Emil Frey

Emil Frey (also called Emile) was the founder and namesake of Frey & Co, a maker focused on women's watches in Madretsch near Bienne in the early 20th century.

Monnier & Frey, Fabrique Sigma, and Péry Dreyfus

Frey was said to be born in 1878, though his age at death suggests it was closer to 1880. His father, Rudolf Frey, was said to be from Weißlingen in Canton Zürich but formed a partnership with Jules Adolf Monnier of Tramelan in 1890 to produce watches there. Called Monnier & Frey, it was the predecessor in some ways to Emil Frey's firm. On October 7, 1899, the young Emil Frey joined his father as Monnier left the business, which was henceforth called R. Frey & Fils.

Following the death of Rudolf Frey, Emil (called "Emile" at this point) took over the company alone in July 1902. He named the company, which remained located at Centralstrasse 6 in Bienne, Fabrique Sigma Emile Frey. A strike was called between May 6 and 14, 1904, with work resuming on May 16.

Emil Frey moved his namesake Fabrique Sigma to Pianostrasse in the nearby Madretsch in February 1904, and this would remain his home for decades. Frey merged his Fabrique Sigma into Dreyfus et Cie., a branch of the Péry watch company, in 1905. Joining Frey in management of the branch were Léopold Dreyfus, Achille Dreyfus, and Naphtaly Grumbach.

Frey & Co

Frey remained at Dreyfus & Cie. for a few years before retiring in October 1912 to start his own watchmaking firm. He partnered with Gottlieb Ruh of Buch near Schaffhause with his father in law Giacomo Trümpy as minority partner. Trümpy died the following year.

The firm was called Frey & Co but almost immediately registered the brand name Freco, which would become well known through the 20th century. The company was based in a building at Alpenstrasse 30, just one block over from the Dreyfus/Sigma factory in the Madretsch neighborhood.

Frey & Co became a public company in March 1920, and Frey took over for Ruh when he retired in 1923, also acquiring his Roo Watch company.

One major advance for Frey was the registration of an early automatic wristwatch. Emil Frey registered a self-winding watch movement on November 1 1930 (with American registration following on December 20). It used a pendulum to wind the watch as the wearer moved his wrist and was marketed using the brand name Perpetual, later associated with Rolex located across town.

Legacy

Emil Frey died of a sudden hemorrhage on August 9, 1936 in Bienne at the age of 56.

Frey & Co. hired the young Henri Gustave Thiébaud in 1936, and he caught the eye of Frey's daughter Margrit. The two were reunited 50 years later following the deaths of their spouses, and they were married, giving Frey a son in law. Thiébaud had remained connected to his first employer, becoming a board member in 1947 while also serving as general manager and director of the Gruen factory on the hill above Bienne. Thiébaud would become chairman of the board for Frey & Co. in the 1960s.