Resist SA

J.-H. Perret

A mainspring workshop was operated by J.-H. Perret in La Chaux-de-Fonds as early as 1848. It was located on Rue du Pont. This is listed as Jules-Henri Perret in 1861 and is located on Grande Rue 18B. This street was renamed Léopold-Robert in the 1870s, and the factory remained at the same address. By 1883 the factory was operated by Albert Perret.

The firm was taken over by Rudolf Alfred Schwab of Siselen in June 1885. He registered an elaborate winged anchor logo in 1887. Schwab became president of the Association des Fabricants de Ressorts et des Lamineurs in 1888.

In 1914 Alfred Schwab was a founding board member of Union Suisse des Tréfileries & Laminoirs d'Acier & Ressorts pour l'Horlogerie & La Mécanique. He served alongside Camille Flotron who would soon acquire his firm. He was also treasurer of Société Suisse des Fabricants de Ressorts, and Flotron soon joined that organization as well.

Resist SA

A new Société Anonyme was formed on October 18, 1918 called Resist, Fabrique de Ressorts. Located in Villeneuve, Aigle, the company specifically took over the assets of Alfred Schwab's operation in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The company was operated by Alfred Schwab and banker Louis Droz.

Resist SA was merged with Flotron et Maeder (successor to Ulysse Santoz-Robert), with Camille Flotron joining the board, on August 5, 1919, less than a year after it was formed. The new board consisted of Flotron, Schwab, lawyer Alphonse Blanc, and Arthur Schaechtelin of Renan and Fribourg.

Resist SA was transferred to La Chaux-de-Fonds in December 1921 as Camille Flotron took over sole management duties. He became president of the Société Suisse des Fabricants de Ressorts, replacing Alfred Schwab, in April 1930. Alfred Schwab, Alphonse Blanc, and Arthur Schaechtelin were removed from the board in 1934 as share capital was reduced dramatically.

With the sudden death of Camille Flotron in an auto accident in 1941, management of Resist SA was taken over by Louis Carbonnier of Neuchâtel.