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From Atelier to Factory: Usine Centrale, Saint-Imier

March 5, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Initially just a small villa, Usine Centrale would become a large and important employer in Saint-Imier, producing Moeri & Jeanneret’s revolutionary inexpensive anti-magnetic movement. It later housed electronic timing specialist Fabrique Chasseral, balance maker Romano Sieber, and produced millions of watch cases under Roger Parel and Jacques Beiner.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albert Jeanneret, Fabrique de Balanciers Réunies, Fritz Moeri, Holy Frères, Jacques Beiner, Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret, Moeri & Jeanneret, Moeri's Factory, Moeris, Nivarox-FAR, Reinhard Straumann, Roger Parel, Romano Sieber, Saint-Imier, Usine Centrale, Usine du Parc

Excelsior Park: Usine du Parc, Saint-Imier

October 7, 2021 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Industrialization of watchmaking came to Switzerland in the late 19th century and is embodied by the huge Longines factory on the Suze river in Saint-Imier. But steam power came first, enabling the construction of factories across Europe and the United States, including Usine du Parc, home and namesake of Excelsior Park. This is the story of the rise and fall of steam power in Saint-Imier and the exceptional stopwatches made there. It is also the story of the end of steam and of the Excelsior Park factory, and the reasons for its failure.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albert Jeanneret, Chronograph, Excelsior Park, Fritz Moeri, Gallet, Henri Jeanneret-Brehm, Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret, Moeris, Saint-Imier, Stopwatch

The Great Watchmaking Factories of Saint-Imier

August 28, 2021 By Stephen 1 Comment

This is the story of a simple postcard that compelled me along a deep and complicated path of research and discovery! Titled Les Grandes Fabriques d’Horlogerie de St Imier, the historic 1900 postcard shows “the five great watchmaking factories” of this small town. Over the past year, I’ve been learning more about these companies, in which the Jeanneret family was intimately involved, including Excelsior Park, Francillon’s Longines, Fritz Moeri’s Moeris, Droz & Cie and Ernest Degoumois’s Montres Berna, Ferdinand Bourquin’s Leonidas, and more. This is the first in a series of posts on the great factories found in these engravings!

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albert Jeanneret, Berna, CEFF, Droz & Cie, Excelsior Park, Fluckiger, Fritz Moeri, Jacques David, Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret, Leonidas, Longines, Moeris, Nivarox, Patrick Linder, Robert Gygax, Saint-Imier, Schweingruber, Walter Mittelholzer

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