Revue Thommen

It was at the start of the sixties that four traditional Swiss watch companies decided to join forces in the “Manufactures d’Horlogerie Suisses Réunies SA” (M.S.R – Union of Swiss Watchmakers). The reasons were on the one hand to allow a comprehensive rationalization of production and on the other to reach farther into the international markets with a wider range of horological products. Together the four watchmaking brands could count on a workforce of 760 people who could produce and sell some 600.000 good-quality timepieces a year. The companies belonging to the M.S.R group comprised :

• BUSER FRERES & Cie, a movement manufacturer established in 1893. The family-owned firm started producing complete watches in1916. The main markets for its pocket and wristwatches included Germany, Britain and North America
• The Phenix Watch Co., founded by three watchmakers in 1873. The company name dates from 1902. Products comprised pocket-and wristwatches, among them models with calendar or chronograph.
• The THOMMEN SA watch factory opened in 1869 by Gédéon Thommen in Waldenburg near Basle. As early as 1870 it had instituted production processes on the American model, and could produce astonishingly accurate watches in considerable numbers. By 1905, it was making around 100.000 watches a year. It introduces its first automatic in 1948. With 400 people on its payroll, Thommen SA was the strongest link in the M.S.R chain.
• The Vulcain & Studio watchmaking workshops could look back a good hundred years to its beginnings in 1858. Among its major achievements was the launch of the first large-serieswrist alarm-watch, the “Cricket” in 1948. Vulcain followed this with the ”Golden Voice” in 1958 – the first alarm wristwatch for women. Its golden alarm-diaphragm made it as sweet-sounding as its name.

Wristwatches, by Gisbert L.Brunner & Christian Pfeiffer-Belli - Konemann

LINK

• Our Revue Thommen page