La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds is the higher of the two Neuchâtel-Jura watchmaking towns (the lower is Le Locle) and was rebuilt on a grid plan after an 1794 fire, partly so the daylight in every workshop ran the same way. Karl Marx singled it out in Capital as a model of the manufacture-as-distributed-craft system; the modern town hosts TAG Heuer, Greubel Forsey, the Breitling Chronométrie manufacture, and the École d'Horlogerie that trained much of the rest of the Neuchâtel trade.
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6 pins in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Hover or focus a pin for the brand name; click through for the brand’s catalog page.
Brands in La Chaux-de-Fonds
Webster Clay Ball founded Ball Watch Company in Cleveland, Ohio in 1891 to supply railroad-grade precision timepieces following a catastrophic train collision caused by an inaccurate conductor's watch. The modern Ball Watch SA was incorporated in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, from which all Swiss manufacture specifications and in-house RR-series calibers are developed. The brand retains its founding mission, anti-magnetic, anti-shock, tritium-lit instruments rated to railroad accuracy, and has held official supplier status to several national railways.
Founded by Léon Breitling in 1884 in Saint-Imier; the brand consolidated its operations in Grenchen, Solothurn, in the 20th century and the Breitling Chronométrie manufacture in nearby La Chaux-de-Fonds produces the modern in-house chronograph calibers.
Girard-Perregaux traces its origins to Jean-Francois Bautte who began making watches in Geneva in 1791; the modern lineage consolidated under Constant Girard-Perregaux in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1856. The brand is one of the few Swiss independents to design, develop, and produce its own movements entirely in-house, including the GP01800 tourbillon and the GP03300 sport caliber family. Kering (formerly PPR) acquired Girard-Perregaux in 2012; the brand maintains full manufacture independence within that group.
Founded by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey in 2004, both ex-Renaud et Papi (Audemars Piguet’s high-complications subsidiary). Annual production is around 100 watches across the entire catalog; the brand is one of the most-hand-finishing-oriented makers in modern haute horlogerie.
Édouard Heuer's chronograph house was founded in St-Imier and consolidated in La Chaux-de-Fonds; became TAG Heuer in 1985 and still bases its chronograph manufacture there.
The TAG Group acquired Heuer in 1985 and renamed it TAG Heuer; the manufacture and brand HQ remain in La Chaux-de-Fonds, where Heuer consolidated its operations in the 20th century.