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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Geneva and Paris, Switzerland and France

B. Haas Jne & Cie

Partially verified

High-quality complicated pocket watches and chronometers

History

The watchmaking house B. Haas Jne & Cie was founded in Geneva in 1848 by Benjamin Haas.

The company maintained a primary office in Paris and established significant manufacturing facilities in Besançon, while the Geneva branch was managed by Léopold Haas. Operating under the B. Haas Jne & Cie name, the firm achieved international acclaim and became a purveyor to royal courts, including an appointment to Emperor Napoleon III. In 1895, the original house was declared dissolved, leading to the establishment of the successor firm Haas Neveux & Cie, which integrated various family members.

The extended history summarises the open references listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited passage. Confirm key dates in period documents before relying on them.

Key models

Independent Perpetual Calendar
This double-dialed pocket watch featured moon phases and a triple date calendar mechanism.
Minute Repeating Double-Dial Watch
Introduced around 1880, this complicated timepiece featured separate wheel trains for timekeeping and jump center seconds.

Major innovations

  • The company developed a detached remontoir d’égalité mechanism, patented by Benjamin Haas in 1867, which was actuated by closing the watch's case cover.
  • The firm introduced a perpetual calendar complication in 1872 that utilized a pin-driven plate system.
  • Haas is credited with the development of ultra-flat movements, with the company showcasing a two-millimeter thick movement at the 1896 Geneva Exhibition.

Known markings

  • The firm utilized signatures such as B. Haas Jne & Cie and B. Haas Jeune.
  • The company marked its high-complication pieces with labels identifying them as patented, such as Chronomètre Répétition à Minutes Quantième.

Serial numbers

No serial-number system for this maker is recorded in the cited references.

Collecting significance

The catalogued pieces listed on this page show the kinds of objects auction houses, dealers and museums attribute to this maker; each attribution is the source's own.

In the object catalogue

2 catalogued objects are recorded under B. Haas Jne & Cie. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

  • Frontal view showing the two faces of the watch: the primary dial with moon phase (bottom) and the reverse dial displaying calendar functions (top).
  • Front cover of the B Haas, Jne. pocket watch showing the enamelled portrait of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar bordered by diamonds and blue enamel

Sources & references

  1. Haas - Watch-Wiki - Das Uhrenlexikon, Watch-Wiki, retrieved 2026-11-03 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
  2. Longines, Haas Jeune | pocket watches – ParkerSheaffer, parkersheaffer.com, retrieved 2026-11-03 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
  3. B. Haas Jeune & Cie. A fine rare and unusual 18K gold minute repeating double-dial two-train keyless lever chronometer with independent jump centre seconds and , Christie's, retrieved 2026-11-03 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
  4. Realized price for Double-Dialed" B, archivedauctions.com, retrieved 2026-11-03 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
  5. Realized price for B. Haas Jne & Cie, archivedauctions.com, retrieved 2026-11-03 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.