Eugène Couleru

Eugène Couleru was a watchmaker and businessman active in La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaking after the turn of the century. He was the son of famed watchmaker and inventor Charles Couleru-Meuri and inherited his father's firm. Eugène Couleru was involved in the development of 8-day clocks and watches, which were a huge commercial hit before World War I, and held the Octo brand along with business partner Marc Dubois.

Eugène-Léon Couleru was the eldest son of Charles Couleru-Meuri and Maria-Julia Möri, born in the 1880s. He was a watchmaker like his father and was listed on many of the company's patents starting in 1900. Eugène's company, Fabrique d'Horlogerie Octo, Eugène Couleru, appears at Rue Jaquet-Droz 47 in 1909, just after the closure of his father's workshop at Montbrillant 1. Interestingly, he is listed in the Annuaires des Adresses as "Eugène Couleru" at his home address ("Ménagère") and as "Eugène Couleru-Meuri" for his business. The business remains listed as "Eugène Couleru-Meuri" until his father's death in 1918 and is listed as "Eugène Couleru" after this.

Eugène Couleru's company would take up the watchmaking business of Couleru-Meuri, and he is shown as the producer of "Octo" watches starting in 1912. The workshop relocated from the central Rue Jaquet-Droz out to Rue de la Charrière 37 in 1914. In 1920 an official listing shows Eugène-Léon Couleru of Fontainemelon as chief of "Eugène Couleru, Fabrique Octo" located at Rue de la Charrière 37 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The Octo brand was registered in June 1923.

Couleru produced Octo-branded watches for sale by the firm of Marc Dubois, which by that time was owned by Ernest Tolck. But Couleru did not continue his father's tradition of chronometry and complications. Eugène Couleru is listed as registering "Fabrique Octo" in 1920, and was still associated with the Octo brand by 1927.

But Couleru's new firm did not fare well and would enter bankruptcy on October 5, 1926. That year, the Couleru workshop became a home-based business at Rue des Tourelles, coincidentally quite close to the Montbrillant factory used by his father. The business was disbanded in March 1927 with the Octo mark taken over by Ernest Tolck in August. Eugène Couleru moved back to the center of town at Rue de la Serre in 1929, and his last appearance in Indicateur Davoine is 1930. This would mark the end of Eugène's business, and perhaps was the year of his death, as he is no longer listed in the La Chaux-de-Fonds directory.

Eugène Couleru married Frieda Haudenschild in 1909. Eugène Couleru-Haudenschild died in 1936. He was survived by his widow Frieda (née Haudenschild) and daughters Yvonne and Suzanne-Lily as well as his mother and siblings. His son Henri-Eugène died in 1926 at the age of 16. Frieda Couleru-Haudenschild lived for many more years, celebrating her 90th birthday in 1975.

Patents

• CH19973, May 8, 1900 - Pièce métallique tenant lieu de pierre pour mouvement d'horlogerie
• CH65378, July 10, 1913 - Mécanisme de remontage et de mise à l'heure aux montres pour automobiles et autres véhicules (for Octo)
• CH101852, November 3, 1922 - Mécanisme de remontage et de mise à l'heure dans les montres se remontant par la lunette de glace (for Octo)