Leonidas

The Leonidas Watch Factory traces its origins to 1841 in Saint-Imier and was merged with Heuer in 1964. It was a large-scale producer of chronographs and stop watches and is associated with the Bourquin and Jeanneret families and Beau-Site area of the town.

Julien Bourquin

The Leonidas company traces its roots to the year 1841, when Julien Bourquin began making watches in Saint-Imier. Bourquin is listed in Indicateur Davoine as early as 1842 in the town, along with Calame (no longer listed after 1844) and Fs-H. Bourquin (noted as "Maison à Londres" and appears to relocate to La Chaux-de-Fonds soon after). Bourquin Frères appears in 1847 and 1848, and Julien continued to be listed alone beyond this date. In 1851 we see Bourquin listed as "Adolphe" but this appears to be an error as Julien is listed in other years. In 1867, Bourquin's production is noted as "fabricant ... et aroenterie et bijouterie" (maker of watches, silverware, and jewelry) and his address is shown for the first time as being Grand Rue 6.

Ferdinand Bourquin

Ferdinand Bourquin is listed as successor to Julien Bourquin in 1886. Still located at Grande Rue, his address is now shown as 111 but it is likely that he did not move from his father's shop since the buildings were renumbered in the early 1880s. This is shown as being "Grande'rue 2 (111)" in 1893 and "Grand'rue 29" the following year. The first advertisement for Ferdinand Bourquin appears in 1895 and declares this is "Ancienne Maison Julien Bourquin Fondée en 1841", leaving little doubt to the continuity. Bourquin lists La Popular as his brand and specifies that he specializes in anchor watches of beauty and quality in 13, 16, and 19 ligne sizes, along with chronographs and stop watches.

In 1901, Ferdinand Bourquin relocated to Rue des Roses 2, a growing factory also used by Ernest Degoumois at that time and the future home of the Fluckiger dial company. He then relocates again to a new larger factory, Fabrique de Beau-Site, on the opposite side of town. This would become the home of Bourquin's successor company, Leonidas, through the 1980s.

Leonidas Watch Factory

The Leonidas name first appears in 1902 in an advertisement for Ferdinand Bourquin's Fabrique d'Horlogerie Beau-Site. It is clear that this brand is used primarily on precision 18 ligne anchor watches, a higher-end product for the company that also produced stopwatches and cheaper patented chronographs as well as a variety of watches under the La Popular brand.

In 1903, Leonidas is advertised being solely represented by J.-H. Jeanneret, and the company is shown to produce chronographs, stop watches, and extra-thin watches. It appears that Jeanneret had purchased a share of the company at this time, though this is not well documented. Leonidas no longer advertises in La Fédération Horlogère after 1904 but the company undoubtedly continued in operation. The company secured design patents in 1907 and 1908 under the name, "Leonidas Watch Factory, Vve Ferdinand Bourquin" suggesting that Bourquin's widow was still in control of the company at that time. A 1909 patent shows only "Leonidas Watch Factory", and the other patents were reassigned that year as well, suggesting a change of ownership.

Constant Jeanneret-Droz' Montre Junior

Watchmaker Constant Jeanneret-Droz, one of the three sons of the Excelsior Park founder Jules Frédéric Jeanneret, established Manufacture Junior by 1902. The company sold anti-magnetic watches, likely based on Fritz Moeri's patent along with electrically illuminated and powered clocks. Manufacture Junior was legally known as "Jeanneret-Droz", as seen in design patents from 1903 and 1904. Junior was located at Rue du Pont 16, across the railroad tracks from the large Usine du Parc and Usine Fritz Moeri factories.

Junior licensed a patent for winding and time setting mechanism from Charles Perrin-Debrot of Saint-Imier that year, suggesting that they were manufacturing their own watches and not just re-selling Moeri's watches. In addition to Manufacture Junior, Constant Jeanneret-Droz also became a wholesaler for chronograph movements produced by LeCoultre in Le Sentier, a curious activity for a Saint-Imier company.

Junior's product line expanded by 1907 to include higher-quality 17 and 19 ligne watches and American-style 16 ligne movements in addition to the 19 ligne anti-magnetic movement. The company also boasted of producing steel, silver, and gold cases with excellent quality.

In 1912 Constant Jeanneret-Droz invested in the Leonidas Watch Factory. Jeanneret-Droz merged Leonidas with his Junior brand, and this appears to have displaced La Popular as the lower-priced brand. They produced precision anchor watches in both normal and ultra-thin models and specialized in chronographs and stop watches and also produced 1 and 8 day automobile dashboard watches, which was a trend at the time. We see the first advertisements for a Leonidas wristwatch in 1916.

The Junior brand is last seen in advertisements in 1919, though the name would be taken up by Helvetia in the 1930s.

Leonidas and Berna

In 1930, Leonidas and Berna were combined, with the latter taking residence along with High Life at Beau-Site 8. Berna at that time specialized in stop watches and chronographs as well, and was differentiated by their patented parts container which was encased inside the movement. This combination was initially publicized as "Leonidas et Berna" but the two companies were advertised independently after 1932. It is likely that Berna was the junior brand to Leonidas, just as Junior and La Popular had been in previous decades.

This should therefore have been the reason that Leonidas produced quite outstanding chronograph movements, because Jeanneret-Droz brought the necessary know-how with him. But Leonidas also manufactured instruments used in the automotive and aerospace areas.

Heuer-Leonidas

On January 1, 1964 the companies Leonidas Watch Factory and Ed. Heuer merge. For a long time the watches are sold under the name 'HEUER LEONIDAS'. After Heuer became TAG Heuer, the name Leonidas disappeared.