Gottlieb Ruh

Gottlieb Ruh (often misspelled Ruch) was co-founder of Frey & Co with Emil Frey.

Gottlieb Ruh came from Buch near Schaffhausen. His father may have been Konrad Ruh, shoe-maker.

On September 1, 1912, Ruh co-founded the watchmaking firm of Frey & Co with Emil Frey and limited partner Giacomo Trümpy. The firm was located in Madretsch near Bienne and Ruh invested and shared majority ownership with the eponymous Frey. Trümpy died the following year, leaving just Frey and Ruh in charge.

On February 7, 1916, Ruh founded the Roo Watch Co. (misspelled Roe) in Bienne. The company was a manufacturer of watches in the city but was founded with just 1000 francs of capital.

Frey was reorganized as a Société Anonyme in March 1920 with Frey and Ruh retaining ownership and forming the board. He appears to have moved to Evilard by 1923 and started a watch wholesaling company simply called Ruh.

Emil Frey took over both Roo Watch and Frey & Co. in June 1923 as Gottlieb Ruh left both firms at once. Roo and Frey continued to be closely associated, with Emil Frey remaining in charge until his death in 1938. Roo Watch, which remained focused on pocket watches, was finally dissolved by management on May 13, 1948.