Théodore Schwob

See Also: Schwob and Schwob Frères

Théodore Schwob (1839-1896) was the founder of Schwob Frères, the watch distributor responsible for Tavannes Watch Co and Cyma.

Théodore Schwob was born on October 13, 1839 in Morteau, France.

Schwob married Julie Bloch and the couple had at least 9 children. Of these, Isaac Schwob, Raphaël Schwob, Armand Abraham Schwob, Maurice Schwob, and René Schwob followed their father into the watch trade.

Schwob founded a watch trading business, later called Schwob Frères, in 1862 at the age of 23. This was located in La Chaux-de-Fonds at Rue Léopold-Robert 22 in 1873, moving to number 60 in 1886 and number 12 in 1890.

In 1883 the Swiss authorities first registered all businesses in the country. Schwob Frères is noted to have been started prior as a business focused on "manufacture, purchase, and sale of watches." At that time the company was noted as being run by La Chaux-de-Fonds residents Théodore Schwob of Morteau and Abraham (called Alfred) Schwob of Paris, as well as Moïse Schwob of Paris, who was living in Montreal Canada. The company was located at Rue Léopold Robert 22. Alfred Schwob withdrew from the company in 1887, replaced in July of the following year by Salomon Schwob. Isaac Schwob, Théodore's son, joined the firm in 1891.

In 1892 the two Schwob families of La Chaux-de-Fonds were approached to finance the expansion of the new watchmaking factory in Tavannes. Le Locle watchmaker Henri Sandoz was to run the business, which was registered on September 25, 1895. The firm's share capital was made up of 36 shares, each worth 10,000 francs, and it is suspected that Théodore's firm held 12 of these, with the other shares held by Schwob-Weill and Henri Sandoz. Théodore Schwob became chairman of the board of directors.

Théodore Schwob died on September 30 or October 1, 1896. He was replaced on the board of Tavannes Watch Co by his son Isaac Schwob.