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.
Browse all 37 La Chaux-de-Fonds references →
10 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
A revival, not an unbroken line: John Arnold opened his London workshop in 1764 and the house took the name Arnold & Son when his son joined him in 1787, but that enterprise did not continue. The modern Swiss manufacture was refounded in 1995 in La Chaux-de-Fonds by The British Masters, and the historic name and the current company are separate businesses a century and a half apart.
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.
Chanel's watch operations are centered in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 2018, Chanel acquired a 20% stake in Kenissi, the movement manufacturer owned by Rolex and Tudor, co-developing Calibre 12.1 for the J12 relaunch. The COSC-certified movement legitimizes Chanel's horological credentials.
Founded 1955 by Gaston Ries and René Bannwart in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The Golden Bridge (1980) and Bubble (2000) established Corum's reputation for design-first watchmaking that operates outside conventional Swiss house aesthetics.
Founded 1911 in La Chaux-de-Fonds by Eugene Blum and Léon Lévy. LVMH acquired Ebel in 2004. The brand's design language, anchored by the coin-edge bezel and wave-lug integration, was developed in the Neuchatel watch-making capital.
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.