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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Geneva; Le Locle; Vallée de Joux, Switzerland

Geneva & Vallée de Joux Trade (collective)

Partially verified

Ébauche supply, finishing, complications and export watches

History

Swiss production long operated as a distributed network: ébauche makers supplied rough movements, specialists finished escapements and complications, and finishing houses signed and cased the result. Many nineteenth-century pocket watches therefore have no single identifiable maker.

Major innovations

  • Établissage division of labour
  • Concentration of complication specialists in the Vallée de Joux

Known markings

  • Retailer signatures
  • Ébauche maker's punch marks
  • Geneva or Swiss quality markings

Serial numbers

Serial numbers on trade watches usually identify the finishing house or retailer, not an original manufacturer, and rarely permit precise dating.

Collecting significance

Attribution is the central research challenge; movement architecture and punch marks usually carry more information than a dial signature.

Sources & references

  1. Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, collection documentation
  2. Attribution practice varies between authors; treat single-source claims with care.

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