History

Edouard Heuer started making watches in 1860 fom a studio in Saint-Imier Vally.He was the son of a shoemaker and started his interest in watchmaking at the age of 14.His apprenticeship becan in 1854 with a simple artian and in just two year he approched one of the most reputable watchmaking studios in Saint-Imier,Louis Kierner & sons.

They gave him the job of inspector which in the two years he was there gave him the knowledge and skill which he craved for, it also taught him the skills in the way a small watch company ran.His ambition got the better of him and in 1860 just six years from first picking up a watch he decided to open his own workshop.

He started by producing silver pocket watches and like the LouisKierner workshop he sent the parts for the movements out to watchmakers homes then assembled the case and movement back at the workshop.This was done to save the expence of full time employies.The next four years made the backbone of his career in which he got married ,had three children and finnally moved Brugg , his hometown, and bought a shop, E.Heuer & Compagnie.

This shop was sucsessful and provided for him and his family but it was not enough. Edouard was not content without continuing development on watches.He was fed up with the way the pocket watch needed a key to wind it which invariable got lost all too easily. In 1866 the first watches with lever ,cylinder escapement movement where made and shipped all over Europe.This innovation ,the first watch with a winding crown,gave him great fame and was on the verge of great fortune when the Austro Prussian war broke out.This crippled proceedings and Heuer had to close his little factory close to ruin.Most people forget this amazing advance in watchmaking which paved the way from then till now.

At the time the village of Bienne was becomming the watchmaking capital of switzerland it offered new businesses a three year tax exemption incentive.The Heuer family took up the opertunity and moved to Bienne and continued with the crown mechanism which took him three long years to be granted the Patent.After which again on the verge of great fortune in 1870 war broke out again. This time the business survived and after the war came a time of great econimic growth.The movement became favorable amoungst watch companies and Edouard had to expand his company. He decided to market hes watches himself, and so travelled to England to where, as you might expect with the English who hate change, his watches didn'y go down well. Edouard returned home to hear news that the American watch company Waltham had stolen the show at the Universal Exhibition with the promise of 250,000 watches a year, which where also reliable. Eduouard knew he has to conserntrate on quality, and in 1878 he teamed up with Fritz Lambelet an expert in pressious stones. Together they built a workshop to create watches using rubies which reduced rubbing and wear prolonging the movement life. The gems they imported in from British India and the joint company Heuer Lambelet and Co was formed. They opened an office in London and sales trickled slowly along but due to bad Uk management the office eventually had to close.

The closeure of the london office turned out not to be such a bad thing as Edouard had discoverd a new market in England.Timers for sporting events, something us English where mad about. Edouard knew the Americans couldn't produce the quality needed for stopwatches and chronographs and between 1882 and 1885 a few patents where registered and watches sold well. Eduoard sent his son to work in England in a gem company and by the end of 1885 Lambelet left the company so it was known again as Edouard Heuer and Co.

In 1887 Edouard, before his death was unfortunately hit with tragedy when his Daughter was killed by a freak accident when she spilt alcohol onto a fire and was badly burnt and died a few weeks later. She was to have been said very gifted and would have played a big part in the business. Not able to carry on he han ded the reigns over to His eldest son Jules-Edouard along with his brother Charles-Auguste.. On the 30th April 1892 Edouard Heuer died aged 55 a wealthy and famous watchmaker.

In 1895 the workshop head Emile Flotron gave the Brothers a revolutionary chronograph which was waterproof. The importance was quickly realised for the sporting market especially for the Olympics the following year. The company ran happily for a few years then the watch industry saw the invention of the synthetic jewel which hit Heuer hard as the company had profiting greatly with the trade of stones.

The two brothers now had to adapt and in the early 1900's they became more efficient and strict at the workplace and deci ded to break into the American market. They put an Ad in a Local New York paper looking for an importer, and found a reliable company called Henry Freund & Bros. They were distributors of Diamonds, Jewelry and watches, and the relationship was to last many years with Henry becoming a close and invaluable friend. He advised them to use his own Jewelry brand name "The Rose" on watches and movements for the American market. It so happened that the customs inspectors required the manufacturers name to be marked on its products. So on the 2nd of April 1912 the company was renamed Ed. Heuer & Co, Rose watch Co. Just prior to this Jules Edouard passed away so Charles-Auguste, missing his brother and business partner hired the help of an assistant to modernize the company. Among some of the new inventions was a pregnancy calendar in a pocket watch and the appearance of the heuer logo on the top of letter headings.

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