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Joël Pynson
February 2025
Clémence Frères in Les Bois, La Chaux-de-Fonds and London
The Clémence frères watchmaking factory was founded in 1860 in Les Bois, in the Franches-Montagnes region, by Auguste and Eugène Clémence [1].
There was also a very active branch of the company in London. According to some sources, this branch was founded around 1865 by Joseph Auguste Clémence [2].
1890
In 1876, the company was named Clémence frères et fils. The son was Eugène Clémence-Beurret. In 1884, the company moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds, and in 1892, Eugène Clémence-Beurret took over his father's business under the name Eugène Clémence-Beurret, successor to Clémence frères [3].
The watches made by the Clémence family are remarkable. After winning a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, Clémence Beurret exhibited some sixty watches at the Chicago Exposition in 1893: jewelry watches, chronographs, minute repeaters, automaton watches, and a watch that attracted visitors: it had 8 backs that could be unfolded to show 14 photographs [4].
Crédit MIH La Chaux-de-Fonds
The most complicated calibers came from the Vallée de Joux, of course, but the Clémences also filed several patents on complications, and some calibers were produced in-house.
Single chronograph (without counter) patent Clémence frères CH 259
1896
1896
Clémence-Beurret won a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
Eugène Clémence-Beurret died in 1909, and the company was taken over by his widow, Alice, his sons Albert and Louis, and Ewald Schmidt-Clémence, under the name Clémence Frères & Cie [5].
1928
In 1936, after the death of Alice and Louis, and the arrival of Maurice, the company became Clémence Frère & Co [6]. Albert died in 1938 and was succeeded by Fanny.
1941
The DOGMA trademark is registered in 1949.
In 1951, the company was taken over by Arthur Dorsaz, who joined forces with Robert Schmidt to form Arthur Dorsaz & Cie, Montres Dogma [7].
[1] Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, 1951, 1-2, p. 390
[2] https://uhren-muser.de/en/archives/98/47480
[3] FOSC 1892
[4] La Fédération Horlogère, June 1, 1893, p. 184
[5] FOSC 1909
[6] FOSC 1936
[7] FOSC 1951
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 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. Historical articles published on the time2tell.com website always cite the sources used.
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