PACCARD FOUNDRY
This foundry is one of the jewels in the crown of the French monumental bell industry, the pride of the Hauts-Savoyards.
The saga of the Paccard foundry began in 1796 at Quintal, after the Revolution. The church church no longer has a bell and the parish demands a priest in the diocese. It is therefore under the obligation to melt a new bell. Using a master-founder from Carouge, Jean-Baptiste Pitton, he needs an apprentice. Antoine Paccard, the trustee in Quintal, proposes. After that, it created the Quintal smelter where it flows its second bell in 1817. The smelter is expanding and in 1854 his sons install her in Annecy-le Vieux. With Georges Paccard, it acquired at the end of the xix a world reputation, thanks to the "Savoyard" of the Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre in Paris casting in 1891. His descendants take over and further develop the know-how and the unique style of the foundry. The Jeanne-d'Arc (1914, the cathedral of Rouen), the 50 replicas of the Liberty Bell (1950, USA), the Peace Bell of 33 tons (2000, USA), the largest bell of the world comprised of three bells (1986, Ontario, Canada), all are flowing to Annecy-le-Vieux. Not forgetting the famous chimes, whose largest in Europe will be sunk in Sévrier where the smelter settled in 1990. Paccard Foundry is today one of the jewels of the French industry of the monumental bell and pride of the Hauts-Savoy. Brand Name of the Living Heritage Company, it has been able to transmit unique manufacturing processes for seven generations and evolve between respect for technological traditions and innovations. From 2015 began the casting of 64 bells, including 3 bumble to form the new carillon of the cathedral Notre-Dame de Rouen.