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Joel Pynson
Published: January 2025
There are actually two Sportex companies:
1. Compagnie des Montres Sportex
1933
The first company was Compagnie des Montres Sportex, founded in 1928 in La Chaux-de-Fonds by Henri Montandon [1]. The company specialized in chronographs and sports counters.
In 1932, Sportex won First Prize in the Neuchâtel Observatory precision competition, an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that the prize-winning watch was a chronograph [2].
Sportex chronograph awarded First Prize in the Neuchâtel Observatory competition in 1932.
With kind permission from Atlam Watches
Curiously, according to Sportex advertisements of the time, the factory was located in St Imier. In fact, it was probably in St Imier that the watches were manufactured. In any case, the move to St Imier was completed in 1938, when Henri Montandon was replaced by Ernest Mathez [3]. Henri Mathez was also involved in the Léonidas and Berna factories.
In 1941, after the death of Henri Mathez, Sportex became part of Léonidas [4].
2. Sportex SA
The second company was Compagnia di Orologi Nave (Ship Watch Co., then Nave Watch), founded in 1926 in Rovio, Canton Ticino, by Riccardo Navoni and Candido Bagutti [5]. In 1934, the company moved to Arogno [6].
In 1941, Charles Jeanneret, head of Léonidas, took control of Nave, and in 1950 the company was renamed Sportex SA, Fabrique d'Horlogerie, Arogno [7]. Charles Jeanneret's objective was undoubtedly to offer a second line of watches and counters, some with Roskopf movements, at economical prices.
1954
Heuer' s acquisition of Léonidas in 1964 did not include Arogno's Sportex company. But by the end of the 1960s, Sportex was producing over 80,000 pieces a year, and with demand for sports counters rising sharply, Heuer-Léonidas bought Sportex in 1970 [8]! With this takeover, Heuer-Léonidas became the world's largest manufacturer of sports counters, with a market share of almost 25% [9].
The Sportex brand, however, was soon abandoned.
[1] FOSC 1928
[2] Revue Internationale d’Horlogerie, 1933, 5, p. 53
[3] FOSC 1938
[4] FOSC 1941
[5] FOSC 1926
[6] FOSC 1934
[7] FOSC 1950
[8] La Suisse Horlogère, édition hebdomadaire, 1970, 49, p. 1900
[9] La Suisse Horlogère, édition hebdomadaire, 1971, 12, p. 416
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 :
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