The last handmade terrestrial globe factory is Bisontine

It is a unique know-how in France and it is practiced in Besançon. The Workshop Globe Jumperhas been manufacturing terrestrial globes since 2019 using techniques dating from the 16th century.

Displayed on wooden bases, lit by spotlights, they are not works of art, but almost in pastel colors. Each one is made by hand and the first step is molding, explains Alain: “We have an interior mold which will serve as a support to put our mixture of plaster and fibers and then we use it as a three-dimensional fight which we fix above our half spheres and as we move rotating what looks like a knife will remove the excess material.”

Alain first discovered this gesture in his garage, nine years ago, when he was a geography teacher and researcher. “I was preparing lessons for my students and I discovered that there are no longer any manufacturers in France and few in Europe, the weekend arrives and I challenge myself to make one by hand and leave from there it lights up a whole bunch of light.”

Nine out of ten personalized globes

Once the shape is given, the next step is the gluing of the card base, strip by strip, printed in black ink. You then have to paint it, that’s Cécile’s role in the workshop, for that she “use two brushes, one with the watercolor pigment and the other with water because this very thin paper wants to absorb the paint straight away and you have to avoid large traces”.

The globe under Cécile's fingers is a confidential project with a luxury watchmaker. A personalized gift, nine out of ten globes passed under his brushes are: “We have somewhat special requests, some poetic, hiding the names of loved ones in the oceans, trips around the world for frequent travelers… we did it for certain skippers of the Vendée Globe, we were able to achieve their journey on a globe.” explains Alain Sauteur. Work on a personalized thirty-centimeter globe, the classic size sold commercially, takes an average of two weeks. Its price? “A little less than 2000 euros”.

Orders come from all over the world, from individuals, companies but also museums: “We worked with the Royal Château d'Amboise, they wanted a globe to decorate the room of François I. It was an achievement that lasted eight months because we mapped with the castle teams to recreate a globe at the ancient.” Today the company manufactures on average 300 globes per year.