Wednesday 29 March 2017

PIERRE BEAUND: FOR EVERYTHING ELSE... PEDRO BOND

Pedro Bond with his cuckoo clock.
Pedro Bond. Watchmaker. France.

I'm Pierre Beaund, aka Pedro Bond. I was born in Strasbourg, Alsace. Time is my passion, perhaps, because of this I'm a watchmaker, a person who makes and repairs watches and clocks. I also sell Cartier watches. Tempus fugit, then I'm always on time. Although I'm French my culture is German because Alsace is a historical German land. I like History.


-Good morning, Pedro Bond, and thanks to attend us.

-Good morning. Thanks to you.

-Well, as I have seen you're a punctual person.

-Always. It's my character and I think being punctual is a signal of respect and education.

-When did your hobby about watches start?

-Mmmm. It's not a hobby. It's my work and I live it with passion. I'm Alsatian. In the past, we were closer to Switzerland and Germany than to France and although today the maps say we're French, we really have a German/Swiss mentality because culture is something that marks you a lot. My family came from Switzerland and time is something very important in this country. Swiss watches are the best.

-How's life living in a border?

-It's very interesting because you receive influences of both sides. In my case three sides: France, Germany and Switzerland.

-Then, you've a little part of all of them...

-Not exactly. I'm Alsatian. France is a big state with a lot of nationalities and we're one of them. Living in diversity is growing in knowledge.

-You were born in Strasbourg where the European Parliament is. You must enjoy diversity every day.

-Strasbourg is plenty of civil servants. It's an administrative place. Now, all the German countries (Alsace, Germany, Austria, Lorena, Liechtenstein...) have a good quality of life but it was very different only one century ago when a lot of German people emigrated to The USA. Take the story of Levi Strauss like an example. Levi created the jeans in The USA in 1850 with European materials. He must leave Germany to find a better future. Nowadays, lots of people are arriving to the German lands with the idea of finding a better future, in some cases only a possible future.

-How is the life of a watchmaker?

-A normal life. I must be very tidy and organized because is very difficult to make a good watch.

-Which is your favourite kind of clocks?

-I love all of them but I like cuckoo clocks. They have an interesting mechanism because it is not only a clock.

-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?

-It has been a pleasure. It's a fantastic family and we've spent unforgettable moments together.

-How is a normal day with The Bonds?

-The day starts with me. I'm the first person to wake up, get up and start to work. Later, step by step, the rest of the family starts to be ready.

-How long have you been studying English?

-Since I was in the school although studying English in the French educational system is not a synonymous of success.

-Why?

-I don't know but I think it's this Jacobean French mentality. French is a very important language of course. It was the diplomatic language during centuries but now is English the language of diplomacy, business and economy and I think that this is something that Educational French system doesn't realize. There are a lot of historical languages in France: Occitan, Breton, Alsatian, Lorrain, Basque, Catalan, Romani and French, of course. Moreover there's an incredible presence of Arabian because of the African colonization. It could be easy to a French speaker learning another language because the most part of the population, except the Parisian, speak at least two languages but the idea of parlez français–soyez propres is still deeply in the mind of the French speakers. It's a pity because this attitude only creates social conflicts and nowadays we have a lot of examples of it.

-Is English difficult for you?

-No, it isn't. English has its roots in German. I speak Alsatian which is a German language, too.

-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?

-We're a great family with a great sense of humour, very hard workers and with a great idea of responsibility. It's easy to stay with them. 

-Which is your best memory with the family?

-It's difficult to choose one but I remember with special emotion when I was chosen as the Queen of Carnival. It was a great honour.

-You like History, don't you?

-Yes, I do. I like a lot.

-Explain me a story from de History...

-Well, I'm very interested in the Catharism, the community which lived in Occitania and influenced all the European cultures in a way that nobody can imagine. We're all Cathars although we don't believe in it. Talking about the Catharism means seeing the History from another point of view and destroying lots of official stories. History is written by winners and Cathars were killed and prosecuted. They couldn't offer their vision of historical facts and they chose literature and art to keep alive. It's amazing.

-Offer me an example of official story...

-There are two ways of changing History. One of them is creating another one that was useful for your own interests, for example Christopher Columbus. The official story says that he discovered America when a sailor saw a bird in the island named San Salvador in 1492. Then, he confirmed his belief that Earth was round. America already existed and some communities lived there, then Columbus didn't discover anything. This is an example of History written from the point of view of a European citizen. For other hand, you have the possibility of taking real stories and change them to legends, for example, blood legends like Jack The Ripper, Vlap Tepes, Enriqueta Martí and Elizabeth Báthory serial killers who were, possibly, haemophiliacs. 

-Tell me a historical slogan...

-Tempus fugit. The expression comes from line 284 of book 3 of Virgil's Georgics, where it appears as fugit irreparable tempus: it escapes, irretrievable time.

-Thank you very much, Pedro Bond.

-You're welcome.



Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...

We're leaving together,
but still it's farewell.
[...]
Will things ever be the same again?
[...]
It's the final countdown.
Europe

No comments:

Post a Comment