Gallet & Co.

Gallet
Type Privately held company
Industry watch movement & case manufacturing
Founded 1466 by Humbertus Gallet under family name (Geneva, Switzerland), later registered as Gallet & Cie in 1826 by Julien Gallet (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland)
Headquarters Zollikon-Zürich, Switzerland
Key people Georg Raytchev (Master Watchmaker)
Walter Hediger (CEO)
David R. Laurence (COO)
Amanda Slaz (Creative Director)
Products wristwatches, stopwatches, and industrial timers for professional application
Website Gallet Official Website

Gallet is a historical Swiss manufacturer of high-end timepieces for professional use.

Gallet is the world’s oldest watch and clock making house with history dating back to Humbertus Gallet, a clock maker who became a citizen of Geneva in 1466.[1][2] The Gallet & Cie (Gallet & Company) name was officially registered by Julien Gallet (1806–1849) in 1826,[3] who moved the family business from Geneva to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Prior to this date, operations commenced under the name of each of the family patriarchs.

Gallet is best known during the 20th century to the present day for its line of MultiChron chronograph wristwatches. Produced primarily for military, industrial, and other professional applications,[4] Gallet’s MultiChron watches often incorporated a number of advanced timekeeping innovations.[5][6]

A Gallet timepiece of particular renown was the Flight Officer time zone chronograph. Commissioned by Senator Harry S. Truman in 1939[7] for pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, the Flight Officer (a.k.a. Flying Officer) had a rotating 12 hour bezel and the names of 48 major world cities printed on the periphery of the dial (face). These features made it possible to calculate changes in the time as an aviator flew across lines of longitude. Besides being the first time zone calculating wristwatch, the Flight Officer was one of the world’s first wrist chronographs to be housed in a water resistant case.[5] Truman wore a Gallet Flight Officer during his terms as 33rd president (1945–1953).

The modern Gallet Company is one of a small handful of independent Swiss watch brands that still maintain in-house manufacturing facilities. While recently expanding the company’s marketing focus to reach a wider audience of “civilian” consumers for its expensive professional-use timepieces, Gallet continues to privately produce components and modules for a number of other entities within the luxury-class timekeeping industry.

Contents

History

For the Gallet family of watchmakers, the relocation to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1826 after 350 years in Geneva[8] proved to be a most advantageous move. With the resources available in the “Watch Valley”, family patriarch Julien Gallet (1806–1849) was able to expand the new company’s distribution of its pocket watches to all of Europe.

In 1855, Julien Gallet’s son Léon (1832–1899) purchased Grumbach & Co., complete with factory and equipment, to facilitate the need for greater manufacturing capabilities. With this increase in work area, Gallet was able to bring together under one roof, many of the Jura Region’s watchmakers to help meet Europe’s increasing demand for watches.

Léon Gallet allowed his watchmakers to benefit through the registration of patents in their own names. This unique approach inspired innovation with Gallet's artisans and allowed the company to offer a very extensive range of watches. With innovation came growth and Gallet & Cie grew to become one the largest timekeeping manufacturers in Switzerland.

Léon Gallet set his sights on the rest of the world markets. In 1864, Léon's brother, Lucien Gallet (1834–1879), established the company's first US location in Chicago,[9] with a New York City office following soon after. Together with Jules Racine, a cousin of the Gallet brothers living in the US, the company began its expansion into the American market.[10]

Due to the American consumer’s preference for domestically styled products, the Gallet Company created numerous new lines to accommodate this. Not including watches privately labeled for established jewelry retailers, Gallet introduced thirty-seven new brands.[11] While the names that appeared on the dials and the overall appearance and function of these watches were tailored to American tastes, all cases and movements continued to be produced in Gallet’s La Chaux-Fonds workshop.

Each of the numerous brands were designed to target a different demographic. Lower priced watches were supplied to the average working man, as well as expensive high-grade and complicated timepieces in solid gold cases for the wealthy. Gallet’s finest pocket watches, hand-built in the classic Swiss tradition and retaining the family flagship and Electa names, were always available. Although not initially successful, included with the company’s American offerings in 1895 were the world’s first wrist-worn watches produced for mass consumption. By the end of the 19th century, the Gallet family was manufacturing and selling over 100,000 timepieces per year.

When the worldwide economic downturn of the 1930s caused international trade to plunge by as much as two-thirds, it suddenly became unprofitable for the Gallet Company to continue production of many of its recently established brands. Gallet chose instead, to consolidate its efforts back into its primary area of expertise, that of the manufacture of high quality professional-use timepieces. Under the family name, the Gallet Company continued to flourish by providing hand-held timers[12] and chronograph wristwatches to allied military and industrial clients during the years leading up to and through World War II. During this period, the Gallet’s sales again surpassed 100,000 units annually.

A wartime Gallet timepiece of particular renown was the Flight Officer time-zone chronograph (1939–present). Commissioned by Senator Harry S. Truman’s senatorial staff in 1939 for the United States Army Air Force, this wristwatch made it possible to calculate changes in the time as a pilot flew across lines of longitude.[7]

After the war, Gallet’s renewed worldwide popularity with civilians and professionals in the fields of aviation, sports, medicine, and technology eliminated the necessity to manufacture numerous secondary brands. With the exception of the few brand names that the company retained for its sports and industrial stopwatch lines, most of Gallet's previously held trademarks went back into circulation.

Time Line

Early Innovations

Among the Gallet's professional timekeeping innovations are:

Early Awards and Recognition

Gallet Brands/Trademarks (Pre-1940’s)

Gallet Watch and Clock Making Dynasty

Wrist Watch Models - 1900 to the Present

Vintage Wrist Watch Gallery

Historic Timer Gallery

References

  1. ^ Alfred L. Covelle (1897). Le Livre des Bourgeois de l'ancienne République de Genève. p. 59. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Republique et Canton de Geneve, Department des Institutions, Archives d’Etat
  3. ^ Kathleen H. Pritchard, Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775-1975, (2 Bände), West Kennebunk 1997
  4. ^ a b c d Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc., Volume XXI, No. 5, October 1979, Pg. 511
  5. ^ a b c d Horology, Volume VI, No. 11, Pg. 6, Feb. 1940, "Waterproof Watches, Part Two"
  6. ^ a b c The Jewelers' Circular-Keystone, January 1939, pg.52
  7. ^ a b c d http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/nwcm-62500-Presidential-Timepieces-Exhibit-pres-exhib-flas-Education-ppt-powerpoint/
  8. ^ Le Livre des Bourgeois de l'ancienne République de Genève", Alfred L. Covelle, 1897, page 59
  9. ^ a b c d e Brunner, Gisbert L.; Pfeiffer-Belli, Christian (1999), Wristwatches Armbandhuren Montres-bracelets, Germany: Konemann, page 170
  10. ^ a b c d The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review, 17 May 1899, Pg. 17
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Kathleen H. Pritchard, Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775-1975, (2 Bände), West Kennebunk 1997, pages G-4 to G-8
  12. ^ Marvin E. Whitney, Military Timepieces, American Watchmakers Institute Press, USA, 1992
  13. ^ Le Livre des Bourgeois de l'ancienne République de Genève", Alfred L. Covelle, 1897, page 59)
  14. ^ André Francillon, History of Longines, Richard Watkins, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia 2005, pg. 32
  15. ^ Death List of a Day, The New York Times, 11 May 1899
  16. ^ Death of Leon L. Gallet, The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review, 17 May 1899, Pg. 17
  17. ^ Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC), February 1998, Pg. 83
  18. ^ Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC), October 1999, Pgs. 659 & 660
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Kathleen H. Pritchard, Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775-1975, (2 Bände), West Kennebunk 1997, pg. G-6
  20. ^ Catherine Cardinal, Jean-Michael Piquet, Catalogue of Selected Pieces, Institut l'homme et le temps, pg. 5
  21. ^ Journel Suisse d’horlogerie, Revue Horlogerie Universelle, Geneve, 1905-1906
  22. ^ A Concise Guide to Military Timepieces 1880-1900, Z. M. Wesolowski, Crowood Press 1999, pg. 32
  23. ^ Lucien F. Trueb, Children of the quartz revolution, Editions »Institut l'homme et le temps" - Musée International d'Horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Athena, ISBN 978-2-940088-25-6
  24. ^ Fermeture de l’entreprise Excelsior Park, Le Jura bernois, 6 avril 1983
  25. ^ Marvin E. Whitney, Military Timepieces, American Watchmakers Institute Press 1992, Pg. 559
  26. ^ a b c d e United States Horological Trademark Index, Kurtis Meyers, 2004, Historymania, pg. 355
  27. ^ World Military Watch, Kesaharu Imai, World Photo Press, pgs. 122 - 125
  28. ^ Gerd R. Lang and Reinhard Meis, Chronograph Wristwatches to Stop Time, (Schiffer) Germany 1993
  29. ^ a b c United States Horological Trademark Index, Kurtis Meyers, 2004, Historymania, pg. 137
  30. ^ United States Horological Trademark Index, Kurtis Meyers, 2004, Historymania, pg. 105

Bibliography

External links