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'''Fleurier Watch Co.''' is a watch and movement manufacturer founded in [[1902]] in [[Fleurier]], [[Switzerland]] joining [[ASUAG]] in [[1932]], and resurrected by [[Arcadia]] in [[2011]].

==History==

The town of [[Fleurier]] has a long history of watchmaking, remaining a center of production today with [[Parmigiani]] and [[Vaucher Manufacture]]. The Borle and Jéquier names are familiar in Fleurier watchmaking, dating back to the mid 19th century.

The roots of the eponymous '''Fleurier Watch Co.''' were later dated to [[1858]], though this date is not directly tied to the later firm. 

On August 1, [[1850]], Henri Vaucher, Edouard Jequier, and Jules Jequier, watchmakers in Fleurier, formed a general partnership to produce watches with a duration of 4 years. The company was called Jequier et Vaucher and was active from that date to November 15, [[1852]], when it was prematurely dissolved. Edouard and Jules Jequier liquidated the firm, replacing it with a new company called [[Jéquier Frères|Jequier Frères et Cie]] which continued the same line of business in Fleurier.

[[Jéquier Frères]] were watchmakers since [[1853]], with Jéquier et Reymond listed in [[1866]] and Paul Jéquier and Ulysse Jéquier appearing in [[1869]]. Jules Jéquier appears in [[1873]] as Jéquier Frères is removed. 

[[Jules-Henri Jequier]] forms a partnership with David-Louis Petitpierre of Couvet in [[1884]] known as Jequier et Petitpierre. The firm is located at Grande Rue 3 in Fleurier. This company is dissolved in July [[1889]] and taken over by Jéquier alone as Jules Jéquier Fils. Located on Rue du Pasquier in Fleurier, the company specializes in watch movements. Petitpierre's own firm, called D. Ls. Petitpierre and located in Couvet, continued until his death in [[1911]].

Ulysse is gone after [[1880]] and only Jéquier et Petitpierre (genre Anglais, seconde au centre at Grande Rue 3) and Numa Jequier (at Perron 12) are listed in [[1886]]. [[Jules-Samuel Jéquier]] founded a watchmaking company in [[Fleurier]] specializing in "Chinoise" watches at Grande Rue 3 in [[1889]] and Jequier et Petitpierre disappears in [[1893]].

On January 1, [[1894]] [[Jules-Samuel Jéquier]] and his sons [[Jules-Henri Jéquier]] and [[Charles Jéquier-Borle]] formed a new firm in Fleurier under the name Jéquier Frères et Cie. This was a general partnership for the manufacture and sale of watches, specializing in central seconds. The firm was located at Pasquier 1 and is perhaps a successor or companion firm to Jequier et Petitpierre, though Jules continues in operation. [[C. Jéquier-Borle]] was a producer of silver cases at Pasquier 1 by [[1894]]. [[Louis-Emile Borle]] produced gold and silver watch cases from [[1865]] until [[1877]]. In August [[1899]] the general partnership Jéquier Frères et Cle was dissolved due to the retirement of Jules-Samuel Jéquier. The company continued under the name Jéquier Frères under Jules-Henri Jéquier and Charles Jéquier-Borle.

Another important firm was [[Borle et Jéquier]], the first "rebel" balance spring maker. It was established in June [[1896]], less than a year after the announcement of the [[FSR]] cartel, and continued in operation until [[1932]].

Borle and Jéquier ran other watch companies as well: [[Jéquier Frères]] was a producer of watches for the English market, [[C. Jequier-Borle]] produced [[Roskopf]] watches, and another firm with the same name also produced watch cases and claimed the Tell, Corma, Orabek, Andika, and Inimitable brand names.

==Fleurier Watch Co==

The Fleurier Watch Co. was created as a [[Société Anonyme]] on April 4, [[1902]]. It was managed by [[Paul Jéquier]] and remained in the Jéquier family for several generations. It incorporated many local brands over the next half century, including the original [[Arcadia]]. Before World War I the company was focused on production of complete watches from third-party components (établissage), but it expanded into full-scale manufacturing, including movement production and other watch components, in the 1920s. 

The firm brought in young watchmaker [[Charles Berner]] in [[1920]] to establish manufacture of [[ebauche]]s. Berner was the son of professor [[Paul Berner]] in [[La Chaux-de-Fonds]] and had worked at [[Cortébert]] and [[Omega]] to improve manufacturing capabilities. In just over 3 years, the '''Fabrique d’ébauches de Fleurier''' was established to reduce the firm's reliance on external suppliers in pursuit of vertical integration. Berner then left to found the [[Fabrique d'Ebauches de Peseux]].

In [[1932]] the company sold its movement factory to [[Ebauches SA]]. The company was brought into [[ASUAG]] at the same time. The company survived the depression thanks to careful financial management.

After World War II the company focused on sales, including the use of traveling salespeople and direct sales relationships with retailers.

==Société des Garde-Temps==

In [[1968]] the company became a member of the [[Société des Garde-Temps]] (SGT) alongside [[Degoumois]]/[[Avia]], [[Helvetia]], [[Silvana]], [[Solvil et Titus]], and [[Vuilleumier]]. The group also included various sales and finance companies, as well as a balance factory in [[Dombresson]], and the former [[Jeanneret]] [[jewel]] company in [[Neuchâtel]].

The company and its brands gradually disappeared over the next few decades, even as Ebauches SA grew to become part of [[ETA]] in today's [[Swatch Group]]. The movement manufacturing component of the business was sold to [[Chopard]] in [[1996]], with their historic building following in [[2000]]. Today, the former Fleurier movement works are a core component of [[Chopard calibres|Chopard's ''manufacture'' capability]].

Arcadia was re-established in [[2010]] by [[Claude Sanz]]. Now located in [[Geneva]], Arcadia acquired the Fleurier Watch Co. name as well in [[2011]] with plans to return to Fleurier for production.

==Other Firms==

Charles Jéquier-Borle was a founding member of the [[Fabricants de Montres, Système Roskopf]] in June [[1906]] alongside [[Georges Eberhard]] of [[Eberhard & Cie]], [[Jules Rusbach]] of [[Fabrique Centrale F. Roskopf & Cie]], [[Henri-Louis Jeanneret]] of [[Jeanneret & Cie]], [[Léon Ducommun]], [[Gustave Krentel]], [[Henri Daleber]], [[Georges Quartier]] of [[Emile Quartier, Fils]], and [[Albert Study]] Junior.

William Borle-Jéquier hired architects Prince & Béguin to build him a villa and estate in Fleurier in [[1904]].

==See Also==
* [[List of ebauche factories]]
* François Jéquier, "Une entreprise horlogère du Val-de-Travers: Fleurier Watch Co SA", 1972

[[Category:Watch manufacturers Switzerland]]
[[Category:ASUAG]]
[[Category:Ebauches SA]]
[[Category:Fleurier]]