EPSA

Ervin Piquerez SA (EPSA) was a watch case manufacturer in Bassecourt. The company was established in 1939, incorporated in 1942, and bankrupt in 1991.

Ervin Piquerez founded his watch case manufacturing business in 1939.

Ervin Piquerez SA was established on December 24, 1942 to take over the assets and business of Ervin Piquerez' case making business. He remained the sole board member of the company with Robert Bourgnon acting as director and Olga Eichenberger-Piquerez as power of attorney.

Erwin Piquerez died in January 1971 at the age of 62 following an operation in a Basel clinic. By this point EPSA achieved annual sales of 30 million francs and employed 650 workers. His three sons continued to run the factory after his death.

Piquerez Bourquard SA

In 1984 a new company called Piquerez Bourquard SA was created, merging Ervin Piquerez SA and their Boécourt-competitor, La Générale. Production was concentrated at the EPSA factory in Bassecourt, with 200 people continuing to produce watch cases there while another 100 lost their jobs. The company was supported by the Banque cantonale du Jura and the Geneva venture capital company Gesplan SA.

In 1991 an agreement was reached to re-open the E. Piquerez factory in Bassecourt. Eric Monnier, a manufacturer of high-end watch cases in La Chaux-de-Fonds, reached an agreement with the Banque cantonale du Jura to purchase of buildings and real estate of the company, with the intention of re-hiring 60 workers to produce watch cases there again. The company would be called Nouvelle Piquerez SA.