Berna

Berna is a historic watch brand named for the canton of Berne. The brand was originally used by Droz & Cie of Saint-Imier around 1890.

Droz & Cie

The predecessor to Montres Berna is first seen as Droz et Perret in 1869, though contemporary accounts say the company was founded in 1864. The company produced "remont. au pend." and was a partnership between Alcide Droz and Henri Perret. It was located at Rue du Stand in Saint-Imier through 1869 before moving to Rue de la Cure from 1869 through 1877 and finally Rue des Marronniers until 1880. This location, along the railroad to the west of town, would be the location of the large Droz factory for a century. Droz became known as Alcide Droz et Fils in 1883 after Henri Perret died of bronchitis on March 1, 1882, and this was the company's name through 1886.

Alcide Droz patented a waterproof watch in Paris and London, and this was the main focus of the company in 1883. A contemporary account in l'Impartial claimed it "is bathed in a glass of water and which is no worse for it. This watch ... is intended to render real services in hot countries, where it will be protected from rust; in the mines and factories, where dust and steam will do nothing to him; on the sea, where it will resist damage to humidity and saline exhalations. Finally, I recommend this amphibious piece to water sports enthusiasts - prone to being shipwrecked."

Alcide Droz became ill and the company was renamed Droz et Cie or Droz & Cie in 1885. He died after a long illness on October 25, 1887. The company was already using the Berna brand name by 1895 and this would become the primary brand for the landmark factory. But the company also used the Jonchéres and Maxim brands around the turn of the century.

Berna SA

By 1905, the company was officially called Fabrique d'Horlogerie Berna S.A. (Ancienne Maison Droz & Cie). The company expanded rapidly and soon ran into trouble. It was offered for liquidation, including the brand, factory, materials, and house and farm, in July 1908.

It is not clear what the result of this public auction was, but Berna did not disappear. Indeed, by December 1908 Berna Watch Co. purchased the patents of Ernest Degoumois for a thin pocket watch with a visible balance and was hiring representatives again. An advertisement from that period shows the same factory (Marronniers 20) from a different angle, along with the claim "Maison Fondée en 1864" and claims about awards from 1900 and 1906. The advertisement further claims that the company specializes in good quality watches of both normal and thin profile, from 11 to 26 ligne.

By 1916, Berna was using the term, "High-Life Watches" in advertisements. In 1925, a new company called High-Life SA was formed to distribute watches produced by Berna Watch Co. and Unitas Watch Co. SA. It seems clear that High-Life was the parent company for Berna Watch Co. after this, with the brand also used specifically on 17 ligne ultra-thin watches. Berna had also begun manufacturing stopwatches, chronographs, and rattrapante chronographs by this time. The company's 10.5-22 ligne watches were variously sold as Berna, Marna, Maxim, Va Bien, and Chronoberna. Berna was again in financial trouble in 1927, coming close to liquidation. The company remained at Marronniers 20 through 1928 at least.

In 1930, Berna is owned by Charles Jeanneret and is seen in an advertisement as "Leonidas et Berna." By 1931, Berna and High-Life appear to be merged, and were located officially across Saint-Imier at Beau-Site 8. This was directly next to Leonidas Watch Factory and was formerly used by watchmaker Henry Schaller since 1922. The company was reorganized in 1939. Berna and High-Life remained at this location at least through 1962.

The company was reorganized as Berna Watch Factory SA in 1963, remaining in Saint-Imier through at least 1970. In the late 1960s the company used the Adler, Aguila, Aigle, Berna, and Eagle brands.