Théodor Schild

Théodor Schild (1870-1950) was a businessman and engineer famous as manager of Eterna, who held out against Ebauches SA and ASUAG until 1932. After his firm was split, Théodor served on the board of both Eterna and ETA and later of ASUAG and Ebauches SA. He was the son of Urs Schild-Rust, founder of Eterna, and brother of Max Schild.

Early Life

Théodor Schild was born on May 31, 1870. His name is frequently spelled "Théodore" in French publications. He was the son of Urs Schild-Rust, founder of Eterna, and grandson of Anton Schild, who brought watchmaking to Grenchen in the 1850s.

After graduating from the Solothurn Cantonal School, Schild trained as a mechanical engineer at ETH. He graduated in March 1893 with a diploma in mechanical engineering. Théodor Schild then traveled to Lille, where he worked in a steam engine factory, and Birmingham, where he worked in a bicycle factory. In France and England he became fluent in French and English and learned the skills that would serve him later in life.

Returning to Switzerland in 1894, Théodor Schild founded his own bicycle factory, Kosmos Theodor Schild & Co. in Bienne. It seemed that he would escape Grenchen and the watchmaking industry, leaving the family firm to his older brother.

Eterna

Urs Schild had died in 1888, leaving his brother Adolf Schild-Hugi, widow, and son Max in charge. Adolf left to found his own firm, A. Schild, in 1896 and Max took charge for the next decade. Max had visited America in 1890 and attempted to enforce American-style mass production on the firm, causing strife among the workers.

Max left the company in 1899, calling Théodor to return and take charge a year earlier. Thus, he was forced to leave the bicycle factory to his younger brother Bruno. Théodor oversaw the renaming of the firm to Eterna in 1905 and officially took over in 1906.

Théodor Schild was considered an authority on watchmaking, overseeing all aspects of design, production, and sales. Unlike his brother, Théodor was widely respected by the workers, who supported him as he guided the company to become the most powerful and valuable watchmaking firm in Grenchen before the First World War. During Théodor Schild's time managing the company, Eterna made many important advancements, including one of the first wristwatches, alarm watches, waterproof watches, and automatic watches, including the first ball bearings.

ASUAG

Théodor was uninterested in joining the holding company Ebauches SA, which was founded by his cousin César Schild-Krebs' A. Schild factory along with FHF and A. Michel. Eterna was a vertically-integrated manufacture unlike those firms, which focused on ebauches. Indeed, Eterna would become known as a dissident as the industry consolidated after 1926.

When the "Super-Holding" company ASUAG was founded in 1931 with a federal bankroll of 50 million francs, Théodor Schild finally relented. He allowed Eterna to be split, with his nephew Rudolf Schild-Comtesse (Max's son) taking over both the watchmaking arm and ebauche factory, now called ETA. Théodor remained a board member of Eterna and president of ETA, however, and rose to the board of both ASUAG and Ebauches SA.

Later Life

Théodor Schild also made many contributions to the community of Grenchen, initiating the construction of the gas and water works and setting up a cantonal bank branch in the city. He later founded the community electric plant and was the financial and technical initiator of the Grenchen-Münster tunnel.

Schild died on June 10, 1950 of a stroke, just 10 days after his 80th birthday celebration. He was survived by his wife, and his children Gerda Seidlitz-Schild, René Schild, Lilian Benziger-Schild, and Roswitha Benziger-Schild.

Note: A few contemporary articles list his birth year as 1890 and claim that he died on May 31, 1950 (exactly 80 years after his birth) but these are incorrect.