Emile Schweingruber

Emile Schweingruber (1868-1936) was a manufacturer of balance springs and mainsprings in Saint-Imier.

Emile Schweingruber was born in 1868 in Saint-Imier. The son of Christian Schweingruber, he founded a balance spring factory there in 1898 to compete with the FSR cartel.

The company was initially simply called "Emile Schweingruber" (often "Ele") but was renamed "Fabrique de Spiraux de St. Imier" in 1901. The company registered the "Self" brand in 1905 and added production of various chemicals in 1907.

In 1908 the FSR cartel moved to take control of Schweingruber's factory, reorganizing it as a Société Anonyme called Fabrique de Spiraux de St. Imier. FSR director Charles-Albert Vuille becomes chairman of the company, with Saint-Imier businessman Baptiste Savoye becoming vice-chairman and Paul Charmillot secretary. Emile Schweingruber himself remained on as manager of the company. Savoye and Charmillot resigned in 1914, replaced on the board by Schweingruber and Louis Huguenin of La Chaux-de-Fonds spring maker Huguenin-Girard.

The Fabrique de Spiraux in Saint-Imier remains listed in Indicateur Davoine through 1923. After this it may have been taken over by Fabrique Nationale de Spiraux in nearby La Chaux-de-Fonds, continued quietly by FSR before being merged into W. Ruch (later Nivarox), or simply closed.

Schweingruber continued to produce other types of springs in Saint-Imier under his own name as well as using the brand "Sonia".

Emile Schweingruber died in November 1936 after a long illness.