World of Cuckoo, a passion for cuckoo clocks since 1995

The story of World of Cuckoo, known in France as Maison du Coucou, begins long before the Internet. It begins with a passionate clockmaker: Christian Laplanche. A clockmaker in Paris since 1979, Christian later moved to Rouen and, in 1995, opened a shop unlike any other on rue Auguste-Houzeau. His speciality? Genuine Black Forest cuckoo clocks. At the time, Maison du Coucou was the only shop in France entirely dedicated to these very special clocks.

The shop was charming and, above all, quite incredible to discover: more than a hundred cuckoo clocks hung on the walls. Traditional cuckoo clocks, chalets, animated figures… and, behind the shop, Christian’s clockmaking workshop. People came to buy a cuckoo clock, but also to have one repaired, to ask a question or simply to chat with a true enthusiast.

Cuckoo clocks from Rouen… to the whole world

In Normandy, it must be said, demand for Black Forest cuckoo clocks remains rather limited. But Christian had an idea that, at the time, was far from obvious: selling his cuckoo clocks online. In 2004, the Maison du Coucou website was born.

Then, in 2011, Christian entrusted a new version of his website to a very small web agency located right next to his premises. That little agency was ours. And Maison du Coucou was our first real e-commerce website.

Christian was probably also our favourite client. Every new order was a small event. He was even more delighted when the delivery address was far away or prestigious: China, Monaco, the Emirates… He would come to tell us about his new orders, to thank us and, very often, to bring us boxes of chocolates.

Thanks to the Internet, the little Rouen shop specialising in Black Forest cuckoo clocks was now shipping its clocks throughout France and all over the world.

November 2021

Christian Laplanche died suddenly in November 2021. No one in his family wished to take over the business. His brother, who had become his heir, asked us to close down the website and to help him find a buyer for the Maison du Coucou stock.

We contacted several European players in the market, without success. So, rather than see this stock and this story we had known for so many years disappear for good, we decided to buy Christian’s cuckoo clocks. Our idea was simple: one day, we would relaunch Maison du Coucou.

A story that could have ended there

The project eventually took several years to come to fruition. It was postponed, set aside, and even almost abandoned when a new player appeared on the market under a name very close to Maison du Coucou.

But the cuckoo clocks were still there, carefully stored in Rouen, and we still had this story in mind. So, more than twenty years after the first Maison du Coucou website was created, we decided to bring it back to life.

The tools have changed. The Internet has changed. And artificial intelligence has allowed us to build and launch a new Maison du Coucou, known internationally as World of Cuckoo, much faster than we ever imagined. But the story remains the same.

World of Cuckoo today

Today, every cuckoo clock shown on our website is genuinely in stock in Rouen. Your orders are prepared by Amélie, Jennifer and Olivier, then carefully packed and shipped within France by Colissimo and worldwide by UPS.

We also have a few spare parts for cuckoo clocks. Not all of them are shown on the website: if you are looking for a particular part, please contact us.

Finally, one thing is still missing from the new World of Cuckoo: a clockmaking workshop to maintain and repair old cuckoo clocks and antique clocks. We do not offer this service yet, but it is a project very close to our hearts. So, if you are a clockmaker, a cuckoo clock enthusiast or already run a workshop specialising in the repair of antique clocks, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Because, in the end, Maison du Coucou has always been a story of enthusiasts, and we would love for it to continue for a long time to come.