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Publication : October 2024
1. Paul Wyler & Cie
Paul and Victor Wyler founded the Paul Wyler & Cie watchmaking factory in Basel in 1924 [1]. Three years later, Wyler patented a flexible balance capable of absorbing shocks [2]: it was the Incaflex balance that would make the company famous, as it quickly associated the adjective “unbreakable” with its watches. This invention may well have been the brainchild of the famous Swiss engineer Ernest Morf, to whom Wyler entrusted the management of a branch in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the same year.
Victor Wyler died in 1928, and two other members of the Wyler family joined the company: Victor's widow, Fanny, and Paul's brother Alfred [3].
In 1930, Paul, Alfred and Frieda Liebmann-Wyler took over the Liema factory in Biel [4], with Frieda taking over the management. Liema had been founded in 1917 in Biel by Sigmund Liebmann [5]. Sigmund and Frieda probably had family connections. Sigmund Liebmann continued his watchmaking activities in Biel with the Liban and Libana brands.
1936
In 1931, Paul and Alfred Wyler joined forces with Ernest Morf to create Fabrique des montres Wyler SA in La Chaux-de-Fonds [6]. This was undoubtedly a manufacturing entity: the Paul Wyler & Cie company in Basel still exists, and it is this company that manages certain trademarks and patents, for example.
It was from the 1930s onwards that Wyler experienced strong expansion, thanks to numerous technical innovations and highly original advertising campaigns.
For example, in 1931 to prove the effectiveness of its anti-shock system, a Wyler watch was thrown from the top of the Eiffel Tower! The bailiff's report was formal: the watch continued to run normally, neither moving forwards nor backwards [7]. This “exploit” was later repeated in Toronto, Canada.
Wyler was also a forerunner in the field of sports sponsorship: as early as 1932, André Leducq, winner of the Tour de France, wore a Wyler watch and said “Thanks to the Wyler watch, I'm always on time at the finish [8]”, and in 1933, the famous racing driver Louis Chiron was “Always happy with the Wyler watch [9]”.
It was also in the early 1930s that Wyler launched a number of groundbreaking innovations: an automatic rectangular watch in 1933, a water-resistant rectangular watch in 1935 (water-resistance became a speciality of the company), and a Duotric ladies' watch in 1936.
1938
In 1936, Ernest Morf left the company to join EMO, which he had founded in 1930 [10]. The headquarters of Fabrique des Montres Wyler were transferred to Biel.
In 1941, Frieda Wyler died, and the assets of Paul Wyler & Cie in Basel were transferred to the Fabrique des Montres Wyler in Biel. The Wyler brothers then took over the management of their American subsidiary, Wyler Watch Corp. in New York [11], and a new manager was appointed in Biel: Emil Hermle-Urech.
2. Fabrique de Montres Wyler SA
After the Second World War, Wyler followed the strong growth of Swiss watchmaking around the world. The company was well established in the USA, France, Italy (where watches were branded Wyler-Vetta) and the Far East.
New models are created, such as the Dynawind automatic watch in 1951, the updated Marquise watch for ladies, or the Stratowind world time watch in 1954.
1946
Like many other manufacturers at the time, Wyler submitted watches to the Bureaux de Contrôle Officiel de la Marche des Montres to obtain chronometer bulletins. In 1951, for example, Wyler obtained 43 bulletins in Bienne [12].
In 1958, Wyler inaugurated a new factory in Biel [13]. It was designed by Berne architect Klein. The bright, airy buildings are state-of-the-art.
Although a specialist in water-resistance, Wyler did not develop a diver's watch until 1962. This was the Life Guard model, with a black dial, rotating bezel and water resistance to 200m. In 1966, the model was updated under the name Heavy Duty 660: it was now a diver's watch with a feature that was to become commonplace on Wyler sports watches: the crown was no longer located at 3 o'clock, but at 4 o'clock. This protects it from side impact.
In 1972, Alfred Wyler died, and was replaced on the board by Victor Wyler.
1972
In the same year, Wyler joined forces with 4 other Swiss manufacturers (Devina, Glycine, Milus and Buttes Watch) to create the Ditronic operating community [14]. The aim was to launch an original quartz watch with a digital liquid crystal display.
But the years of the "quartz crisis" brought a difficult period for Wyler. In 1991, a new company, Montres Wyler SA, was created in Geneva [15]. Two years later, Marcello Binda, who had been distributing Wyler in Italy, took over the company [16].
2004
Wyler was then relaunched, and in 1997 Montres Wyler SA moved to Breil and took the name Montres Breil & Wyler Vetta SA. In 2024, Wyler is still in the hands of the Binda family.
3. Principaux modèles de montres Wyler
Wyler created an impressive number of models, particularly between 1935 and 1970. It would be tedious to list them all, so here are the main ones:
- first Wyler automatic watch
Wyler patented several solutions for automatic winding, and at least one of them was commercialized. The Wyler automatic watch, patented in 1931 [17], features a double back that moves on a hinge. When the watch is worn, the double back moves alternately towards the back, and a small pin transmits the movement's displacement to wind it up.
As Wyler soon specialized in water-resistant watches, more classic cases were used with automatic calibers from the Ébauches SA trust.
- Wyler's first water-resistant watches
In 1935, Wyler launched one of the first rectangular water-resistant watches. The crystal was held in place by compression on elastic gaskets, and the crown was water-resistant. Wyler went on to launch numerous square and round water-resistant watches.
- Marquise
1952
First offered as a men's model in 1936, the term Marquise was later reserved for an original ladies' watch, first launched the same year under the name Duotric. Two small, beautifully decorated covers slide on either side of the dial. This model was a great success and was manufactured until the late 1950s.
- Dynawind
This was the name given by Wyler to his automatic watches in the 1950s-1960s.
- Stratowind
This is a "world time" model launched in 1954. Different cities of the world are inscribed on the dial, and the watch is fitted with a 24-hour rotating bezel to show the time in the chosen city.
- Starfighter
An automatic watch with date, launched in 1962.
- Life Guard
Launched in 1962, the Life Guard model is a diver's watch (ref. 8180PL) with rotating bezel and steel case, water-resistant to 200m. The model without the rotating bezel was to have been called Heavy Duty [18], but it too will be branded Life Guard.
Heavy Duty 660 (for 660 feet) was in fact the name of a new diver's watch model launched in 1966, the first at Wyler to feature a winding crown at 4 o'clock, and a rotating bezel with just 4 hour-markers.
Finally, in 1968 Wyler introduced the Tri-Sport model, still water-resistant to 200m, with rotating bezel and crown at 4 o'clock. Some versions were equipped with a tachometric scale.
[1] FOSC 1924
[2] Patent CH120553
[3] FOSC 1928
[4] FOSC 1930
[5] FOSC 1917
[6] FOSC 1931
[7] La France Horlogère, 1931, 23, p. 51
[8] La France Horlogère, 1932, 17, p. 42
[9] Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, 1936, 3-4, p. 39
[10] FOSC 1930 and 1936
[11] Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, 1968, 5, pp. 682-684
[12] La Suisse Horlogère, 1952, 18, p. 291
[13] Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, 1968, 5, pp. 682-684
[14] Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, 1972, 3, p. 308
[15] FOSC 1991
[16] FOSC 1993
[17] Patent CH 158 881 filed September 12, 1931
[18] Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, 1962, 2, p. 257
Acknowledgements
Most of the watchmaking archives were consulted at the Musée International d'Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and I would like to thank the Museum's curator, Mr. Régis Huguenin, and his team for their warm welcome.
The archives of the Fédération Horlogère, Le Davoine and L'Impartial are available online at www.doc.rero.ch
The archives of Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, Europa Star, Revue Internationale d'Horlogerie and Suisse Horlogère are available on The Watch Library
The FOSC (Feuille Officielle Suisse du Commerce) is available on E-periodica
Notes :
About Time To Tell: Time To Tell has one of the largest private digitized databases on the history of Swiss watchmaking, with over 2.3 TB of data on more than 1,000 Swiss watch manufacturers. This database has been built up over a period of some thirty years, and continues to be fed with around 50 to 100 GB of data every year. The database is made up of old documents, mainly Swiss trade journals, dating from the late 19th to the late 20th century. Most of these documents are not available on the Internet.
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