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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Not recorded, Switzerland

Bergeon

Partially verified

Maker of catalogued clock mainspring winder, riveting stand / staking tool

History

The company was founded in 1837 by Louis-François Bergeon, who had established a trading house in Livorno and Genoa.

His sons, François and Fritz-Henri Bergeon, later expanded the family business by opening a branch in Le Locle. The firm was closely linked to the family of Philippe Faure, who owned a business specializing in tools for watchmakers, goldsmiths, and engravers. This tool business eventually evolved into the modern entity known as Bergeon SA.

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.

Major innovations

  • The company manufactured an automatic oiler featuring a needle moving inside a cannula, which was originally developed by Büren Watch Co. in 1947.

Known markings

  • Registered trade names used by the brothers included 'Tan na Nopmi' and 'Gardenia F.B.'.

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 Bergeon. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

Diagram

coiled mainspring inside the barrelbarrel teeth driving the trainarbor and hook
Schematic: mainspring and barrel. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. Ölgeber, Wikipedia (German), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  2. Frères Bergeon, Watch-Wiki, retrieved 2026-11-03

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