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Joel Pynson
January 2025
1. From Weill & Cie to Montres Britix
Weill & Cie in London was active at the end of the 19th century, marketing Swiss watches in Great Britain, in particular the chronographs made by the Henchoz family in Le Locle [1].
1893
In 1890, Weill & Cie had opened a branch in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and in 1901 entrusted its management to Henri Quaile [2]. Henri Quaile was himself associated with the Henchoz family, having married Berthe Henchoz, daughter of Auguste Henchoz of Le Locle, in 1905.
The Britix trademark was not actually registered until 1928, the year in which Henri Quaile created the Compagnie des montres Britix in La Chaux-de-Fonds [3].
A few years later, in 1931, Henri Quaile's son, also named Henri, took part in the creation with Fritz Marti of Le Porte-Echappement Universel, the company behind the famous Incabloc shock absorber [4].
Henri Quaile père died in 1938, and Britix was taken over not by his son but by Edmond Muhlematter [5]. In 1944 the company became Compagnie des montres Britix SA, and Edmond Muhlematter joined forces with Ernst Bodenmann [6].
1948
In 1945, the company moved its headquarters to Lengnau, near Biel [7]. It was from this date onwards that Britix watches really began to make a name for themselves, with an office in New York and the launch of a very complete range of men's and ladies' watches, water-resistant watches, automatic watches, chronographs, etc.
After the 2nd World War, Britix used the Publicolor agency for its communications, resulting in some of the finest advertising produced at the time.
Like many other manufacturers, in the late 1940s Britix produced a few chronometers, which were tested at the Biel control office [8].
1948
In 1963, Britix joined the Jaquet-Girard group [9], and the Britix brand was discontinued.
2. Outstanding Britix models
Britix has registered several trademarks during its existence, but has never had a model policy. However, the following can be noted:
1948
- Britix chronographs, many and varied, based on Ébauches SA, sometimes with attractive textured dials.
- a rare Britix 8-day wristwatch. Watches with 8 days of power reserve were quite common in the 1930s, but this one came out in 1955. It was available in a stainless steel case, and even in gold, but production must have been very limited.
1955
[1] The Watchmaker, Jeweler and Silversmith, October 1, 1891, p. XIV
[2] FOSC 1901
[3] FOSC 1928
[4] FOSC 1931
[5] FOSC 1938
[6] FOSC 1944
[7] FOSC 1945
[8] Journal Suisse d’Horlogerie, 1948, 3-4, p. 108
[9] FOSC 1963
The archives of Fédération Horlogère, 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 at 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. Historical articles published on the time2tell.com website always cite the sources used.
Time To Tell is a private company, independent of any watch manufacturer.
Time To Tell, 2025
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