Fédéral Watch

Fédéral Watch was the name used by the Gutmann family of La Chaux-de-Fonds from 1909.

Jacob Gutmann

Jacob Gutmann is listed as a watchmaker at Rue du Parc 7 in 1871, but could have been active much earlier. A maker of secrets named Jacob Gurmann is listed at Rue du Stand 15 in 1850.

Jacob Gutmann was active as a watchmaker at Léopold-Robert 14 in La Chaux-de-Fonds by 1883. He brought his son André Gutmann into the firm by December 1896.

Gutmann & Cie

Jacob Gutmann brought his son André Gutmann in to a partnership known as Gutmann & Cie. on July 1, 1900. The company focused on the manufacture, purchase, and sale of watches and was located at Léopold-Robert 14.

Gutmann used the brand name Bonheur for an extra-thin anchor watch with an exposed balance at 6:00 in 1908. This was patented by Ernest Degoumois in March 1901 and he vigorously defended both the patent and the brand name against Ernest Stutzmann and Albert Roth of Saint-Imier in a 1903 court case. Since this patent did not expire until 1912 we can presume that the Gutmann firm had licensed it from Degoumois. An unrelated business of Adolphe Gutmann, Eloyes, also operated at this time and patented a very similar watch in 1903.

By then the company was located at Léopold-Robert 17.

Fédéral Watch

Following the death of the Jacob Gutmann Gutmann & Cie. was reorganized as Gutmann & Cie, Fédéral Watch Co. The company was officially started on June 1, 1909, under sons André Gutmann and Henri Gutmann. The company focused on manufacture, purchase, and sale of watches and was located at Rue Léopold-Robert 73.

The use of the name Fédéral Watch is surprising, since "The Federal Watch" was registered in 1901 by R. Picard, renewed by their successor company, Invicta, in 1940, and used through the 1960s. The modern Aerowatch claims that Gutmann is the predecessor to their company, using the brand name Aero Watch as early as 1910, though it is difficult to establish a connection to the Aero Watch firm founded in Neuchâtel in 1937.

Gutmann & Cie, Fédéral Watch was reorganized on April 1, 1916, with André Gutmann as the unlimited partner and Moïse Schwob as a limited partner. The company was now located at Léopold-Robert 58. Jane Gutmann joined the board in August 1929 as a limited partner and Moïse Schwob removed in September after his death. The company moved to Léopold-Robert 90 in 1933 and Rue Daniel JeanRichard 23 in April 1936.

The company Gutmann & Cie, Fédéral Watch was liquidated and removed from the register of businesses in March 1939.