Freco

Freco was the most popular brand of the Frey Watch Co (formerly Frey & Co) of the Madretsch neighborhood of Bienne.

Monnier & Frey, Fabrique Sigma, and Péry Dreyfus

Frey & Co. was founded by (and named for) Emil Frey. Although it was established only in 1912, Frey and his namesake company can be considered to be a follow-on to his father's firm, which was established in 1890.

Emil 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 called Monnier & Frey. 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. Sigma would continue operation separately from Frey's next company for decades, joining United Orbit in 1961.

Frey & Co

Emil 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 irregular four-sided shape that would remain the company's symbol was also registered at this time. 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.

Freco was a major brand of women's fashion and jewelry wristwatches in the 1920s and 1930s.

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.

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.

Schneeberger and Thiébaud

Emil Frey died of a sudden hemorrhage on August 9, 1936 in Bienne at the age of 56. The company was re-capitalized and taken over by Ernst Schneeberger and Paul Koch, with Schneeberger and accountant Claudine Wuilleumier as managers. In July 1947, following Schneeberger's death, Albert Schneeberger took over as chairman, with Paul Koch as secretary, and Jean Schneeberger and Hans Balmer rounding out the board. René Viatte was also an authorized manager.

Remarkably, the management of Frey & Co was ousted in November of that same year, with Henri Gustave Thiébaud taking over the company as board chairman and only Albert Schneeberger remaining. He was already chairman of the Gruen factory on the hill above town and that company's success made him quite wealthy. He quickly liquidated founder Ruh's Roo Watch company the following year. Thiébaud assigned René Viatte to be commercial director and Philippe Méroz as technical director. Viatte remained with the company until 1959 and Méroz remained through August 1971.

Aurèle Maire of Ponts-de-Martel became a board member in 1959, connecting Frey to the Martel Watch Co and Zenith. Albert Schneeberger left the board in 1969 with Samuel Gonard joining. At a meeting on August 30, 1974, the decision was made to liquidate the company.