ETA SA Grenchen History and Caliber List

The company's roots date back to 1793, when four master watchmakers opened the Benguerel & Humbert watch factory in Fontainemelon . At that time, many workers were still employed from home. The factory led to a period of prosperity for the village in the 19th century. In 1825, it was taken over by the Robert family and, as a public limited company, was renamed Uhrenfabrik Fontainemelon AG in 1876. In 1984, the company was acquired by ETA AG.

In 1852, Josef Girard and Anton Schild founded the movement factory Girard Freres & Kunz ^{[ 2 ]} in the farming village of Grenchen. This company was closed in 1856 due to financial difficulties. In the same year, Josef Girard founded the new company "Dr. Girard & Schild" with Urs Schild, the son of his former partner. Initially, the simple transmission machines were powered by the water power of the village stream, until a steam engine was installed in 1870. From 1876 onwards, the company produced finished watches in addition to movement blanks. Managing director Urs Schild had decided to make the company more crisis-resistant through diversification . At that time, all of the watches produced were pocket watches.

In 1900, Urs Schild's descendants converted the company to electric power, and in 1906, it was renamed "Eterna-Werke, Gebr. Schild & Co." (a limited partnership ). In 1932, under the then managing director Theodor Schild , the company was split into two separate joint-stock companies : ETA SA for the manufacture of ebauches (for its own use, but also for third parties) and Eterna SA for the production of finished watches.

In 1896, Urs Adolf Schild left his brother Urs's factory and founded his own company , A. Schild SA (ASSA). His sons Adolf, Caesar, and Ernst expanded this company into what was then the largest movement factory in the world. In 1978, it was integrated into ETA . ^{[ 3 ]}

The Swiss watch crisis of the 1970s, triggered by the economic downturn and the Japanese quartz watch export offensive, called for innovations. Ultimately, it was Ernst Thomke who, with the Swatch idea, provided a nearly fully automated production method for plastic watches, and gave new impetus to ETA and the watchmaking town of Grenchen in general. Today, the ETA Group is one of the world's largest watch movement manufacturers.

On December 29, 2013, the electroplating department of ETA Plant 1 in Grenchen was completely destroyed by fire. However, according to Hayek, CEO of the Swatch Group, electroplating departments at other plants, including the one at the new dial factory in Grenchen, can be used until the electroplating department at Plant 1 can be put back into operation. ^{[ 4 ]}