Nelly Sandoz
Nelly Sandoz (1876-1958) was a watchmaking industrialist and partial heir to the Tavannes Watch Co established by her father, Henri Sandoz.
Nelly Sandoz was born in 1876, presumably in Le Locle. Her father Henri Sandoz (1851-1913) worked for the watch casing workshop of Samuel Aubert at that time, though he soon established himself as an independent watchmaker and businessman. She is said to have lived in La Chaux-de-Fonds with her family as a young child before the family moved to Tavannes to establish the Tavannes Watch Co after 1890.
Like her brothers, Nelly sought a technical education and to follow in the footsteps of her watchmaker/industrialist father. He supported this goal for her, sending her to attend the Technicum in Winterthour and welcoming her to management in the important family firm.
Undervelier
In 1897, Henri Sandoz constructed an electric power plant, steel furnace, and factory for watch cases in Undervelier. The town, located 18 km north of Tavannes, was home to an iron and steel forge along the Sorne river. The factory building still stands as home to Bronze Arts SA, a metal casting factory, just south of the village.
Henri Sandoz gave his daughter Nelly charge of the operation there, where she lived for many years. By 1909, this factory employed 120 workers and produced 1500 to 1800 watch cases per year. This had risen to 2000 cases per year in 1913. Contemporary advertisements proudly listed "Mademoiselle Nelly Sandoz" as the director.
She ultimately spent nearly 40 years until it was taken over by Vernier SA. In July of 1935 Nelly Sandoz moved from Undervelier to Tavannes. She had directed the Blanches-Fontaines factory for many years but wished to retire at the age of 60. She left a mark on the village for her charitable works, where she was a member of the school commission.
When her father Henri Sandoz died in 1913, control of the Tavannes Watch Co fell to his heirs: Chairman Henri Sandoz-Mamie, commercial director Eugene Romy, and director Nelly Sandoz. She remained a director of the firm until 1938.
Tavannes
In Tavannes, Nelly Sandoz continued to support charities and the Catholic Church. She was a primary sponsor of the construction of a new church building in Tavannes. She founded a christian school there as she had done in Undervelier, was a leader in the League of Catholic Women, and supported two nuns in the village.
During World War II Nelly Sandoz made long trips across France to support victims of Nazi occupation. She was said to have worked directly to help refugees there. In January 1948 Geiger Rabin, Consular Agent of France in Bienne, presented Nelly Sandoz with the silver "agent de la Reconnaissance Française" medal for her work supporting the French victims of World War II.
Nelly Sandoz died at the age of 82 on April 23, 1958. She was survived by her brother Charles Sandoz-Moritz, living in Paris with his children and grandchildren, her sister Mrs. Georges Huguenin-Sandoz in Le Locle, her sister Rosy Chapallaz-Sandoz in Neuchâtel, and her faithful employee Emma Ninato.