Auréole

Auréole ("Halo" in French) was a Swiss watchmaking firm from La Chaux-de-Fonds active from 1868 through the 1970s. Founded by Philidor Wolf, who was active in watchmaking as early as 1859, the company was known as Fabrique Auréole from 1904. It specialized in mass-market watches at moderate prices.

Philidor Wolf

Philidor Wolf (1839-1930) was born on July 30, 1839 in Mulhouse, France (though he was listed as "Neuchâtelois in his death notice). He moved to Switzerland in 1853 to apprentice as a watchmaker. His sons Jules Wolf (1876-1944) and Emile Wolf (1879-1936) followed in his footsteps, taking apprenticeships of their own in watchmaking in La Chaux-de-Fonds, with Emile achieving a watchmaker-technician diploma at the watchmaking school there. Emile later interned in England as a precision regulator.

Wolf is said to have founded his own watchmaking firm in 1868, but Philidor (or Philidore) Wolf is listed in Indicateur Davoine starting in the 1859 edition at Rue Jaquet-Droz 19, then Envers 30 in 1865 and 1866.

Philidor Wolf partnered with watchmaker Léopold Gœtschel (about 1835-1906) from Niederhagenthal, naturalized in Neuchâtel, under the name Goetschel & Wolf by 1873. This company was located at Rue Léopold-Robert 5 in the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville in 1873. It relocated to Rue Jaquet Droz 32 in 1877 and next door to number 30 the following year, a fashionable location at the corner of Rue du Casino near the old Hôtel des Postes. It remained there through the 1883 census of businesses and (under Goetschel alone) for decades. The partnership was dissolved on March 10, 1890 by Wolf and Théodore Gœtschel, nephew of Léopold. Léopold Goetschel-Wolf and Philidor Wolf formed new companies on March 20, with Goetschel continuing at Rue Jaquet Droz 30 and 32 in partnership with his nephew, Théodore.

The original Ph. Wolf workshop at Neuve 18 in a 1913 photo

On March 20, Philidor Wolf formed a new company called Philidor Wolf & Cie with Charles Franck, former manager of Goetschel & Wolf. The company was located at Rue Neuve 16, upstairs from a clothing store in a high-profile location by the famous fountain at the end of Rue Léopold-Robert. Philidor Wolf dissolved this new company on June 30, 1895, continuing the business as Ph. Wolf next door at Rue Neuve 18, where the firm would proudly advertise Fabrique Auréole and "Horlogerie pour Tous Pays". The firm also operated a workshop in the adjoining building to the rear, at Rue du Marché 3.

Philidor Wolf died May 18, 1930, long after his sons had taken over the family business. His former business partner and brother in law Léopold Gœtschel had died in Paris on June 26, 1906.

Jules Wolf

His son Jules Wolf (1876-1944) joined management in July 1901, though he had worked for his father since the early 1890s already. He would take over the firm and continue to manage Auréole for five decades.

It was said in the 1940s that the Auréole brand was registered in 1894, but the first registration listed in the official register is 1902. In January 1904 the company was officially renamed Ph. Wolf, Fabrique Auréole. Other brands at the time included Vade-Mecum, Philidor, L'Espero, and Verda Stelo.

The Auréole factory at Rue du Parc 128 (at far right), pictured in 1907

In 1905, the workshops were transferred to Rue du Parc 128, in premises specially equipped for the manufacture of ebauches with interchangeable components and precision machine tools, though the prominent office sign remained by the fountain for years. The Rue du Parc factory proudly wore the Auréole name but was still quite small, being only a 3-floor attachment to a larger building. The firm created its own movements in American size 11 and 13.

By 1914 Auréole was producing a 7.5 ligne movement, the smallest such movement with interchangeable components.

The Fabrique Auréole at Rue du Paix 133 seen in 1925

In need of more space, Auréole built a new factory just a few steps away at Rue du Paix 133 in 1917. The factory proudly wore the Auréole name for decades. On March 15, 1918 the firm was registered as a Société Anonyme, Fabriques Auréole et Vertex SA. The firm was directed by Jules Wolf and Emile Dreyfus.

The company continued to produce its own movements, including both shaped and round movements from 8 to 20 lignes. The firm also produced precision tools including branded Auréole micrometers in 1916. The company registered a new brand for the British market in 1919, John Bull's Watch.

Aureole et Vertex

On March 15, 1918, the firm was reorganized as a Société Anonyme called Fabriques Auréole et Vertex SA, succ. de Ph. Wolf. This company raised 600,000 francs in a share offering and took over all of the assets and activities of Ph. Wolf's Fabrique Auréole. The firm remained located at Rue de la Paix 133 in La Chaux-de-Fonds and was administrated by Jules Wolf and Emile Dreyfus. All of the existing trademarks were soon taken over as well, including Auréole, Shell, and John Bull.

Less than a year earlier, on September 7, 1917, Jules Wolf founded the Slem Watch Co. with just 10,000 francs invested. Also located at Rue de la Paix 133, Slem was almost immediately renamed The Slam Watch Co. (Schlem SA) on October 1. The company registered the brands, Slem, Grand Slem, Slam, and Schlem. Emile Dreyfus joined as an administrator on July 18, 1918. Slam registered the brand name Benrus in March 1922, which is surprising since this brand was already in use by an American company.

Auréole and Vertex sold precision instruments in addition to watches. This included micrometers and screw cutters of various sorts. But the firms both continued to sell pocket watches, wristwatches, and watch movements as well. The factory produced movements from 5.5 to 22 ligne and specialized in oval and "fantasy" movements in 5.5, 7.5, 8.75, 9.75, 10.5, and 13 ligne, mainly for ladies watches. Advertisements from 1920 show a range of ladies watches with gem set bezels in various shapes.

Businessman Georges Bloch joined the administration of the company in 1922 along with Emile Wolf (1879-1936), the other son of the founder, with Jules Wolf and Emile Dreyfus remaining on the board.

Auréole, Slam, and Vertex

The company was split into three firms by the 1930s as the company moved away from the manufacture of watch movements:

• Slam Watch - Jules Wolf and Emile Dreyfus split in 1927 with the former continuing as president of Auréole et Vertex SA while the latter took over Slam Watch Co. SA.
• Vertex Watch - Jules Wolf incorporated Vertex separately in 1928, with some brands moved to the new firm and some remaining.
• Auréole Watch - A new SA called Compagnie des Montres Auréole (Auréole Watch Co.) was established on March 30, 1928 and the former Fabrique Auréole SA was merged into it in 1936.

Jules Wolf was president of the new Auréole Watch Co. with his wife Mathilde Wolf (née Weill) also on the board. Most assets of the former Fabrique Auréole were moved to these other firms.

Cie. des Montres Vertex SA (Vertex Watch Co.) was established by Jules Wolf on January 20, 1928. This was a separate public company engaged in the manufacture, purchase, and sale of watches like Aureole. Jules Wolf was the only director and the firm was located alongside Auréole at Rue de la Paix 133. Vertex registered other brands, including Artex, Safetex, Allproof, Ibero, and a trademark featuring a large V on a plinth. Vertex took over ownership of the John Bull and John Bull's Watch brands in 1939. The company was a small one, however, as it relocated to the home of Jules Wolf, Rue du Parc 12, in 1941.

The Vertex company continued as Cie des Montres Vertex SA (Vertex Watch Co.) alongside Auréole, and both relocated their offices to Rue Léopold-Robert 66 (the Minerva Palace) in 1939.

On January 5, 1942, Jules Wolf retired after 50 years, turning the company over to Charles Lutz and Willy Burkhardt. Their wives, Juliette Lutz (née Brandt) and Betty Burkhardt (née Bruat) became administrators in 1947. The new managers added waterproof watches and chronographs to the product lineup. Jules Wolf died on August 2, 1944.

In 1945, following Jules Wolf's death, Vertex Watch was taken over by André Juillerat. The firm raised 30,000 francs and became a listed Société Anonyme under Jean-Claude Landry on March 31, 1948 but was dissolved on October 9 of that year. The Vertex brands were taken over by the British firm Diamond House in 1955.

Marcel Choffat

In 1948 the company was taken over by Marcel Choffat. Although continuing to offer affordable watches, Choffat focused on increasing quality and production. Over the next two decades output of the Auréole factory at Léopold-Robert grew from 18,000 watches to over 370,000 watches annually.

The company was producing an automatic model by 1950 and a waterproof automatic watch two years later.

The primary markets for Auréole by the 1960s were North and South America and Japan, with Spain and Greece also represented.

Synchron

Aureole faced many challenges in the 1970s, with limited resources to remain competitive. The failing Auréole was acquired by Synchron in May 1973, with the group (under Chronos Holding) acquiring the entire share capital of the company. Auréole initially retained its identity, production in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and management. Auréole brought annual production of 600,000 quality anchor watches to Synchron, part of a goal for the group to increase production to over 1 million watches per year. At this time Auréole sold mainly in the markets of Spain, Italy, the Far East, and South America.

In 1975 Synchron management announced modest layoffs at Aureole, but in October nearly all employees received notices of layoffs. Production soon halted, and the assets of Aureole were incorporated into that company's other brands, Cyma, Doxa, and Ernest Borel. But Synchron was bankrupt just three years later, spelling the end of Auréole.