Bréguet-Bréting
Jules Bréguet-Bréting was a watch case fitter active in Le Locle by 1880. The firm moved to Bienne in 1906 and was taken over by his sons Bernard and André before ceasing operations in 1945. Bernard Breguet went on to register the Breguet trademark, which was acquired by Bolsa in 1956 and Chaumet in 1971 before becoming a company in its own right in 1980. Over time the family dropped the acute mark over the "e" in "Bréguet" though they kept the mark in "Bréting".
Jules Bréguet-Bréting
Jules-Henri Bréguet-Bréting (about 1856-1908) of Neuchatel (son of Louis Bréguet) was active as a case fitter in Le Locle by 1880. The firm is listed in the 1883 review of businesses as being located at Rue des Envers 362. His family traced its roots to the Breguet who emigrated to France and included the famous watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, who died in Paris in 1823. Bernard Bréguet, son of Jules, would lead to the reintroduction of the Breguet name as a brand when he registered it for watchmaking in the 1950s.
In 1887 Bréguet-Bréting partnered with Jean Duras of Geneva, renaming the company Breguet-Breting & Cie. By now the company was located at Rue des Billodes 240d and was focused on production of gold watch cases. This partnership only lasted a few months, with Duras leaving and the company once again simply called Jules Breguet-Breting by March of 1888. Jules Bréguet-Bréting was soon made manager of the Houriet watch case factory in Tramelan.
In 1896 Jules Bréguet-Bréting was appointed to set up and lead a new watch case factory in Bienne. This was La Centrale, which produced cases for the growing Omega brand. After operating both the Le Locle and Bienne factories for a decade, Bréguet-Bréting decided to consolidate the companies in Bienne. On November 1, 1906, the Bréguet-Bréting company moved to Bözingenstrasse 50, with Jules Bréguet-Bréting joined by his sons Bernard and André. The new firm was called Bréguet-Bréting et Fils. The new workshop allowed Bréguet-Bréting to produce complete watch cases in steel as well.
In 1904 Jules Breguet-Breting received Swiss patent CH30756 for a "Mécanisme de remontage et de mise à l'heure par la tige de couronne." This patent was transferred to the Tavannes Watch company in October 1905.
Jules Bréguet-Bréting died on May 11, 1908 at just 52 years of ave, leaving his sons to continue his work.
Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting
The sons Bernard and André Bréguet-Bréting took over the firm fro their father in November 1908. The company was renamed Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting and was a limited partnership between the two brothers. The firm continued to focus on high-end steel watch cases with gold plating and listed patents CH23033, CH27830, and CH30756 as assets. It was located at Route de Boujean 50 and even had a telephone extension.
In 1925 Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting registered The Breguet Watch Case brand. They registered the names Bregor and Bernor in 1929 and 1930 along with a lion logo the following year. All of these trademarks were specifically for watch cases rather than finished watches.
In December 1942 Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting created a worker pension and compensation fund. It was named Fonds de Prévoyance de la Maison Bréguet, showing that the firm had embraced the Bréguet name by this point. It was headed by Bernard Bréguet as president and his brother André Bréguet as vice president and was located at Feldeckstrasse 6 along with the parent company.
The company produced an ultra-thin waterproof case in the 1940s.
Bernard Bréguet moved to Nidau in 1944. He started a new company there producing pasta and bread, serving as the president with his father serving as secretary. André Bréguet formed a new firm, A. Bréguet, and took over the trademarks of the former partnership. Bernard Bréguet started an art import and export business under his own name in 1947 though it was almost immediately closed.
Bernard Breguet
Bernard Breguet (1882-1968), son of Jules Bréguet-Bréting, was born in Le Locle on April 7, 1882. Although his education started in Le Locle, he moved with his family to Bienne in 1896 as his father took over production of cases at La Centrale. After finishing his classes in Bienne, Bernard Bréguet did an apprenticeship and in 1901 obtained his diploma at the Federal Polytechnic School.
In 1903, Bernard Bréguet became head finisher at the new Undervelier watch case factory, part of the Tavannes Watch company. From 1904 to 1906 he worked as an assayer at the La Chaux-de-Fonds inspection office.
At the same time Jules Bréguet-Bréting was working to continue his namesake watch case factory. It was moved to Bienne in 1906 with Bernard and his brother André taking primary responsibility. The factory was expanded over time, with the Bréguet brothers establishing a market apart from their father's work for Omega. The Breguet brothers managed the firm together until 1945.
Bernard Bréguet was active in politics, serving in the French-speaking National Party for two decades and participating in the city council. He was also a judge at the industrial tribunal and sat on the Grand Council from 1922 to 1926. He was also a member of numerous industrial committees. In 1911, he was appointed president of the Groupement des Fabricants de Boites Métal et Acier. This gave him a position in the Chambre Suisse de l'Horlogerie and the Comité Central de l'Union Patronale Suisse for 23 years. He was also a board member for the Information Horlogère and one of the founding members of UBAH.
Bernard Breguet (who dropped the accent over the e later in life) moved to Neuchâtel in retirement and became active in social activities there. He frequently wrote long letters which became columns in the local newspapers and was interviewed about his long life and adventurous spirit. He died on July 25, 1968.
Montres Breguet
In 1950 Bernard Bréguet registered the trademark "B. Breguet" for use on watches. He joined the board of the Bolsa watch company in 1956, transferring the B. Breguet trademark to the company.
Bolsa had been formed in Neuchâtel by Paul Böhlen of Riggisberg in 1942. It became a Société Anonyme called Bolor in 1945 and switched its name to Bolsa in 1946. It was officially called Bolsa Watch et Montres Breguet in 1956. Bolsa registered the now-familiar script logo used by Breguet in July 1957, specifically adding the Montres Breguet name to their firm.
Breguet branded wristwatches were advertised in 1956 and 1957, with the producer named as "Montres Breguet Neuchatel" and using the script Breguet name on the dial. Two models are shown, called "Perles d'Or" ("gold pearl") for the 12 golden balls used to mark the hours around the dial. They were modern dress watches with crosshair or radial inner dials in Calatrava or straight lug cases. The advertisements also featured the image of A.-L. Breguet as "Le plus illustre horloger" and the Neuchâtel Observatory as "centre scientifique de l'horlogerie."
Bernard Bréguet was removed from the board in 1962 and deleted the trademark. They transferred the B. Breguet brand back to Bernard Bréguet in 1962. Bolsa was liqiudated in 1971.
A. Bréguet
After Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting was dissolved in June 1945, André Bréguet continued the case-making operation in Bienne under the name A. Bréguet. He re-incorporated as A. Bréguet SA on April 26, 1946, raising 140,000 francs. He operated the company along with Alfred Seinet, who was soon replaced by Ernst Weber as managing director. A. Bréguet continued to use the JBB trademark established by his father for watch cases.
Following André Bréguet's death in 1955 Dr. Erie Zander became chairman. The company continued for decades, being renamed Bréguet, Enseignes SA in 1994.
Patents
- CH23033, November 29, 1901 - Boîte de montre. (Jules Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne)
- CH27830, February 23, 1903 - Dispositif d'ajustement d'un mouvement de montre dans sa boîte. (Jules Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne)
- CH30756, October 8, 1904 - Mécanisme de remontage et de mise à l'heure par la tige de couronne. (Jules Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne) - licensed to Tavannes Watch
- CH40795, July 12, 1907 - Boîte de montre, genre calotte. (Jules Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne)
- CH48732, September 6, 1909 - Boîte de montre. (Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne)
- CH72292, November 28, 1915 - Boîte de montre. (Les Fils de J. Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne)