Favre Frères

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Favre Frères was a maker of watches in La Neuveville and later Cormoret from the 19th century through World War 1. The firm split in 1891, with the Neuveville operation becoming Jules Favre and the Cormoret operation spawning Marc Favre's factory in Bienne while continuing on its own. The Gala brand established by the family in Cormoret continued under the ownership of the Liengme family into the 1960s.

Establishment in Neuveville and Cormoret

The sons of Jean-Pierre-Constant Favre (1812-1898) and Charlotte Françoise Corbaz (1814-1886) formed a watchmaking firm known as Favre Frères in the second half of the 19th century. Advertising in 1900 claim that the company was founded in 1859, and modern sources suggest that it was started in La Neuveville before opening a branch in Cormoret on the western bank of Lake Bienne in Canton Berne. But these facts are not supported by contemporary sources.

It appears instead that some of the Favre brothers began independent watchmaking businesses in Cormoret in the 1860s before joining together to open a factory in La Neuveville around 1873. Once this became successful they joined forces at home, with most remaining in Cormoret and eldest brother Jules-Constant and younger brother Charles-Albert relocated to operate the new factory. They then took over their family's mill between Cormoret and Courtelary and built a new factory on the site in 1880.

The area outside La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle was not well-surveyed in the first half of the 1860s but Favre Frères is listed in Cormoret in the 1865 edition along with Aug., Jules, and Lucien Favre and Henri Favre-Isler, all as "fabricants," and Gust. Favre as "remonteur." Neuveville is not included in this edition. David Favre was listed as a "repasseur et remonteur (atelier)" in Neuveville in 1860, as "etablisseur" Jean-David Favre in 1861, and as fabricant d'horlogerie in 1869, but it is unclear if this is related. Jules Favre is added as "finissages" in Cormoret in 1866, but there is no listing for Favre Frères in Neuveville that year, only "fabricant de balancers" Emile Favre.

The first definitive listing for the Favre Frères business is in the 1873 edition of Indicateur Davoine, which includes an expansive listings in Neuveville: "Favre frères; fabrique d’ébauches, de finissages , d’échappements et de boites de montres par les procédés mécaniques. Usine hydraulique. - Spécialilé: Montres à cylindres." But the business is not listed as "Favre Frères" in Cormoret that year, with individual listings there for Alfred, Auguste, Eugène, Gustave, Louis, and Henri Favre-Isler as "fabricants d'horlogerie," Favre et Rossel as "monteur de boîtes,", Lucien Favre as "fabricant de cuvettes," and Julien Favre as "échappements cylindres." These all disappear in the 1875 edition, with Favre Frères now listed using an identical long-form description in both Neuveville and Cormoret.

Therefore it appears that the Favre brothers operated independently in Neuveville before opening a joint business in Cormoret in the early 1870s. The success of this factory must have inspired them to join forces at home in 1875, definitively establishing the company. The 1883 survey of businesses lists both companies with the exact same ownership and structure and notes explicitly that they are related. The company was owned by the following:

  • Jules-Constant Favre from Cormoret of Neuveville
  • Louis-Constant Favre of Cormoret
  • Alfred Favre-Quintal of Cormoret
  • Eugène-Constant Favre of Cormoret
  • Henri Favre from Cormoret of Cormoret
  • Brother-in-law Ulysse Huguelet-Favre from Vauffelin of Cormoret
  • Charles-Albert Favre from Cormoret of Neuveville

The company was incorporated jointly in Neuveville and Cormoret. Charles-Albert Favre was a limited partner while all others were unlimited partners, with a total contribution of 13,000 francs. The company was engaged in manufacture of the watch by mechanical processes. Jules-Constant Favre alone had power of attorney in Neuveville and Ulysse Huguelet-Favre had power of attorney in Cormoret. Jules-Constant Favre is independently noted to be living in Neuveville in 1878 when he married Anna-Maria Keller of Oberthal.

An 1879 account of the factory was published in Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie: "In Neuveville, we find the hydraulic factory of Favre Frères, providing the complete watch, and employing, for the various parts of the manufacture, several advanced machines; a movement-in-white factory; various case assembler workshops, as well as other detached parts. In addition, the surroundings of these various localities provide, as is the case throughout the Jura, with a fairly considerable number of workers working at hand for finishing, escapement, reassembly, etc., which thus complete the entire Biennese factory."

The proud Favre brothers turned down a bronze medal at the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, feeling that their products were superior to the others receiving similar awards. "Our interest and our dignity do not admit of being ranked after a number of our competitors who manufacture a quality of goods inferior to ours," they wrote in a public letter published in La Fédération Horlogère.

An 1890 article states: "We will finish our review of exhibitors from the canton of Bern with the Favre frères watchmaking factory (bronze medal), in Neuveville and Cormoret. The products exhibited by this house represented ordinary daily manufacture, not parts made especially for the circumstance; their real interchangeability is ensured, both for the 18-line cylinder part, with winder and key, where no part is numbered, and for the lever escapement. The time setting is done by the crown, without a stroller, and there is also point to point out a system of crimping the escapement with anchor, with bezel and perfectly interchangeable counter-pivots, without screws; a few spare parts, a metal dowel of any shape and a piece of hard wood, are enough to replace a broken stone."

The Favre factory in Cormoret in the 1880s

The Favre family operated two mills in Cormoret in the first half of the 19th century: A larger mill known as "Moulin dessous le village" ("the Moulin under the village") with 5 water wheels fed directly by the Suze river and the smaller "Petit Torrent" fed by the Raisette, a stream that runs through the village. These were allocated in 1828 to Jean-Henri Favre and Charles-Henri Favre, respectively.

The Favre brothers bought the larger mill in 1878, demolished it, and built a factory on the right bank of the mill canal in 1880. The new factory used a side wheel with wooden paddles, which were replaced by sheet metal around the turn of the century. Production was stopped there by 1930 when the successor factory closed, and was later used by an auto mechanic before being taken over by Felma Machines SA in 1960 through 1973. It was later home to the J. Lutz garage, a Honda motorcycle mechanic and dealer, but today stands empty along the Route Principale between Cormoret and Courtelary.

The Company is Split

See Also: Gala and Marc Favre

The firm was split into three parts in the 1890s:

  • The joint company in La Neuveville was dissolved as of January 1, 1891. Jules-Constant Favre took over the operation in La Neuveville under the name Jules Favre, successeur de Favre Frères, taking over all of the assets and liabilities of the operation in that town.
  • The Favre Frères operation in Cormoret was dissolved on April 1, 1892. Louis-Constant and Eugène-Constant Favre took over the assets and liabilities of the company in that town. Louis-Constant Favre was the president, with his 24 year old son William managing operations.
  • Alfred Favre-Quintal also continued the trade in watchmaking in Cormoret under his own name. He soon handed ownership of the company to his son Marc Favre, and the firm was renamed. Marc Favre moved the operation to Place du Marche in Saint-Imier in July 1899 but closed the company in February 1903, selling his hammer trademark to Marchand-Chopard there. Marc Favre established a new business in Bienne on May 1, 1904, and Marc Favre & Cie became one of the most important makers of compact watch movements in the 20th century.

The company was still listed as "Favre Frères Neuveville et Cormoret" in Indicateur Davoine until 1894 suggesting that they continued to work together for a few years even as ownership changed.

Jules Favre in La Neuveville

The La Neuveville branch of Favre Frères was taken over by Jules-Constant Favre as of January 1, 1891. He continued the previous business, including assuming all assets and liabilities of the company, without his brothers' involvement, as Jules Favre, successeur de Favre Frères. After a few years the company is listed separately from the Cormoret branch, adopting its own brands and marketing.

In 1897, Jules Favre registered the Uranus brand, along with a crossed "FF" trademark. He registered the Granit brand in 1907.

Jules Favre's son, Jules-Ernest Favre, took over the business in December 1911. Now called Jules Favre Fils, successeur de Favre Frères, the company was located at Ruelle de la Cave in Neuveville. The younger Jules Favre formed a partnership with Arnold Dietrich of Därligen called Favre & Dietrich on December 27, 1911 to take on the business.

Favre & Dietrich advertised in Indicateur Davoine in 1913, proclaiming itself to be the successor to both Favre Frères ("Fondée en 1859") and Ed. Moser ("Fondée en 1882"). The firm produced anchor movements of 11, 11.5, 15, 16, and 19 ligne (of the Favre side) and 11 and 11.5 ligne anchor and cylinder movements on the Moser side and specialized in alarm watches with "forte sonnerie." But the partnership faced bankruptcy in June 1913, settling with its creditors in December.

Jules-Ernest Favre died on October 14, 1914, but he must have been sick since his father Jules-Constant reassumed control in January. Another son of Jules-Constant Favre, Jules-Henri, joined management in this period and adopted a marriage contract relating to ownership of the firm when he married Tilka (née Quinche) on April 7, 1920. Jules-Constant Favre died on May 6, 1927.

Ketterer Frères took over the primary brands of Favre Frères (FF, Archimede, and Uranus) in May 1914. Henri and Jules Ketterer of La Burg had formed this company on May 29, 1913 to produce and sell watches. The company was initially located on Rue du Faubourg 200 in Neuveville. In 1916, Ketterer Frères was advertising specialty in 18 ligne cylinder and alarm movements. The company also offered illuminated dials, perhaps using radium. André Etienne of Tramelan-Dessous joined the company in June 1918, now renamed Ketterer Frères et Cie.

Ketterer Frères was incorporated as a public limited company on September 23, 1920 with share capital of 50,000 francs. The board was composed of Léoncel-Eugène Courvoisier, president, Dr. Fritz Scheurer, and Henri Ketterer, who also served as director of the firm.

The firm of June Favre Fils failed and was deleted in January 1930, while the Ketterer Frères SA firm was liquidated in March.

Louis Favre in Cormoret

See Also: Gala

A year after Jules Favre took over the Neuveville operation the brothers dissolved the Cormoret business. On April 1, 1892 Louis-Constant Favre and Eugène-Constant Favre took over the assets and liabilities of the company, with Louis-Constant Favre primarily in charge. William Favre, son of Louis-Constant Favre, was given power of attorney, managing operations there. At the same time, Alfred Favre-Quintal began his own watchmaking business in the town, which would be handed down to his son Marc Favre a few years later. Like the Neuveville operation, Favre Frères in Cormoret claimed "maison fondée en 1859" though they did not specifically claim to be the successor to the former company.

The Cormoret operation continued to use the Favre Frères name and even registered a new FF trademark in 1893. The company also established a brand name for watches, Rubin, which featured a classical nude design. Favre Frères produced silver, steel, and nickel cased watches and specialized in anti-magnetic watches. They used the Archimède name on some and boasted of interchangeable components and a removable assortiment. In 1902 the company registered the Torrent name.

Louis-Constant Favre's sons Louis-Eugène and William Favre were also involved in watchmaking, with William Favre being named manager of the company in 1892. Louis and William formed their own firm in Cormoret in April 1899. Called L. & W. Favre, the company was relatively modest, registering the Lumen brand in 1904. The firm used the Gala brand and boasted of a patented movement with a maximum variance of 30 seconds in 24 hours for their unique 20 ligne calibre.

By 1908 Favre Frères was advertising a new 19 ligne watch with a dead seconds escapement.

In December 1913 Louis-Constant's sons Louis and William took over their father's company as well, registering it again as Favre Frères. They closed their own company, L. & W. Favre, five years later and merged it with the family firm. They transferred ownership of the Gala and Veto brands to Favre Frères in September 1918. They offered luminous dials by 1916. William Favre would become mayor of Cormoret from 1907 to 1921.

Favre Frères registered the Waldo and Waldina brands in 1923 and added Herlis in 1927.

The firm was hit hard by the post-war recession and depression, not to mention the trend toward wristwatches and mass production, and faced bankruptcy in September 1930. The court ordered the liquidation of the company on November 12, 1930 and the factory was closed. Things did not end well for William Favre, who had been mayor of Cormoret but was bankrupted by the collapse of the industry. He died in 1939 and his estate was liquidated by the court.

The Liengme family had been making watches in Cormoret since the 19th century, with Serge and Jacques Liengme establishing an ebauche making business there. This was absorbed into Liengme & Cie. around 1910. Liengme took over Favre Frères in 1938, consolidating most watchmaking in Cormoret into a single firm and focusing on the Gala and Veto brands.

The Favre Family

  • Jean-Pierre-Constant Favre (1812-1898) married Charlotte Françoise Corbaz (1814-1886)
    • Louis-Constant "Louis" Favre (March 6, 1837?-April 18, 1909? or 1912?) married June 2, 1860? Julie-Louise Favre? (1827?-1909?)
      • Mina Favre (1861?-1941?)
      • Léa-Angéline Favre (1863?-1934?)
      • Louis-Eugène Favre (May 4, 1866?-January 11 1943?) married September 28, 1903 in Sankt-Gallen? Nellie Mettler? (1876?-1974?)
      • Numa-William "William" Favre (September 22, 1868-August 30, 1939) - Mayor of Cormoret
    • Alfred-Constant "Alfred" Favre-Quintal (March 3, 1839?-November 19, 1931) married August 26, 1865? Marie Louise Quintal? (1842?-1920?) of Cormoret, later Evilard and Coffrane and Columbia
      • Alice Favre (1866?-1890?)
      • Ellen-Ida Favre (1874?-?)
      • Marc Favre (about 1875-December 29, 1930) married Sophie-Hedwig Brechbühl (1880-May 10, 1941) of Cormoret, later lived in Evilard
        • Robert-Marc "Robert" Favre (1903-July 20, 1958) lived in Evilard - unmarried in 1930
        • Jean Favre-Lippacher (1900s?-January 26, 1978) married by 1930 Claudine Lippacher (?-November 9, 1977), lived in Bienne
          • Marc Favre-Liechti (1930s?) married ? Liechti - lived in Hauterive
            • Valérie
            • Laurence
            • Philippe
        • Paul Favre-Keller (1900s?-died after 1978) married after 1930 ? Keller (died after 1978) - lived in Evilard and Bienne then Chailly-Lausanne later in life
      • Jeanne Favre (1878?-1895?)
      • ? Favre-Grand (1880s?-died after 1931) married Samuel Grand
      • ? Favre-Junod (1880s?-died after 1931) married pastor André Junod of Colombier
    • Jules-Constant Favre (July 16, 1841?-May 6, 1927) from Cormoret of Neuveville married? June 10, 1865? Laure-Emilie Liengme? (1844?-1882?) married? May 15, 1878? Anne-Maria Keller (1856-January 24, 1922) of Oberthal - born in Cormoret, Jules-Constant Favre moved to Neuveville to manage the Favre Frères operation there
      • Jules-Ernest Favre (June 23, 1866?-October 9, 1914?) - child of Laure-Emilie Favre-Liengme
      • Isabelle Favre of Cormoret (1868?-1952?) - child of Laure-Emilie Favre-Liengme
      • Laure Eveline (1870?-after 1927) - child of Laure-Emilie Favre-Liengme, possibly Evelyne Houriet-Favre of Cormoret
      • Ida Blanche (1879?-before 1927) - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller, possibly married ? Brunner of Zurich and had sons Werner and Roland Brunner
      • Jules-Henri Favre-Quinche (about 1883-February 15, 1954) married April 7, 1920 Tilka Quinche - Lived in Neuveville and Cressier - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller
        • André Favre-Kopf
        • Jacques Favre
      • Berthe-Anna Quartier-Favre (1883?-after 1927) of Landeron married ? Quartier la Tente - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller
      • Charles Favre-Hill (1884?-after 1927) of Paris - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller
    • Eugène-Constant Favre (February 17, 1847-August 6, 1919) married May 1, 1869? Marie Louise Liengme? (1848?-1887?) married? December 12, 1891? Jeanne-Suzanne Keller? (1861?-1910?) - born in Cormoret, Eugène remained there through his death
      • Marie Esther (1871?-1938?)
      • Clara Rachel (1872?-1872?)
      • Léon Arthur (1873?-1878?)
      • Eugène Camille (1876?-1942?)
      • Jeanne Gertrude (1877?-1877?)
      • Werner (1879?-1951?)
      • Léon-Henri (1882?-1927?)
      • Marie "Blanche" (1883?-?)
      • Georges-Albert (1887?-?)
      • Jeanne-Marguerite (1892?-?) - child of Jeanne-Suzanne Favre-Keller
    • Charles-Albert Favre-Teutsch (September 10, 1848?-February 21, 1939?) married May 14, 1875 in Douanne? Clara-Wilhelmine Teutsch (1854?-1947?) notary from Cormoret of Neuveville, later Gléresse
      • Lydia-Clara (1876?-?)
      • Charles-Albert (1877?-1938?)
    • Henri-Constant Favre-Chable (April 13, 1852?-April 29, 1937?) from Cormoret married May 16, 1888 in Courtelary? Ursula-Sophie-Madeleine Chable? (1858?-1937? or after 1938) - lived in Cormoret
      • Ruth-Charlotte-Ursule (1889?-1890?)
      • Charlotte-Emma (1891?-?)
    • Marie-Elisa Huguelet-Favre (1844?-January 1, 1923) of Cormoret married Ulysse Huguelet-Favre (about 1841-December 22, 1924) from Vauffelin
    • Césarine Racine-Favre (about 1854-November 9, 1938) of Cormoret married Aimé Racine (about 1857-June 23, 1918) later of Veytaux
      • Jean Racine
      • George Favre (likely the son of a brother of Césarine)

Unknown relatives:

  • William Mac Callum-Favre of Lausanne (likely married a sister)
  • Louis-Constant Favre married Maria-Magdalena Schmid (April 23, 1875-December 16, 1925) of Canton Berne
    • Louis-Sydney (March 28, 1898-?)
    • Marie-Olinda (April 13, 1899-August 3, 1899)
    • Constant-Goldbourn (June 21, 1900-February 2, 1901)
    • Charles-Alfred (July 13, 1901-?)

Other Favre Frères Companies

Given the popularity of the name Favre in the Swiss Jura region, there were many different watchmaking companies called Favre Frères in the 19th and early 20th century.

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