The true story of Revue-Thommen watches

Gédéon Thommen set up his watchmaking factory not in the watchmaking cantons of Neuchâtel or Vallée de Joux, but in Waldenbourg, in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, in 1870.

In the early 19th century, Waldenbourg was a busy thoroughfare on the road between Basel and Balsthal, a link between northern Europe and central Switzerland. Travelers and merchants crossed paths, bringing inns, hauliers and blacksmiths to life. But in 1850, the creation of the Basel-Olten railroad line, which passed through a less deep valley to the east, was a terrible blow to the town's economy.

The town decided to set up other industries, and created a watchmaking counter in 1853. In 1860, Gédéon Thommen and Louis Tschopp took over the communal factory. Finally, in 1870, Gédéon Thommen, now on his own, decided to industrialize production by applying the rules of mass production of interchangeable parts.

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