Obrecht & Cie

Obrecht & Cie. was a producer of ebauches in Grenchen in the 19th century. Founded by 1869, the Obrecht factory was taken over by Felsa and brought into Ebauches SA.

Obrecht et Kelly first appears in Indicateur Davoine in 1869 as a fabrique d'horlogerie. This is corrected in 1871 as Obrecht & Kully and further notes offices in London and Buenos-Ayres. The company claimed to specialize in English style watches at this time.

A huge strike hit the factory in 1887, an early sign of the worker strife that would hit all such large companies at this time. Coverage shows that the company was then run by E. Obrecht. It was resolved in 1888 but appears to have hurt the company greatly.

By 1889, Grenchen listed multiple Obrecht firms. P. Obrecht & Cie is a new name, while Eusèbe Obrecht is listed as successor to Société d'Horlogerie de Granges. In 1894 the former company is listed as P. Obrecht, Schwarzentrub, Jean, & Cie but J. Schwarzentrub and P. Obrecht are listed separately in 1896.

Strangely, E. Obrecht is specifically listed as successor to Obrecht & Kully in 1896, while Emile Obrecht-Hugi is successor to Obrecht-Schild and P. Obrecht & Cie is listed as a major producer in Grenchen. Obrecht-Huggi was previously seen in 1890 as a member of the Syndicat des Fabricants d'Horlogerie. For his part, E. Obrecht joined Syndicat des Fabriques d'Ebauches by 1891 along with Flury Frères, Hänni & Künzli, Fréne & Garraux, Charles Emonot, Société Coopérative d'Horlogerie in Pontenet, A. Blanchard & Cie, Société Industrielle in Moutier, and E. Girard in Grenchen. P. Obrecht later joined the Comptoir Général des Ebauches by 1894.

A large 1908 advertisement shows the extent of Obrecht & Cie after the turn of the century. By this point, the company had a large factory complex in Grenchen along with smaller factories in Como, Ditingen near Solothurn, and Bludenz

See Also

• List of ebauche factories