Favre Frères

Favre Frères was a maker of watches in Neuveville and later Cormoret from the 19th century through World War 1. The firm split in 1891, with the Neuveville operation becoming Jules Favre and the Cormoret operation spawning Marc Favre's factory in Bienne while continuing on its own.

Other Favre Frères Companies

Given the popularity of the name Favre in the Swiss Jura region, there were many different watchmaking companies called Favre Frères in the 19th and early 20th century.

• Favre Frères of Le Locle, dial makers from at least 1845 through 1849
• Favre Frères of La Chaux-de-Fonds, gold watch case makers from 1859 through 1890
• Favre Frères of Porrentruy, watchmakers from 1866 through 1877
• Favre Frères of Geneva

Establishment in Neuveville and Cormoret

The sons of Jean-Pierre-Constant Favre (1812-1898) and Charlotte Françoise Corbaz (1814-1886) formed a watchmaking firm known as Favre Frères in the second half of the 19th century. It was said to have been founded in 1859 in La Neuveville on the western bank of Lake Bienne in Canton Berne, but it is not listed in Indicateur Davoine.

The area was not well-surveyed in the first half of the 1860s but Favre Frères is listed in Cormoret in the 1865 edition along with Aug., Jules, and Lucien Favre and Henri Favre-Isler, all as "fabricants," and Gust. Favre as "remonteur." Neuveville is not included in this edition. David Favre was listed as a "repasseur et remonteur (atelier)" in Neuveville in 1860, as "etablisseur" Jean-David Favre in 1861, and as fabricant d'horlogerie in 1869, but it is unclear if this is related. Jules Favre is added as "finissages" in Cormoret in 1866, but there is no listing for Favre Frères in Neuveville that year, only "fabricant de balancers" Emile Favre.

The first definitive listing for the Favre Frères business is in the 1873 edition of Indicateur Davoine, which includes an expansive listings in Neuveville: "Favre frères; fabrique d’ébauches, de finissages , d’échappements et de boites de montres par les procédés mécaniques. Usine hydraulique. - Spécialilé: Montres à cylindres." But the business is not listed as "Favre Frères" in Cormoret that year, with individual listings there for Alfred, Auguste, Eugène, Gustave, Louis, and Henri Favre-Isler as "fabricants d'horlogerie," Favre et Rossel as "monteur de boîtes,", Lucien Favre as "fabricant de cuvettes," and Julien Favre as "échappements cylindres." These all disappear in the 1875 edition, with Favre Frères now listed using an identical long-form description in both Neuveville and Cormoret.

Therefore it appears that the Favre brothers operated independently in Neuveville before opening a joint business in Cormoret in the early 1870s. The success of this factory must have inspired them to join forces at home in 1875, definitively establishing the company. The 1883 survey of businesses lists both companies with the exact same ownership and structure and notes explicitly that they are related. The company was owned by the following:

• Jules-Constant Favre from Cormoret of Neuveville
• Louis-Constant Favre of Cormoret
• Alfred-Quintal Favre of Cormoret
• Eugène-Constant Favre of Cormoret
• Henri Favre from Cormoret of Cormoret
• Ulysse Huguelet-Favre from Vauffelin of Cormoret
• Charles Albert Favre from Cormoret of Neuveville

The company was incorporated jointly in Neuveville and Cormoret based on the business of Charles Albert Favre. All others were unlisted partners, with a total contribution of 13,000 francs. The company was engaged in manufacture of the watch by mechanical processes. Jules-Constant Favre alone had power of attorney in Neuveville and Ulysse Huguelet-Favre had power of attorney in Cormoret. Jules-Constant Favre is independently noted to be living in Neuveville in 1878 when he married Anna-Maria Keller of Oberthal.

An 1879 account of the factory was published in Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie: "In Neuveville, we find the hydraulic factory of Favre frères, providing the complete watch, and employing, for the various parts of the manufacture, several advanced machines; a movement-in-white factory; various case assembler workshops, as well as other detached parts. In addition, the surroundings of these various localities provide, as is the case throughout the Jura, with a fairly considerable number of workers working at hand for finishing, escapement, reassembly, etc., which thus complete the entire Biennese factory."

An 1890 article states: "We will finish our review of exhibitors from the canton of Bern with the Favre frères watchmaking factory (bronze medal), in Neuveville and Cormoret. The products exhibited by this house represented ordinary daily manufacture, not parts made especially for the circumstance; their real interchangeability is ensured, both for the 18-line cylinder part, with winder and key, where no part is numbered, and for the lever escapement. The time setting is done by the crown, without a stroller, and there is also point to point out a system of crimping the escapement with anchor, with bezel and perfectly interchangeable counter-pivots, without screws; a few spare parts, a metal dowel of any shape and a piece of hard wood, are enough to replace a broken stone."

The Company is Split

The firm was split into three parts in the 1890s:

• The joint company was dissolved as of January 1, 1891. Jules-Constant Favre took over the operation in Neuveville under the name Jules Favre, successeur de Favre Frères, taking over all of the assets and liabilities of the operation in that town.
• The Favre Frères operation in Cormoret was dissolved on April 1, 1892. Louis-Constant Favre and Eugène-Constant Favre took over the assets and liabilities of the company in that town, with Louis-Constant Favre primarily in charge. William Favre of Cormoret was given power of attorney and was likely the son of Louis or Eugène, managing operations there.
• Alfred-Quintal Favre also continued the trade in watchmaking in Cormoret under his own name. He handed ownership of his firm to Marc Favre of Cormoret, likely his son, and the firm was renamed. Marc Favre moved the operation to Place du Marche in Saint-Imier in July 1899 but closed the company in February 1903, selling his hammer trademark to Marchand-Chopard there. Marc Favre established a new business in Bienne on May 1, 1904, and Marc Favre & Cie became one of the most important makers of compact watch movements in the 20th century.

The company was still listed as "Favre Frères Neuveville et Cormoret" in Indicateur Davoine until 1894 suggesting that they continued to work together for a few years even as ownership changed.

Jules Favre in Neuveville

The Neuveville branch of Favre Frères was taken over by Jules-Constant Favre as of January 1, 1891. He continued the previous business, including assuming all assets and liabilities of the company, without his brothers' involvement, as Jules Favre, successeur de Favre Frères. After a few years the company is listed separately from the Cormoret branch, adopting its own brands and marketing.

In 1897, Jules Favre registered the Uranus brand, along with a crossed "FF" trademark. He registered the Granit brand in 1907.

Jules Favre's son, also named Jules Favre, took over the business in December 1911. Now called Jules Favre Fils, successeur de Favre Frères, the company was located at Ruelle de la Cave in Neuveville. The younger Jules Favre formed a partnership with Arnold Dietrich of Därligen called Favre & Dietrich on December 27, 1911 to take on the business.

Favre & Dietrich advertised in Indicateur Davoine in 1913, proclaiming itself to be the successor to both Favre Frères ("Fondée en 1859") and Ed. Moser ("Fondée en 1882"). The firm produced anchor movements of 11, 11.5, 15, 16, and 19 ligne (of the Favre side) and 11 and 11.5 ligne anchor and cylinder movements on the Moser side and specialized in alarm watches with "forte sonnerie." But the partnership faced bankruptcy in June 1913, settling with its creditors in December. Jules Favre again took over the business, in January 1914.

Henri and Jules Ketterer of La Burg formed a company called Ketterer Frères on May 29, 1913 to produce and sell watches. The company was initially located on Rue du Faubourg 200 in Neuveville. The firm took over the FF, Archimede, and Uranus brands from Ketterer Frères in May 1914. In 1916, Ketterer Frères was advertising specialty in 18 ligne cylinder and alarm movements. The company also offered illuminated dials, perhaps using radium. André Etienne of Tramelan-Dessous joined the company in June 1918, now renamed Ketterer Frères et Cie.

Jules-Henri Favre and his wife Tilka (née Quinche) divorced in April 1920, causing ownership of the company to be split between them.

Ketterer Frères was incorporated as a public limited company on September 23, 1920 with share capital of 50,000 francs. The board was composed of Léoncel-Eugène Courvoisier, president, Dr. Fritz Scheurer, and Henri Ketterer, who also served as director of the firm.

The firm of June Favre Fils failed and was deleted in January 1930, while the Ketterer Frères SA firm was liquidated in March.

The Favre Family

• Jean-Pierre-Constant Favre (1812-1898) married Charlotte Françoise Corbaz (1814-1886)
  • Louis-Constant "Louis" Favre (March 6, 1837?-April 18, 1909? or 1912?) married June 2, 1860? Julie-Louise Favre? (1827?-1909?)
    • Mina Favre (1861?-1941?)
    • Léa-Angéline Favre (1863?-1934?)
    • Louis-Eugène Favre (May 4, 1866?-January 11 1943?) married September 28, 1903 in Sankt-Gallen? Nellie Mettler? (1876?-1974?)
    • Numa-William "William" Favre (September 22, 1868?-August 30? 1939?) - Mayor of Cormoret
  • Alfred-Constant "Alfred" Favre-Quintal (March 3, 1839?-November 19, 1931) married August 26, 1865? Marie Louise Quintal? (1842?-1920?) of Cormoret, later Evilard and Coffrane and Columbia
    • Alice Favre (1866?-1890?)
    • Ellen-Ida Favre (1874?-?)
    • Marc Favre (about 1875-December 29, 1930) married Sophie-Hedwig Brechbühl (1880-May 10, 1941) of Cormoret, later lived in Evilard
      • Robert-Marc "Robert" Favre (1903-July 20, 1958) lived in Evilard - unmarried in 1930
      • Jean Favre-Lippacher (1900s?-January 26, 1978) married by 1930 Claudine Lippacher (?-November 9, 1977), lived in Bienne
        • Marc Favre-Liechti (1930s?) married ? Liechti - lived in Hauterive
          • Valérie
          • Laurence
          • Philippe
      • Paul Favre-Keller (1900s?-died after 1978) married after 1930 ? Keller (died after 1978) - lived in Evilard and Bienne then Chailly-Lausanne later in life
    • Jeanne Favre (1878?-1895?)
    • ? Favre-Grand (1880s?-died after 1931) married Samuel Grand
    • ? Favre-Junod (1880s?-died after 1931) married pastor André Junod of Colombier
  • Jules-Constant Favre (July 16, 1841?-May 6, 1927) from Cormoret of Neuveville married? June 10, 1865? Laure-Emilie Liengme? (1844?-1882?) married? May 15, 1878? Anne-Maria Keller (1856-January 24, 1922) of Oberthal - born in Cormoret, Jules-Constant Favre moved to Neuveville to manage the Favre Frères operation there
    • Jules-Ernest Favre (June 23, 1866?-October 9, 1914?) - child of Laure-Emilie Favre-Liengme
    • Isabelle Favre of Cormoret (1868?-1952?) - child of Laure-Emilie Favre-Liengme
    • Laure Eveline (1870?-after 1927) - child of Laure-Emilie Favre-Liengme, possibly Evelyne Houriet-Favre of Cormoret
    • Ida Blanche (1879?-before 1927) - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller, possibly married ? Brunner of Zurich and had sons Werner and Roland Brunner
    • Jules-Henri Favre-Quinche (1881?-1954?) married Tilka Quinche and divorced in 1920 - Lived in Neuveville and Cressier - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller
    • Berthe-Anna Quartier-Favre (1883?-after 1927) of Landeron married ? Quartier la Tente - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller
    • Charles Favre-Hill (1884?-after 1927) of Paris - child of Anne-Maria Favre-Keller
  • Eugène-Constant Favre (February 17, 1847-August 6, 1919) married May 1, 1869? Marie Louise Liengme? (1848?-1887?) married? December 12, 1891? Jeanne-Suzanne Keller? (1861?-1910?) - born in Cormoret, Eugène remained there through his death
    • Marie Esther (1871?-1938?)
    • Clara Rachel (1872?-1872?)
    • Léon Arthur (1873?-1878?)
    • Eugène Camille (1876?-1942?)
    • Jeanne Gertrude (1877?-1877?)
    • Werner (1879?-1951?)
    • Léon-Henri (1882?-1927?)
    • Marie "Blanche" (1883?-?)
    • Georges-Albert (1887?-?)
    • Jeanne-Marguerite (1892?-?) - child of Jeanne-Suzanne Favre-Keller
  • Charles-Albert Favre-Teutsch (September 10, 1848?-February 21, 1939?) married May 14, 1875 in Douanne? Clara-Wilhelmine Teutsch (1854?-1947?) notary from Cormoret of Neuveville, later Gléresse
    • Lydia-Clara (1876?-?)
    • Charles-Albert (1877?-1938?)
  • Henri-Constant Favre-Chable (April 13, 1852?-April 29, 1937?) from Cormoret married May 16, 1888 in Courtelary? Ursula-Sophie-Madeleine Chable? (1858?-1937? or after 1938) - lived in Cormoret
    • Ruth-Charlotte-Ursule (1889?-1890?)
    • Charlotte-Emma (1891?-?)
  • Marie-Elisa Huguelet-Favre (1844?-January 1, 1923) of Cormoret married Ulysse Huguelet-Favre (about 1841-December 22, 1924) from Vauffelin
  • Césarine Racine-Favre (about 1854-November 9, 1938) of Cormoret married Aimé Racine (about 1857-June 23, 1918) later of Veytaux
    • Jean Racine
    • George Favre (likely the son of a brother of Césarine)

Unknown relatives:

• William Mac Callum-Favre of Lausanne (likely married a sister)
• Louis-Constant Favre married Maria-Magdalena Schmid (April 23, 1875-December 16, 1925) of Canton Berne
  • Louis-Sydney (March 28, 1898-?)
  • Marie-Olinda (April 13, 1899-August 3, 1899)
  • Constant-Goldbourn (June 21, 1900-February 2, 1901)
  • Charles-Alfred (July 13, 1901-?)