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Joël Pynson
January 2026
1. From St. Petersburg to Le Locle
Paul-Léopold Buhré opened a watch shop in Saint Petersburg in 1815 [1]. His son, Paul Buhré, expanded the business and supplied the Russian nobility with fine Swiss watches.
To ensure a steady supply of high-quality watches, Paul Buhré opened a branch in Le Locle, Switzerland, in 1879, managed by Paul Othenin-Girard-Gabus. When Paul Buhré retired from the business, Jean-Georges Pfund took over in Saint Petersburg.
In 1900, the Le Locle branch became Othenin Girard frères, led by Louis-Alexandre Othenin-Girard and his brother Tell-Arnold Othenin-Girard [2]. The parent company, Paul Buhré, was then led by Jean-Georges Pfund and Paul-Henry Girard.
Paul Buhré chronograph, c. 1914, Nicolet caliber
At the 1900 Paris International Exposition, the Paul Buhré watchmaking firm received a gold medal for richly decorated watches intended for the Russian imperial family [3].
The watches manufactured in Le Locle are not only beautiful—they are also precise. They won prizes in the precision competitions held by the Neuchâtel Observatory in 1901, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1910, and so on.
In 1908, the Othenin-Girard frères company was taken over by Louis-Alexandre Girard under the name Alexandre Girard [4].
In 1916, the Paul Buhré factory filed a patent in Switzerland for a “return” chronograph mechanism: when the pushbutton is pressed while the chronograph hand is running, the hand moves backward at the same speed. This mechanism predated by about twenty years the return mechanisms used during World War II in bomber aircraft [5].
The Bolshevik Revolution dealt a fatal blow to the parent company in Saint Petersburg: “All these goods and supplies seized from hundreds of watch stores in Moscow were transported to an official distribution center, just like every other type of merchandise. Then the fixtures of the watch stores—display cases, counters, and furniture—were also gradually removed and used in Bolshevik administrative offices. Initially, three of Moscow’s leading watch stores—the Buhré, Gabus, and Moser stores—were selected as the premises for the Watch Distribution Center, where the distribution of the seized goods was organized. Subsequently, these three establishments were merged into a single entity, the Soviet Watch Store No. 1, and a second store, No. 2, was set up in another part of the city. That is all that remains today in a city of two million inhabitants, of the hundreds of watch stores of yesteryear... just two official stores.” [6].
In 1919, the Paul Buhré company was relocated to Le Locle, Switzerland, as a public limited company (SA) managed by the Girard family. Paul-Alexandre Girard served as its director [7].
2. Paul Buhré and Barbezat-Bôle
But the economic situation in Switzerland after World War I was very dire, and the watchmaking industry plunged into a crisis that would last for many years.
The Paul Buhré company focused on chronometers, but these were very expensive watches that were difficult to sell. Facing serious difficulties, the company was taken over in 1928 by Paul-Emile Barbezat and Charles-Alcide Humbert-Sarbach, who ran the H. Barbezat-Bôle factory. The new company was renamed Manufacture des montres Paul Buhré et H. Barbezat-Bôle SA [8].
1929
Since Paul Buhré was the best-known and oldest brand, it is the one the factory now promotes. Despite the crisis of the 1930s, the Paul Buhré factory held its own brilliantly: it launched new, more affordable models; introduced small table clocks; and released a chronometer in a mahogany case designed to be displayed in the windows of watch stores, among other initiatives.
1930
1931
At the same time, the factory continued its efforts in the field of precision: it won first prizes in Neuchâtel in 1930, 1931, 1932, and so on. In 1938 and again in 1939, Paul Buhré broke the precision record for a wristwatch in Neuchâtel twice in a row [9].
1941
1946
In 1945, the company changed its name to Manufacture des montres Paul Buhré, and two years later, Charles-Alcide Humbert-Sarbach became the sole head of the company [10].
In 1949, Paul Buhré moved into new, more modern facilities in Le Locle.
It was in the 1950s that Paul Buhré launched the brand’s most iconic models: the RotoDator in 1951, the RotoGraph in 1952, the Alarm in 1955, the Fantôme in 1958, and the PB 1001 in 1959.
1950
1953
1958
1960
In 1963, the company changed hands: it was acquired by Paul-François Castella, who headed the Dixi Group [11].
3. Paul Buhré and Dixi
Dixi, well known as a manufacturer of watchmaking machinery, was in fact a highly diversified group with interests in compressors, measuring instruments, armaments, and furniture.
The acquisition of Paul Buhré was, in fact, the first step in Dixi’s investment in the watchmaking industry. In the 1970s, Dixi’s watchmaking division grew to impressive proportions with the acquisition or rescue of no fewer than seven companies, most of them based in Le Locle: Robert Cart, Henry Moser & Cie, Jean Perret, Luxor, Zénith-Movado, Terrasse Watch, and Zodiac.
Shortly after its acquisition, Paul Buhré shifted its focus to the manufacture of clocks—particularly the exquisite Neuchâtel clocks—and to luxury watches made of precious metals and fine jewelry.
1969
1974
In 1976, Paul Buhré moved into new premises: the former Prexa factory, which had been completely renovated [12].
1984
But the watch industry crisis of the 1980s would have serious consequences for Paul Buhré. In 1987, all of the Dixi Group’s manufacturing facilities were consolidated under the name Zenith International [13].
The Paul Buhré brand was then discontinued.
An article on the main Paul Buhré watch models can be found here (coming soon)
See also Barbezat-Bôle
[1] Journal Suisse d’Horlogerie, 1950, 3-4, pp. 110-111
[2] FOSC 1900
[3] La Fédération Suisse, 1900, 72, p. 457
[4] FOSC 1908
[5] Patent CH 74 144
[6] Revue Internationale de l’Horlogerie, 1920, 13, pp. 1104-1107
[7] FOSC 1919
|8] FOSC 1928
[9] Revue Internationale d’Horlogerie, 1939, 10, p. 24
[10] FOSC 1945 et 1947
[11] FOSC 1965
[12] La Suisse Horlogère, Edition hebdomadaire, 1976, 18, p. 395
[13] FOSC 1987
The FOSC (Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce) is available at 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 2.5 TB of data on more than 1,000 Swiss watch manufacturers. This database has been built up over a period of around 30 years and continues to be updated with around 50 to 100 GB of data each year. The database consists of historical documents, mainly Swiss trade journals, dating from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. Most of these documents are not available on the Internet. The historical articles published on the time2tell.com website always cite the sources used.
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