Alfred Lugrin
Alfred Lugrin was a watchmaker and inventor in l'Orient in the Vallée de Joux in the late 19th century. His groundbreaking chronograph and chiming watch complications were patented and licensed to many makers, notably Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret and Leonidas in Saint-Imier.
Alfred-Jules-Fréderich Lugrin was born September 1, 1858 in Le Lieu. He was the son of Jules Lugrin, Bourgeois of Lieu, and Jeanne Françoise (née Cloux) and may have been the only son of the couple. He was known as Alfred Lugrin or A. Lugrin throughout his professional career.
Lugrin worked as a cowherd as a youth but became familiar with watchmaking, which was widely practiced at home workbenches at this time. He was hired as an assistant mechanic at LeCoultre in Le Sentier as a young man and showed great skill and inventiveness.
Lugrin formed his own namesake company in February 1885 at the age of 26 along with three friends. Lugrin married Alice Sophie (née Aubert) in 1887 with a daughter, Jane Louise, born a year later. A son, also named Alfred but called Fredo, came in 1892.
The company was initially located in Le Sentier near LeCoultre but moved down the valley to l'Orient in 1886 when demand required more space and workers. Lugrin initially produced ebauches for simple and complicated watches but began producing complications in-house soon after. Lugrin produced his first repeater in 1889, with a chronograph and rattrapante following soon after.
Lugrin was among the first to submit a patent application, completing the drawings for his "Nouveau système d'accrochement et de décrochement pour montres à répétition" on December 20, 1888, just over a month after the Swiss patent office opened. This application was granted as CH225 on February 11, 1889. His next patent was for "Perfectionnements apportés à la construction des chronographes-compteurs" and was granted as CH359 on March 18, 1889. This was licensed on January 7, 1890 to Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret who soon began production of chronographs in Saint-Imier based on Lugrin's ideas. A third patent that year, "Mécanisme de montre à répétition à minutes, système simplifié et perfectionné", was granted as CH782 on April 5.
Alfred Lugrin (1858-1920) established a workshop to manufacture "mécanismes en tous genres", specifically "répétitions, chronographs, compteurs, quantièmes, rattrapantes, arréts de secondes, etc." in l'Orient-de-l'Orbe in February 1885. Lugrin was son of Jules Lugrin, Bourgeois of Lieu and had previously worked at Jaeger-LeCoultre in nearby Le Sentier. He found quick success based on his inventiveness (as reflected by dozens of patents), access to talented watchmakers in the Vallée de Joux, and location between Geneva and the Jura triangle. Lugrin advertised heavily through the 1890s, gaining many clients throughout Switzerland and becoming a viable competitor for the nearby Le Brassus workshop of Louis-Elisée Piguet. Lugrin and Piguet remain leaders in the field of complicated movements to the present day as Manufacture Breguet and Manufacture Blancpain, respectively.
By 1893, Lugrin had built a true factory with hydraulic power, enabling him to produce ebauches and invest in modern lathes and other machines. Lugrin's movements were marked with his initials "A.L." along with a star and anchor positioned in a cross or heart.
After the turn of the century, Lugrin was increasingly focused on repetition and chronograph complications. These earned him a gold medal in Milan in 1906 and Berne in 1914. Many Lugrin movements also included advanced calendar functions, including windowed day and month and moon phase. His chronographs often included rattrapante functions.
The company was known as A. Lugrin & Cie. by 1908 but the company was not officially registered as such until January 13, 1913. It was reorganized as a Société Anonyme on March 12, 1918. Société Anonyme de la Fabrique d'Horlogerie Lugrin was initially capitalized with 150,000 francs and absorbed the assets of A. Lugrin & Cie, which was deleted from the register in 1919. Lugrin had long had a branch in La Chaux-de-Fonds and this was officially registered by Lugrin S.A. in 1920.
Lemania Watch Co.
Alfred Lugrin died on December 27, 1920, leaving the firm to his son in law, Marius Meylan. Lugrin only added Meylan to management at the end of his life, and the official registration did not appear until March, 1921.
Lugrin had registered the Lemania brand on March 14, 1906, and used it specifically for repeater watches in the pre-war era. Chronographs without repetition were specifically not branded using the Lemania name. Lemania refers to the French name for Lake Geneva, Lac Léman, though the company rarely used the acute mark above the e in official advertisements or publications.
Patents
- CH225, February 11, 1889 - Nouveau système d'accrochement et de décrochement pour montres à répétition
- CH359, March 18, 1889 - Perfectionnements apportés à la construction des chronographes-compteurs - licensed on January 7, 1890 to Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret
- CH782, April 5, 1889 - Mécanisme de montre à répétition à minutes, système simplifié et perfectionné
- CH3883, August 28, 1891 - Perfectionnement apporté à la construction des chronographes-compteurs
- CH6420, March 16, 1893 - Montre „Boston« avec chronographe noyé dans la platine
- CH12175, May 22, 1896 - Mécanisme de chronographe-compteur
- CH12662, July 31, 1896 - Mécanisme d'accrochement et de décrochement pour montres à répétition
- CH13803, February 3, 1897 - Mécanisme simplifié de répétition
- CH15522, October 16, 1897 - Mécanisme modérateur du petit rouage des montres à répétition
- CH17189, December 18, 1898 - Chronographe compteur de minutes
- CH21123, March 26, 1900 - Noureau système de mise en marche de la sonnerie d'une montre à répetition, par un poussoir
- CH23649, April 26, 1901 - Régulateur-modérateur de vitesse perfectionné pour mécanismes d'horlogerie
- CH23754, April 27, 1901 - Mécanisme de répétition
- CH23763, April 2, 1901 - Perfectionnement aux mouvements d'horlogerie à commande électrique
- CH23765, May 27. 1902 - Lame de ressort-timbre pour montres à sonnerie - registered by P. Mercier-Mayer and Charles Glauser-Perrin and handed over to A. Lugrin on February 9, 1905
- CH26285, July 26, 1902 - Mécanisme de répétition à trois marteaux
- CH33812, June 26, 1905 - Mouvement de compteur de sport
- CH34495, August 1, 1905 - Compteur horaire d'électricité
- DE173843, July 14, 1906 - Elektrischer Schalter mit Zeitmesser
- CH44553, October 27, 1908 - Compteur de temps pour sports
- CH56063, March 21, 1911 - Compteur de temps pour sports