Valjoux
Valjoux is a Swiss ebauche movement manufacturer, currently part of the Swatch Group's ETA division.
Foundation as Reymond Frères SA
The predecessor to Valjoux was founded on July 1, 1901 by the brothers Jean and Charles Reymond in Les Bioux. The company was called J. & C. Reymond Frères and specialized in watchmaking mechanisms. In May 1904 the company moved just east of Les Bioux to Vers-Chez-GrosJean in l'Abbaye and is renamed Reymond Frères, with a focus simply on watchmaking.
On January 29, 1910, a special meeting is held to incorporate the Fabrique d'Horlogerie Reymond Frères SA as a public limited company. The firm is again listed in Les Bioux, with John Reymond and Charles Reymond making up the board of directors. The company raises 65,000 francs capital and specified the it specializes on complicated watch movements.
The company specialized on chronograph movements. In 1910 it moved to a factory building maintained by the municipality of Les Bioux.
The company's famous column wheel chronograph movement, Calibre 22, debuted in 1914 and lasted in production for sixty years. But it was larger than desirable for wrist watch use. The military, involved in the First World War, required reliable bracelet chronographs. Thereafter the 13-ligne chronograph Calibre 23 (diameter 29.33 mm, height 5.85 mm) was developed, which in 1916 came to the production stage and soon ticked in the wristwatches of very different manufacturers (for instance Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Vacheron Constantin). The production lasted nearly sixty years, and until 1974 about 125,000 ebauche movements of this type were made.
The name "Valjoux"
Reymond Frères trademarked the brand "Valjoux" (short for Vallée de Joux) and cursive R (for Reymond) mark in November of 1912. By this time the company was specializing in chronographs, rattrapantes, and shaped movements. By 1923, Reymond was producing complete finished movements in addition to ebauches.
On January 25, 1929, the company was officially renamed Valjoux SA, with the Reymond Frères name retired. A generational change took place with the name change in 1929: The Reymond's sons Marius and Arnold took over the company.
In the 1930 years the transition from pocket watch to wristwatch movements was performed. In 1944 the incorporation into the Ebauches SA followed, and the primary focus on chronograph movements was retained.
The Vajloux brand was officially taken over by ETA on October 1, 1992, following the 1979 incorporation of the company into FHF and the 1986 integration of that company into ETA.
Merged into the Swatch Group
The company still delivers its high-quality chronograph movements, including the classic Valjoux 7750, to many companies, such as: IWC, Omega, Breitling, TAG Heuer, Chronoswiss, Sinn, Temption, or Mühle.
The company has now been entirely absorbed by the Swatch Group, the world's largest watch group. This also expresses in the name of the current calibers, adopted by Valjoux, such as the Valjoux 7750, now called ETA 7750; and similarly for the other chronograph calibers.
Timeline
- 1901, January 1 - Under the corporate name Reymond-Golay et Fils, François-Henri Reymond-Golay and his son Charles-Ami Reymond founded a wine and cheese business in Les Bioux
- 1901, July 1 - Under the corporate name J. and C. Reymond Frères, John-Auguste Reymond and Charles-Ami Reymond founded a company for the manufacture of watchmaking mechanisms
- 1904, May 31 - J. & C. Reymond Frères moves from Les Bioux to the locality of Vers-Chez-Gros-Jean in L'Abbaye, rename the company Reymond Frères, and refine the business reason to simply "watchmaking"
- 1910, January 29 - SA de la Fabrique d'Horlogerie Reymond Frères, a public limited company, is incorporated in Les Bioux; its purpose is the manufacture, trade, and sale of watches, specializing in fabrication of ebauches, finishing, and mechanisms of complicated pieces; share capital was 65,000 francs; the board of directors were John Reymond and Charles Reymond
- 1910, February 21 - The former Reymond Frères limited company and Reymond-Golay Fils wine and cheese business are deleted
- 1912, November 14 - Reymond Frères SA trademarks the name "Valjoux" as well as the script "R" brand
- 1925, March 14 - The board of directors consists of John Reymond, Marius Reymond, Arnold Reymond, Charles-E. Rochat, and Hector Golay; John Reymond is director with sole signature; Charles Reymond is removed from the firm
- 1929, January 25 - At a special meeting, the SA de la Fabrique d'Horlogerie Reymond Frères is renamed as Valjoux SA; managing directors are John Reymond, Marius Reymond, and Arnold Reymond
- 1938, January 24 - At a special meeting, share capital is increased to 120,000 francs
- 1938, December 26 - A fund is created for Valjoux workers; administrators are John Reymond, his son Arnold Reymond, and Charles-Edouard Rochat; Arnold Reymond is president
- 1943, December 27 - At a special meeting, share capital for Valjoux SA is increased from 120,000 to 200,000 francs
- 1945, June 27 - At a special meeting the shares are modified to cover a dividend in the event of liquidation; John Reymond is removed as administrator while Marius Raymond, president, and Arnold Reymond are given signing power
- 1946, April 25 - Maurice Perreaud is given power of attorney
- 1947, June 23 - Share capital is increased to 400,000 francs
- 1952, April - John Reymond and Hector Golay, deceased, are no longer part of the administration; Michel Reymond, son of Marius joins
- 1962, January 25 - At a special meeting, share capital is increased to 600,000 francs by issuing new shares
- 1964, June - Paul-Louis Mouquin is appointed deputy director
- 1965, May - Management of the workers' fund for Valjoux is modified, with the council composed of Maurice Perreaud as the new president, Arnold Reymond as secretary, and Marius Reymond a member; Charles-Edouard Rochat resigned
- 1965, June - Arnold Reymond is made vice-president of the board of directors, Michel Reymond is a director with signature
- 1965, November 27 - The 600 vouchers attached to the shares with rights to liquidation proceeds are deleted; the company's purpose is "the manufacture, purchase and sale of all watch hardware as well as precision devices and instruments, especially the manufacture and sale of mechanisms of complicated parts"; the board of directors is composed of Marius Reymond, president, Arnold Reymond, member, François Du Pasquier, member, Hans Glauser, member, Léo Du Pasquier, member; Louis-Marius Rochat is appointed commercial director, Paul-Louis Mouquin is appointed technical director, Michel Reymond is appointed deputy director, Maurice Perreaud is given power of attorney
- 1966, March 18 - The workers' fund is dissolved, with coverage transferred to the workers fund of Ebauches SA
- 1972, June - The board of directors consists of Léo Du Pasquier, president, François Du Pasquier, vice-president, Hans Glauser, member, Louis-Marius Rochat, member, André Beyner, member; Marius Reymond and Arnold Reymond are no longer part of the board and the signature of Michel Reymond, deputy director, is cancelled
- 1974, May - François-Alain Sandoz is appointed administrator
- 1974, September - Paul-Louis Mouquin is removed as director
- 1975, September - Léo Du Pasquier, François Du Pasquier, and Hans Glauser resign as directors; André Beiner is named president, Pierre-Albert Stucker is appointed director and secretary, and Francis Berner and Marcel Huguenin are appointed directors
- 1979, April 4 - The board votes to dissolve Valjoux SA and merge it with FHF
- 1979, April 6 - It is announced that Valjoux, along with Fabrique d'Ebauches de Peseux, Fabrique d'Ebauches de Fleurier, Ebauches Tavannes, and Fabrique d'Ebauches Unitas would be merged into Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon as Ebauches SA is consolidated as of January 1
- 1979, April 9 - Fabriques d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon SA Succursale Valjoux is officially created, making Valjoux a subsidiary of FHF; the board of directors consists of Denis Robert, Jacques Liengme, and Charles Porret
- 1986, April - FHF is merged into ETA SA Fabriques d'Ebauches and the Valjoux branch in Les Bioux is deleted
- 1992, October 1 - The Valjoux trademark is moved to ETA