Rueff Frères
There were a few different watchmaking companies in La Chaux-de-Fonds around the turn of the 20th century. Most notable was Rueff Frères, made up of Maurice and Aimé Rueff.
Rueff Frères was founded as Didisheim & Rueff Frères, with the widow of Gabriel Didisheim joining Maurice Rueff of Belfort and Aimé Rueff of Epiquerez. Didisheim and Maurice Rueff lived in Saint-Imier at this time, while Aimé Rueff was from La Chaux-de-Fonds, where the company was established in the Beau-Site area. The company relocated to Rue Léopold-Robert in 1883 and was reorganized simply as Rueff Frères in 1884. Arthur Didisheim of Besançon joined as a manager at this time, showing that the families remained connected, though he split off to form his own firm in 1887.
Rueff registered many brands, including Telephone, Le Touriste, Lady Cora, Venus, Napoleon, The Britannic, The Baltic, and more.
After the death of Aimé Rueff, Maurice Rueff took over the firm in his own name in 1896.
Rueff Frères produced chronographs, repeater watches and, from 1916, wrist chronographs.
In 1914 the firm was handed over to Gabriel Rueff and Jean Rueff (who lived in Barcelona) and became known as Rueff Frères once again. The firm re-focused on jewelry rather than watches in 1916.
Fritz Salzmann of Eggiwil joined as a manager in 1917. The firm failed in 1925 and Salzmann took over some of the brands. His company failed as well in 1930 and his brands, Montres Venus and Baltic, were transferred to Schwarz-Etienne, which used them for decades after.
See Also
- A. Rueff & Cie - Founded by Abraham and Léopold Rueff of Blotzheim