Emmanuel-Aimé Tièche

Dr. Emmanuel-Aimé Tièche (1810-1867) was a medical doctor and industrialist responsible for the growth of industry in Reconvilier in the Vallée de Tavannes. He founded the company that would become the Reconvilier Watch Company as well as the first brass foundry in Switzerland, Bueche, Boillat et Cie.

Emmanuel-Aimé Tièche was born on July 14, 1810 in Reconvilier (then commonly called "Reconviller"). He was the son of Abraham Tièche (1766-1840) and Lydie née Farron (1771-1841) and was the younger brother of pastor Abraham-Emmanuel Tièche. Emmanuel-Aimé married Julie-Marguerite Hiltbrunner in 1837 in Chaindon.

Tièche pursued medical studies at the University of Bern and took internships in Zürich and abroad. He then returned to his native village to practice as the first licensed doctor in the Vallée de Tavannes. He opened a home for the mentally ill in Reconvilier in 1843, and this became a medical specialty for him.

Very committed to the social and economic development of his village, Tièche's many accomplishments are still visible. He set up a cheese factory in his own outbuildings early in life, and looked for other areas of employment. Seeing the possibilities of watchmaking, he petitioned the cantonal council to allow a lock to be built on the river Birse. Approved in 1850, this would enable the construction of hydro-powered mills, a rarity in the region.

In 1853 Tièche founded a watch ebauche factory on the Birse, using the power of the river to cut brass into the basic shapes needed for watch movements. Two years later Tièche partnered with Guillaume-Olivier Bueche, Edouard Boillat, and Ernest Kraft to found the first brass foundry in Switzerland, Bueche, Boillat et Cie. This supplied his own ebauche factory as well as others in the region and would grow to become a major industrial firm in the 20th century. He also founded a manufacturer of fired clay products in 1860.

Tièche was also committed to the establishment of railways in the Jura region, fighting for this as a deputy of the Grand Bernese Council (1846-1867). Today the railroad and river meet below Reconvilier. He was also a judge at the court in Moutier.

Emmanuel-Aimé Tièche died on August 20, 1867 in his home town of Reconvilier. The watch factory, later called Reconvilier Watch Company, was taken over by his son Emile Tièche along with Charles Kuhn.