost either, because it is based on intelligence. The day people no longer know how to disassemble a tower clock will be the day there will be no more machines. And the day people no longer know how to set a clock will be the day there will be no more intelligence. All this may happen one day, but we are not there yet. A few 3D models aren't going to teach you how to use tools, clean surfaces, or set clocks. And what is worse, some Chronospédia videos may contribue to suppress reflection by providing ready-made recipes.
But what Mr. Simon-Fustier says is also false because the professionals themselves, namely clock restorers or companies taking car of tower clocks, today hardly have the know-how to properly restore and document a tower clock, at least in France. Mr. Simon-Fustier himself provided only very superficial documentation for the clock he restored in Cluses, and I don't believe he's well-placed to give lessons to others, regardless of the titles he holds (and that of maître d'art does not certify any higher knowledge of horology, it should be remembered).
The truth is, therefore, that the skills are present and not lost, but that it's often not the horologists who possess these skills. In 15 years, we'll still know how to restore clocks and pendulums, even without Chronospédia.
Now, when Mr. Simon-Fustier says (October 6, 2022) that I think there are plenty of horologists who are much better than me. I had the title [of master of art] and that allows me to advance, he is certainly saying something true, namely that many horologists are better than him, but also something false, namely that this title allows Chronospédia to advance, because this advancement comes at the expense of horological heritage.
Regarding the access to sources, during Mr. Simon-Fustier's interview on Futura in February 2025, he stated:
What Mr. Simon-Fustier doesn't say is that, firstly, the 3D models from his workshop are not available and never have been, and secondly, that only certain partners have access to SolidWorks source files. The notion of freedom that Mr. Simon-Fustier evokes is therefore relative.
But the notion of open models, open source, had already been discussed several years earlier. For example, on October 6, 2022, Mr. Simon-Fustier spoke at the second ARC Horloger forum in Porrentruy. Among other things, he stated:
It's interesting to hear Mr. Simon-Fustier say that [he]'d been pirating their software [SolidWorks] for years, it must be said, because [he] didn't have 8,000 euros to put into the license to use their product. (October 6, 2022) He was already bragging about it when he attended a conference in 2021 and, when I reported it to him, he thought it would be a good idea to forward my report to his lawyer.
It is now quite clear that the authors of Chronospédia do not intend to make their 3D models freely accessible to everyone. Not a single source model has been posted online since Mr. Simon-Fustier published the models of his apprentice S. Lucchetti around 2015, and despite numerous encouragements and numerous reports from me, the situation has not changed.
Furthermore, the authors of Chronospédia also do not seem willing to post the 3D models online in an exchange format like STEP. At most, they plan to store the models in this format in the National 3D Data Conservatory. To date, however, no data has been deposited by Chronospédia. Furthermore, it is not at all certain that everyone will have free access to these STEP models.
It is obviously understandable that the SolidWorks sources are not distributed, as the agreement with Dassault Systèmes does not allow it. Nevertheless, Mr. Simon-Fustier continues to talk about open source, which is therefore a lie.
The authors of Chronospédia have merely posted degraded glTF models that can be used in viewers, but which are of almost no use for research.
The idea behind Chronospédia is to make the models accessible to partners willing to work with Chronospédia (October 6, 2022). This is therefore no open access at all, and this kind of agreement is reminiscent of those between Microsoft and computer manufacturers who pre-install the Windows operating system. There are two different treatments: that of Chronospédia supporters, and the others. Chronospédia's models are therefore neither open source nor open access. It is clear that Chronospédia is using this as a means of expanding its control, without abandoning its models, contrary to what Mr. Simon-Fustier claims.
Chronospédia's authors are also seeking to add various documentary resources, not for their own horological benefit, but to attract cooperation and thus further increase Chronospédia's control over horological heritage.
As I've said elsewhere, this development does not address the urgent needs of horological heritage, and Chronospédia actually does nothing to address the needs of inventorying, nothing to facilitate the work of researchers, or to save horological know-how, which is more than just a compilation of 3D models and archival works. For example, Chronospédia does not respect freedom of research and, in some cases, hinders research on horological heritage. The focus on 3D, Chronospédia's misleading discourse, and the illusion of openness are unfortunately messages that museums, libraries, and horology associations all buy into.
Denis Roegel, June 10, 2025. https://roegel.wixsite.com