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François Borgel
IWC and Borgel
Louisa Borgel
Charles Rothen
Taubert et Fils
Cork Stem Seal
Decagonal Back Case
Mido
Movado
West End
Patek Philippe
Poinçon de Maître / Responsibility Mark
Rectangular Cases
Taubert, Manufacture Vacuum
Francis Baumgartner?
Borgel Case Number Project

The History of the Borgel Watch

Although best known in the form of the Borgel Officer's watch or Borgel Trench watch, so called because they came into popular use during the First World War (WW1), were bought by Officers and used in the trenches, Borgel watches have a history that stretches back into the nineteenth century when in Geneva, Switzerland, François Borgel started a business making watch cases. Borgel patented the eponymous Borgel watch case in 1891, making at first pocket watch cases, and then later wrist watch cases as the fashion changed from carrying a watch in a pocket to wearing it on the wrist.

François Borgel was a talented inventor and successful businessman, and the business he created was to growinto one of the most important Swiss watch case manufacturers. Early adopters of the Borgel screw case included Longines and The International Watch Co. (IWC). After François Borgel’s death in 1912, the business was carried on by his daughter Louisa Borgel. Louisa Borgel sold the business in 1924 to the Taubert family of Le Locle, who carried it on until the 1970s, supplying many watch manufacturers including the illustrious Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.

There is a great deal of misinformation concerning the history of Borgel watches and the development of the waterproof watch case, such as the suggestion that one Francis Baumgartner made cases based on the Borgel patent, and was involved in the design and development of waterproof cases culminating in the Rolex Oyster. Francis Baumgartner is in fact a chimera: no watch case maker of this name ever existed. The name seems to have arisen because of the similarity of the initials of two real Geneva case makers, François Borgel (FB) and Frédéric Baumgartner (also FB) and the two identities became conflated, in the process turning "François" into the Anglicised "Francis".

Here I am going to try to set the history of the Borgel and Taubert companies straight, based on factual evidence. I am sure that in the attempt I will get some things wrong, so please forgive me and point out my mistakes as gently as possible. If you have any comments, corrections, requests or suggestions, then please feel free to email them to me at . You shouldn't need to copy the email address, just click on it. I answer all emails I receive, so if you do write to me and don't get an answer in a few days, please check your junk and spam folders. Even better, when you write, add my email address to your contacts and my emails will not be filtered out. Oh, and if you have a Borgel cased watch, or any watch with an unusual case an FB-key mark in it, I would love to see a picture of it. I look forward to hearing from you! Regards - David

I have started a project to record and try to identify patterns in the case numbers of Borgel screw watch cases, so if you own a watch with a Borgel case and are interested in this or would like to contribute to my Borgel case number project, then please click on this link: Borgel Case Number Project

This page is getting a bit long now, so I have put some place markers in the box on the left to help you jump straight to sections. You can always do Ctrl-Home to get back to here (Hold down the Ctrl key, and briefly press the Home key).

A note to eBayers etc. I don't mind if you want to copy bits of my information for your advert or listing. I am sure you will get a better price for your Borgel watch if you provide some detail about it, so go ahead, please feel free. It would be nice to be acknowledged if you do - you can't put a link to my web site into your listing because eBay doesn't allow external links, but you could put something like "Thanks to David Boettcher for the information on Borgel history. Google his name together with ‘Borgel watches’ to find out more." Thanks!

François Borgel, Louisa Borgel, the Taubert family

Watch Case Makers of Geneva

François Borgel

Towards the end of the nineteenth century in Geneva, Switzerland, François Borgel set up in business making watch cases. Not content with making ordinary watch cases, he soon developed a technique for making a steel case appear to be encrusted with gold, a process he patented in 1888. In 1891 Borgel patented the screw watch case design that most often bears his name today, the Borgel Case. This Borgel screw case was used for Borgel pocket watches before achieving wide use during the First World War for Borgel wrist watches, often purchased by Officers to wear in the cramped conditions of the trenches in place of the standard issue pocket watches of the day, hence the terms Borgel Officer's watch, or Borgel trench watch.

Pronunciation: M. Borgel was a Swiss-French and therefore would not sound the "g" in Borgel as a hard sound, rather it would be a soft sound, and so it would sound something like "Borzshel".

François Borgel - Early Life

François Borgel was born on Friday the 22^nd of August 1856, the son of Laurent Borgel and Marie Besson. He started in business under his own name in 1880 at age 14. In local records he is described as a "watch case fitter". An advert in the 1888 edition of the Indicateur Davoine records his workshop address as 17 Place Cornavin, Geneva, and states that he makes watch cases by mechanical methods.

Jaquet and Chapuis illustrate the workshop of a Geneva chamber worker, or cabinotier, in the St-Gervais quarter of Geneva at 16 Rue de Cornavin. The subject of the illustration is an "emboîteur" or boxer-in, one of the principal case making trades of the boxer-in or springer, the joint finisher and the polisher. Cabinotiers Geneva was the name given to the 4,000 watchmakers of the city during the second half of the 18th century. These watchmakers working in "cabins", sometimes tiny, under the roofs of houses. The English term is "garrets". So it seems that François Borgel started his business as a watch case maker or fitter in a garret workshop in the watchmaking district of Geneva, surrounded by other workers in the watchmaking trade.

Borgel's registration of his trademark
Archives de l'Horlogerie

Swiss patent specifications do not carry the address of the patentee, but the British version of Borgel's patent for the screw in watch case, No. 20,422 dated 1891, gives his address at the time as 1 Place Cornevin, Geneva. This address contains a spelling mistake and must refer to the Place Cornavin. I am not sure whether Borgel has moved from 17 Place Cornavin or whether this is simply another mistake.

Coat of Arms of Geneva

Borgel registered his "marque de fabrique", or makers mark (trademark), in Geneva on 17^th March 1887 as shown in the registration published in the official Swiss trademarks register, the "Archives de l'Horlogerie. Marques de fabrique et de commerce Suisse. Enregistrés par le Bureau fédéral à Berne." The registration shows that François Borgel was a manufacturer (fabricant), an important distinction from a mere reseller of others items, and his registered (déposée) trademark proudly bears his initials FB and the Clé de Genève (Key of Geneva), a symbol from the coat of arms of the town of Geneva, which was well known as an important centre of watch making. It also shows he was making "Boîtes de montres" literally boxes for watches, or watch cases, in gold (or) silver (argent) and steel (acier), and also other horological items.

Borgel's First Patent

On the 3^rd of December 1888 Borgel was granted Swiss patent number 16 (yes, this was only the sixteenth Swiss patent, they only introduced patent law in 1888) on a new process for making metallic plates for watch cases, medallions and other jewellery. (Brevet N^o 16. Nouvelle composition des plaques métalliques servant à la fabrication des boîtes de montres, médaillons et autres bijoux.)

Borgel's process was to apply a layer of gold onto an iron or steel plate, then remove some of the gold with a graver (an engraving tool) to expose the iron or steel below. Depending on the amount of gold removed, this could give the appearance of a gold item with the contrasting base metal showing though, or a steel item with pieces of gold attached to it. An addition to this patent was granted on 28th March 1889, Brevet Additionnel No 9, for applying several layers of different colours of gold (green gold, red gold, etc.) so that these different colours could be revealed by selective use of the graver, creating the effect of a rainbow of colours.

Borgel evidently used this process with success for his own watch cases. A report by Mr Tripplin on the French International Watch and Clock Making Exhibition of 1889 recorded that "A Geneva exhibitor, M. Borgel, shows artistic case making, a steel case with encrustations of gold struck us favourably..."

Having established his own business, and now attracting favourable comment with this eye catching patented technique, Borgel was starting to forge his own way in the world and make a name for himself.

Borgel Patent CH4001

Borgel's One Piece Screw Watch Case

A Borgel Cased Pocket Watch

Borgel's famous patent for the one piece screw in watch case design that now most often bears his name was published on 28^th October 1891 with the Swiss "Brevet" or Patent, number 4001. (CH4001, François Borgel à Genève. Nouvelle boîte de montre.) This patent was also registered in the UK on 24^th November 1891 with British Patent number 20,422, and in America with US patent number 478,734 dated July 12^th, 1892.

The Borgel screw watch case was an early attempt to make wrist watches resistant to dust and moisture. The case back and middle part are in one piece, so there is no opening at the back. The front opening of the case is thickened and threaded internally with a fine thread. The movement, complete with dial and hands, is mounted in an externally threaded carrier ring, and the bezel carrying the crystal is mounted onto the end of this ring. The whole assembly of carrier ring with movement, dial, hands, bezel and crystal is then screwed into the case from the front.

At the time, the major concern of watch manufacturers was dust entering the case and contaminating the lubricating oil on the movement, causing it to thicken and become abrasive, slowing the action and wearing the pivots. The single front case joint and fine thread of the Borgel case reduces the opportunity for dust to enter the case, so the Borgel case was more dust resistant than a normal case with hinged snap on covers.

The Borgel case was certainly dust resistant, but it was not water tight: the need for the movement to stop rotating when the 12 on the dial was exactly at the 12 o'clock position meant that careful adjustment of the bezel was necessary to get the bezel to screw down tightly onto the case, which was difficult to achieve. The tightness of this joint also relaxes with wear and tear as the watch is serviced over the years. However, the narrow passage presented by the screw thread does provide some resistance to the ingress of dust and moisture, probably rather more than one might think at first glance, as is evidenced by the very good state of preservation of many movements found in Borgel cases.

By eliminating the back case joint and improving the sealing of the front case joint, Borgel produced a watch case that was considerably better sealed than the typical case of the time, with its hinged and leaky front and rear joints. But the winding stem and pin-set mechanism were still obvious points for dust and water to get in.

A Borgel Cased Wrist Watch

The picture above right shows a Borgel cased pocket watch, and the picture to the left shows a Borgel cased wristwatch, with the movement unscrewed from the case. On the wristwatch you can see the screw thread on the carrier ring, which carries the movement, dial, bezel and crystal. The two holes visible in the carrier ring are where the winding stem and hand setting device mounted on the case engage with the movement.

Another feature of the wristwatch is that it has a tube projecting from the case with the winding crown mounted on the end of it. This is a carry over from the pocket watch, where the tube is called the pendant. On a pocket watch the pendant carries the bow or ring to which is attached a chain or leather fob, and the watch hangs from this, hence the name pendant. Most wristwatches do not have a pendant, the winding stem simply projecting straight through the wall of the case, with the crown mounted directly onto the end it. But in a Borgel watch, the pendant tube is required to enable part of the stem to be withdrawn so that the movement can be screwed in and out of the case.

Even for wristwatches without any trace of a pendant, the term pendant is sometimes used instead of crown, causing great confusion for those not familiar with pocket watches. For instance timing trials of early wristwatches often referred to positions such as "pendant up" and "pendant down" as a carry over from timing pocket watches.

At the time Borgel invented this case the wrist watch was only a novelty item for ladies to wear, and real men carried pocket watches. The working environment for a pocket watch is relatively benign, tucked away in a warm dry pocket, only pulled into the outside world occasionally when its owner wants to know the time. For this environment, the Borgel case was a good solution. A good compromise between a case that provided additional protection for the movement, but didn't inconvenience its owner when he needed to wind the watch or set the time.

Borgel Split Stem Detail

The garde-poussiere, or dust ring, in which the movement is mounted will be very familiar to anyone who has examined a two piece Borgel case, as in that design it is the ring which carries the movement and is attached to the bezel. It would have been fairly easy for the Borgel factory to start producing these cases as they already had the tooling and techniques for the very similar two piece design.

Note the address: Factory and office in Saint-Jean, 6 - GENEVA. This is number 6, Rue de Saint-Jean in Geneva. Borgel has moved from the Place de Cornavin, presumably to larger premises where he can have an office and workshop.

1912 Borgel Advert

Borgel Produces Wrist Watch Cases

This advert appeared in a 1912 issue of Revue Internationale de l'Horlogerie. Borgel is still promoting his "new" three piece screw together case. In fact, this is the most prominent item at the top of the advert, which I would normally be inclined to think meant that it was the company's best selling product, which would make it all the more curious that they appear to be so rare now. Perhaps the prominent position is actually an attempt to increase sales?

The 1912 advert is very similar to one published in 1908, but in the 1912 advert there is a new twist. Below the three piece case is the familiar one piece screw in pocket watch case, but to the right of this is shown an example of "Boîtes pour Bracelets" - a watch case which has been adapted with wire lugs to take a "bracelet" and be worn as a wrist watch!

The advert goes on to say that this wrist watch case design has been "specifically requested by motorists and members of the English and colonial army." From this difference between the 1908 and 1912 adverts we can infer that sometime between 1908 and 1912 Borgel had started producing wrist watch cases.

At the bottom of the advert is stated "Aucune boîte, à ce jour, n'a été plus pratique, solide et élégante; se fait en or, tour titres, argent, acier, plaqué or et galonné." which translates as "No case, to date, has been more practical, strong and elegant; it is made in gold, all grades, silver, steel, gold plate and galonné." (Galonne is a term meaning mechanically gold plated silver, as opposed to electroplated. It apparently wore off very easily.)

This reference to materials is interesting, because Borgel cases made of metals other than gold and silver are extremely rare. I have seen a pocket watch with a nickel Borgel case, and Cary Hurt has a Borgel made semi-hermtic wrist watch with the case back stamped "Pure White Metal" which must be some sort of steel alloy aimed at a white colour. But plain steel I have never seen, nor gold plate or galonne. If you have, then please let me know.

Note also the address towards the top of the advert, Usine et Bureau à St-Jean 78 (Factory and Office 78 Rue de St-Jean). The business has relocated again farther out, from number 6 Rue de St-Jean to number 78, presumably due to further expansion.

Thanks again to Joel Pynson for supplying me with the scan of this advert.

International Watch Co. (IWC) and Borgel

From 1894 the London branch of Stauffer, Son & Co., a firm named Stauffer & Co., was supplied with watches by IWC, and from 1898 the movements of these bore the mark "S&Co." under a crown inside an oval, together with the words "Peerless" and Swiss made. These were both Stauffer trademarks, the S & Co. mark with a crown inside an oval was registered by Stauffer Son & Co. in 1880, and Peerless was a trademark registered by Stauffer, Son & Co. in 1896.

Both bare (uncased) movements and complete watches were supplied by IWC to Stauffer & Co. Some of the complete watches were supplied in Borgel cases, and many of the bare movements supplied by IWC were put into Borgel cases. Whether this was done by Stauffer & Co. in London, or in Switzerland before export to the UK, is not known.

1909 IWC Borgel

The Earliest Known Borgel Wrist Watch?

The earliest known Borgel wrist watch, that is the earliest Borgel wrist watch which I have seen to date, is this 1909/10 Borgel cased IWC. The movement has been identified as an IWC calibre 64 by comparing it to IWC factory movement diagrams, and IWC have confirmed this. The movement has the trademark S & Co beneath a crown in an oval cartouche and is also marked "Peerless". It has the serial number 432913, which IWC serial number records indicate dates it between 1905 to 1910.

1909 IWC Borgel hallmarks

The case has the François Borgel FB-key and the sponsor's mark CN for Charles Nicolet. Charles Nicolet was a partner of Stauffer & Co., the London firm which imported IWC watches between 1894 and the 1930s. The serial number of the case is 460795 which, again according to IWC records, dates the case to between 1907 and 1913. The hallmarks are the Sterling silver purity mark, the London import mark, and the date letter o for 1909/10.

All three dates, hallmark, movement and case, appear to tie up very well, and I am confident that this Borgel wrist watch case can be dated to 1909/10. This is the earliest Borgel wrist watch that I have seen. If you have an earlier Borgel wristwatch, please get in touch.

The pictures and details of this watch were kindly supplied to me by Lorraine Whiteside of The Vintage Wrist Watch Company in Pershore. Lorraine doesn't have a web site at the moment, but does trade on eBay as lorraine690. You can find her listings by doing an advanced search (click the advanced option next to the normal big green search button) for seller lorraine690; she usually has some nice watches and other items for sale.

Other Case Types Made By Borgel

Borgel's screw case was very successful and was made until the 1930s - one reference quotes a 1939 Longines catalogue advertising a wrist watch in a Borgel screw case. However, other case designs were also manufactured by the Borgel company alongside the screw case. These other cases were made either because they were cheaper, or because of a certain manufacturers preference for a particular case design. These cases were obviously stamped with the Borgel FB-key trademark and so get described as Borgel cases even though they were not designed by Borgel. These non-Borgel cases made by the Borgel company alongside, not superseding, the original Borgel screw case are broadly as follows:

Swing ring case designed and patented in 1879 by Ezra Fitch.
One piece case with a screw on bezel designed and patented in 1920 by Charles Rothen.
Hermetic double case designed and patented in 1921 by Jean Finger
One piece case with screw on bezel designed and patented in 1931 by 1931 by Schwob Frères & Cie SA.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, new designs of screw case were developed to supersede the original Borgel screw case. Again, these cases were obviously stamped with the Borgel FB-key trademark, although by then the company had changed its name. These cases gradually superseded the original Borgel screw case and were:

One piece case where movement in threaded carrier ring screws in from the back, and the back screws on.
One piece case with movement in plain carrier ring, and the back with milled edge screws into case.
One piece case with movement in plain carrier ring, and the back with 10 decagonal flats screws into case.

I describe each of these case types in more detail later in this article.

François Borgel Patents

François Borgel was obviously an inventive man, and he went on to patent numerous further ideas as shown in the following table.

Date	Number	Title	Translation
8 October 1891	CH 4041	Montre avec boîte à fond fixe et raquette renversée	Watch case with fixed back and reversed regulator
12 November 1891	CH 4145	Boîte de montre perfectionnée	Improved watch case
20 April 1894	CH 8232	Montre perfectionnée à boîte vissée et tige brisée	Improved screwed watch case with split stem
25 June 1895	CH 10412	Moteur à ressort pour vélocipèdes	Spring engine for bicycles
12 June 1903	CH 28389	Boîte de montre perfectionnée	Improved watch case
23 July 1910	CH 53105	Dispositif de fixation de pendant aux boîtes de montres-calottes	Method of fixing pendants to watch cases

Louisa Borgel takes over

Louisa Beauverd-Borgel Registration
Archives de l'Horlogerie

Louisa Borgel

Manufacture of Borgel cases continued after the death of François Borgel in his 56th year on 7th March 1912. The business was taken over by his daughter Louisa Borgel.

The "Journal de Genève" of 2nd October 1884 records the birth of Louisa-Henriette Borgel at some time between 28th September and 1st October. When taking over the business in March 1912, Louisa would have been 27 years old. Louisa had a sister called Blanche but I have never seen her name mentioned in connection with the Borgel company.

To the right is a notice from "La Federation Horlogere Suisse", a trade paper for the watch making industries of La Chaux-de-Fonds. It shows that on 8th June 1912 the company of F. (François) Borgel was struck off, and the assets and liabilities were taken over by L. (Louisa) Borgel, identified as a manufacturer of waterproof Borgel screw watch cases.

On 25^th October 1917 Louisa renewed the registration of the FB marque. She had evidently married a M. Beauverd, but retained her maiden name as was common custom at the time.

1920 Indicateur Davoine

In the 1920 edition of the Indicateur Davoine we find the advertisement shown to the right, promoting the business of Louisa Beauverd-Borgel as the successor of Louisa Borgel. The text roughly translated says "L. Beauverd ~ Borgel, successor of Borgel L. (Impermeable Borgel screw cases. - Case caps of one piece with screw-on dust guard. New Type. - Cases of 3 pieces with screwed on dust guard. - In gold of all purities, silver, steel, gold plate). - Factory and Office rue des Pecheries 10, Geneva."

Louisa Beauverd-Borgel patent CH 75467

Note another new address; 10 Rue des Pecheries (The Street to the Fisheries, or to the fishing wharfs on the banks of the river Rhone). The business has moved again, from the Rue de St-Jean to the Rue des Pecheries. Again, this was presumably due to the expansion of trade requiring larger workshops, but I don't yet know when this occurred. The Rue des Pecheries is even further from the centre of Geneva, on the opposite bank of the river Rhone, and therefore presumably a more commercial/industrial district.

Louisa registered at least 3 patents. It was from the first of these that I discovered her first name. The patents are shown in the table, the first under her own name only, the second and third with Charles Rothen and Achille Faivre. Charles Rothen's name occurs again later, but this is Achille Faivre's only appearance in the story.

Note that the Swiss patent office was now showing both the original registration date and the publication date on patents: previously only the publication date was shown. I have used the original registration date in the table, which is usually over a year earlier than the publication date, but is the priority date from which the invention is protected, when and if the patent is finally approved and published.

Date	Number	Title	Inventor
24 November 1916	CH75467	Dispositif de fixation d'un fond de boîte de montre à la carrure de celle-ci	Louisa Beauverd-Borgel
19 October 1917	CH78295	Boîte de montre	Louisa Beauverd-Borgel, Charles Rothen and Achille Faivre
12 July 1919	CH84785	Dispositif de fixation d'une couronne à la tige de remontoir d'une montre	Louisa Beauverd-Borgel, Charles Rothen and Achille Faivre

Charles Rothen Patent CH88223

Charles Rothen Case

Charles Rothen

Charles Rothen went on to publish at least four patents under his own name alone. The first one, CH 88223, a figure from which is shown here, was registered 5^th March 1920 and published 16^th February 1921. The case back and middle part are made in one piece like the original Borgel case. The movement is carried in a ring d which either hinged to or dropped loosely into the case, the tube for the winding stem e passing through a slot cut into the side of the case. The uppper part of this slot is closed by a tongue of metal f soldered to the stem tube. For clarity I have coloured the ring d, winding stem tube e and tongue of metal f, which are all soldered together to form one part, in red.

The bezel c carrying the crystal screws onto the case from the front, in a similar way to the original Borgel case, but in this design by Rothen the movement does not rotate. This design provided an alternative to the original Borgel case which was possibly easier to manufacture, and which because the movement does not need to rotate to be screwed into or out of the case, did not need the split stem arrangement of the original Borgel case and therefore could accommodate stem set movements. It seems that this design was not very successful because examples occur much less frequently than the original type Borgel case.

The picture of one of these cases shown the slot in the side of the case and the tongue of metal soldered to the stem tube to close the slot. The movement simply drops into the case and is positioned and secured by the screw on bezel, unlike the semi-hermetic case described next where the movement is hinged to the case.

Because Charles Rothen's name appears along with Louisa Beauverd-Borgel on two of the patents mentioned above, he was presumably at the time an employee of the Borgel Company. But the four patents listed below are registered in his name alone. The first patent, CH 88223, which I discussed above, plays a part later in the story when the rights to it are purchased from Rothen by Louisa Borgel.

Date	Number	Title	Inventor
1921	CH88223	Boîte de montre.	Charles Rothen
1923	CH102074	Dispositif de fixation d'une anse à une boîte de montre, de boussole, de médaillon etc.	Charles Rothen
1923	CH105158	Brevet additionnel subordonné au brevet principal nº 102074 Dispositif de fixation...etc.	Charles Rothen
1928	CH124164	Boîte de montre hermétique.	Charles Rothen

Swing Ring cases

A 1924 Borgel made Swing Ring

An alternative design very similar to the Rothen case discussed above sometimes crops up with the Borgel FB-key trademark. This case has essentially the same one piece case back and middle with screw on bezel as the Rothen design, but the bezel was carried down much closer to the tube for the winding stem, so that the tongue of metal, item f in Rothen's design, was not needed. Unlike the Rothen design, the movement does not simply lie in the case, but is carried in a ring hinged to the middle part of the case. This style of case was often used for American pocket watches when it was called a “swing ring” case. The swing ring case is actually a much older design than the Rothen and the hermetic, being patented in the USA in 1879 by Ezra Fitch, US patent number 214642.

The picture shows one of these cases manufactured by the Borgel company with the FB-key trademark. The case back is hallmarked with the London import mark and the date letter “i” for the hallmarking year 1924/1925. The movement is by Fabriques d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF), one of the big Swiss ébauche manufacturers, set up in 1793 to supply the Swiss watch industry with bare movements. In 1891 FHF registered a trade mark of an arrow through an apple, a reference to William Tell, the folk hero whose defiance of the established order led to a rebellion and the formation of the Swiss Confederation, and this mark can be seen on the bottom plate when the dial is removed.

These cases are sometimes referred to as the "semi-tropical" or "semi-hermetic" because of some similarity in appearance to the hermetic watches. Hermetic watches used a double case design where the watch was entirely enclosed in an outer case with a screw on bezel, the outer case hermetically protecting the watch contained within. The swing ring case resembles the hermetic only in that it has a screw on bezel. The stem is brought out through a hole in the side of the case which is not sealed, and there is nothing actually “hermetic” about the case. I have seen mention of gaskets being used with this design to seal around the winding stem tube where it passes through the case side. I have several watches with this type of case and examining them with a lens reveals no sign of any gasket, or any possibility of one because there is no groove in the case wall where the stem tube passes through which could carry a gasket.

This type of case should properly be called “a swing ring case” as it was at the time it was made.

Patent CH 88223 Transfer to Louisa Borgel

Patent CH 88223 Transfer to Taubert et Fils

Taubert & Fils Take Over

In 1924 the Borgel watch case making business was acquired by Taubert & Fils (Taubert and Sons). In the extracts from the Fédération Horlogère Suisse reproduced here, we can see that Louisa Beauverd-Borgel first bought the rights to the Charles Rothen patent CH 88223 in February 1924, still giving her address as 10 Rue des Pecheries. Then in March, Louisa transferred the rights to the patent to Taubert et Fils, whose address is also give as 10 Rue des Pecheries.

Registration of Taubert et Fils, and
striking-off of Louisa Beauverd-Borgel

I do not know why Louisa or her family decided to sell the business to Taubert & Fils. From the record of the transfer of patent CH 88223, first to Louisa and then from her the Tauberts, we can see that she was alive and involved at the time of the sale, so it seems likely that the family decided to cash in and retire by selling the business. Perhaps Louisa's husband was successful in his own right and wanted his wife to give up her involvement in the business. Louisa had after all carried the business along for exactly 12 years since her father's death in March 1912.

To the right we have the official announcements from La Fédération Horlogère Suisse of the registration of "Taubert et Fils, Manufacture de boîtes Borgel", and the striking off (radiation) of Louisa Beauverd Borgel. Both announcements are dated 28 April 1924, so this was the official date of the end of the Borgel family in watch case making. But it was not the end of the association of the Borgel name and the famous FB-key trademark with watch case making.

The names of the Taubert partners are given as Paul-Arthur Taubert, father, and Marcel, Paul-Emile and Bernard Taubert, sons, originally from Le Locle. Their business is given as manufacturing waterproof Borgel screw watch cases, and their address is 10, Rue des Pêcheries, Plainpalais, Geneva.

25 January 1925 Taubert & Fils First Patent

On 25 January 1925 the new firm registered patent CH 112153, the heading of which is shown to the left, proudly declaring "Manufacture Des Boîts Borgel, Taubert & Fils". This patent is noted as an additional patent, subordinate to the main patent Ch 88223 which they had acquired from Charles Rothen. The patent CH 112153 does not introduce any revolutionary invention, being confined to the addition of a screw cap over the winding crown to seal the crown and stem. It was perhaps more of a place marker to show that Taubert & Fils were serious about pushing forward the business of making waterproof watch cases.

April 1925 Taubert & Fils Advertisement
Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie, April 1925

In their first advertisement in the Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie in April 1925, shown here, Taubert & Fils describe themselves as "Manufacturers of Borgel cases" and "Successors of Louisa Beauverd-Borgel, a house founded in 1880."

Taubert & Fils make a big play of the Borgel name and trade mark in their advert - it appears no fewer than five times - so this business must have represented an important acquisition to them. Perhaps it transformed the fortunes of a small, previously relatively unknown case maker. The advert says they make "Borgel screw watch cases and all other screw systems". Around the FB trademark the advertisement says "Ouvrage soigné et garanti exigez notre marque de fabrique" (Properly finished and guaranteed products require our trademark).

1926 Taubert & Fils Marque Registration
Archives de l'Horlogerie

The Taubert family certainly carried on using the FB trade mark into at least the late 1960s, and don't seem to have developed any other trade mark of their own. The advertisement finishes with "Seule la boîte de montre à vis Borgel protège hermétiquement le mouvement de votre montre" (Only the Borgel screw case hermetically protects the movement of your watch).

Taubert & Fils re-registered the FB-with-a-key trademark on 23^rd January 1926 as shown in the picture on the left.

The firm of Taubert & Fils became known as one of the finest Geneva-based case makers, specialising in water-resistant cases and working for many firms, including Mido, Movado, The West End Watch Co., Ulysse Nardin, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin and many, many others.

The firm was renamed in 1938 as Societe Anonyme Tabert Frères or Taubert Frères SA, after the death of the father Paul Taubert.

Taubert screw in back

Early Taubert Developments

In the mid 1920s, probably as soon as they had taken over the company, the Tauberts started experimenting with new case designs. They were still manufacturing the Borgel one piece screw case, but as that design was over 30 years old when they bought the company, the time was clearly ripe for a new design to carry the firm forward for the next 30 years.

Movement & carrier ring

The case shown in the figures is hallmarked with the London import mark giving a date of 1927. It has a screw in back, with coin edge milling around the periphery to give a grip for unscrewing. The middle part of the case has some details which are similar to those illustrated in a later patent, registered by the Tauberts in 1928. The back of the case has an external screw thread with an extended flange. The case middle has a channel outside the screw thread which the back screws into, to take a gasket which would form a seal against the extended flange, although there is no trace of the gasket left. The stem tube is internally flanged at each end as if to take a seal or gasket of some sort for sealing the stem.

This was an advanced waterproof case for the time. As this one is hallmarked 1927, the Tauberts must have been developing it almost in tandem with Rolex developing the Oyster. How different the world of wrist watches might have been if the Tauberts had beaten the Rolex Oyster to market with their own waterproof watch!

The way the movement is held in the case is unusual. The movement sits in a carrier ring, very much like the carrier ring in the original Borgel screw case, but this carrier ring is not threaded, it just sits in the case and is held in place by the case back. There is a slot in the carrier ring that engages with a key inside the middle part of the case to prevent the movement rotating.

Taubert Cork Stem Seal

Two Important Patents

In the late 1920s, the Tauberts must have realised that time was running out for the watch case designs that they had acquired with their take over of the Borgel company. In 1928 and 1931 they registered two patents that would renew and reinforce their prominent place in the lead of waterproof watch case design, and carry the firm forward for the next 30 or more years. For the future of the firm, these were very important patents. The first was a cork seal that sealed the winding stem, the second was a screw back case with a very distinctive ten sided decagonal design that enabled the Tauberts to fight off counterfeiters for the duration of the patent.

These new patent designs were very successful, and the Tauberts supplied them to many watch manufacturers. Almost unbelievably, both of these designs are still in use today!. Mido are still using the cork stem seal, referring to it as "Aquadura", and the decagonal case back design is still used by the West End Watch Co.

Cork seal production detail

Cork Stem Seal - Patent Number CH 130942

On 18 January 1928 Taubert & Fils registered Swiss patent number 130942. The patent was principally concerned with making waterproof watch cases slimmer, but also introduced a feature that would become very important to Taubert watch cases in the future: a cork seal around the winding stem. In the figure from the patent reproduced here, the cork seal 13 is held in a cup shaped socket 10 which is soldered to the case, a bit like a pocket watch pendant. The cork is held in place in the pendant by a retaining disc 14 that clips into the end of the socket.

In actual manufacture the stem tube was made slightly differently to the illustration in the patent. The intention of the patent is clearly that the cork seal is inserted into the socket and then the retaining disc 14 is put in place to retain it. In actual manufacture, a tube with a reduced opening at its outer end was welded to the watch case forming the housing for the seal. The cork seal was introduced into this housing by compressing it using a tapered tube so that it would pass through the opening at the outer end and then expand into the housing. The type of tool used is shown in the figure below.

Cork Stem Seals and Tool

This was very different to the screw down waterproof crown that Rolex had introduced in 1926. The cork seal prevented water passing through the opening for the winding stem without the need to unscrew the crown before winding or setting the watch. Although not ultimately as water tight as the screw down crown, it was the perfect solution for the person who wanted a waterproof watch without the additional complication of unscrewing the crown every day - remember that very few watches were self winding or automatic at the time.

There is a bit of a mystery surrounding this patent because the British version of it, GB 304291 Fluid Tight Watch Case was taken out by Hans Wilsdorf, Managing Director of Rolex, describing himself as "assignee of Taubert & Fils". Why and how this came about I don't yet know, but Wilsdorf must have allowed The Taubert's to continue producing watch cases with the cork seal, because they carried on using this design for many years. Perhaps it was another aspect of the patent that Wilsdorf was interested in.

One of the manufacturers who bought cork stem sealed watch cases from Taubert was the firm Mido. They are still using this detail in some of their watches, calling it the Aquadura stem sealing system, a name they gave to the system in 1959 after the Taubert patent had expired. The picture to the right shows a tool supplied by Mido for inserting cork seals into the stem tube.

The Decagonal Case Back

As watch case technology developed towards a fully water tight case, case backs with screw threads that screwed into the case middle part replaced snap-close backs. At first these threaded case backs were milled like the edge of coins to provide a grip to tighten and release them by hand. To get a tighter seal than possible by hand tightening for the Rolex Oyster, in 1926 Wilsdorf designed a tool that engaged with the millings and enabled greater torque to be applied than by hand. On October 3^rd 1929 Wilsdorf applied for a patent for this tool, which was published on January 16^th 1931 under N° CH 143449.

Taubert Patent CH 156807 / GB 385509

These milled edges were not ideal, and other designs were soon developed for tightening case backs, such as notches cut into the circumference of the case back, or a transverse slit, similar to the groove in a screw head. These systems used special keys which engaged with the notches or slots, and are still familiar today. Rather than use slots or notches in the case back, the Tauberts designed a watch case that had flats around the circumference of the back, rather like the flats on a nut. By using 10 flats they could make each one quite small, making a very neat and attractive alternative to slots or notches.

Taubert patent decagonal caseback

Patent CH 156807 / GB 385509

The patent was deposited on May 8^th 1931 and published on August 31^st 1932 under N° CH 156807. This patent was also registered in the UK under N° GB 385509 which was applied for on May 9^th 1932 and published as complete accepted on Dec 29^th 1932. The distinctive decagonal (10 sided) case back was to become an instantly recognisable feature of cases that the Tauberts supplied to many watch manufacturers for many years. This watch case was also the subject of a court case in which many interesting facts were brought to light.

The diagram from the patent also shows a screw bezel. I don't believe Taubert made any decagonal back cases with the screw bezel shown in the patent, at least I have not seen one yet!

The picture to the left shows the inside of one of these case backs from a silver cushion case watch retailed by JW Benson of London. It is clearly stamped with the FB trademark, and it has the polygonal external circumference. Underneath the FB mark on the left is stamped BRIT. PAT. for British patent and the number 385 509, and to the right the Swiss cross and the word BREVET, which is Swiss for patent, and this refers to the Taubert's Swiss patent 156807. Beneath these marks are the two reclining opposed Fs of the import hallmark for Glasgow, the date letter "o" for 1937 / 38 and the .925 indicating sterling silver. Beneath this is the sponsors mark SFC of Schwob Freres & Co. Ltd.

West End Watch Co. watch with decagonal back

The picture to the right shows a West End Watch Co. watch with a decagonal back case supplied by Taubert. You can see that where the polygonal flats meet the flat part of the case back that carries the external screw thread, this is flush with the case making a very neat joint that no one would think of trying to get a knife into to lever the case back off with.

The picture to the left shows a number of keys for opening these cases. They are very light and compact, and make the job of opening a decagonal back case very easy compared to one with peripheral slots, where the tool always seems to want to jump out and scratch the case back.

These cases also often have an inner cover, shown in the picture below. This is often described as a dust cover, or an “anti-magnetic shield”. It is neither of these. The screw back forms an excellent seal on its own, so a dust cover is hardly needed, and the cover is not ferromagnetic, so could not protect the movement against a magnetic field. The cover is in fact used to hold the movement in place. The movement is mounted in a carrier ring, rather like the carrier ring of the original Borgel screw case. This ring is a snug but not tight fit into the case. The cover fits onto the end of the carrier ring and the small nub in the centre of the cover enables the case back to hold the cover, and hence the movement ring, in place. The use of this arrangement was probably to enable slightly different sized movements to be fitted to a standard case size, by machining the carrier rings internally to fit the movement whilst keeping their outside dimensions the same to fit the standard case. The carrier ring is made of brass which is much easier to machine accurately than the hard stainless steel of the case.

The effectiveness of the Taubert case is shown by the fact that although this watch has had a fairly tough life, probably in India, the movement is as clean and crisp and bright as when it left the factory.

Patek Philippe reference 1463
Image by kind permission of and ©
Robert Maron

The picture to the left shows the case back of a Patek-Philippe ref 1463J, the first water-resistant chronograph to be produced by Patek Philippe, and the case for this watch was supplied by Taubert. The polygonal facets of the Taubert patent case back are clearly visible. The image of the Patek Philippe was kindly granted to me by Robert Maron of Thousand Oaks, California who sells very fine watches. If you browse his web site you can see lots of very fine Patek Philippe watches with Taubert cases.

These two patents, CH 130942 for the cork stem seal, and CH 156807 for the decagonal back case, were the foundation for the Taubert's success, and their main production over decades to come. They supplied many watch manufacturers with these cases. For the man in the street who wanted a watch that he didn't need to worry about if it got wet, they were the perfect answer: not as watertight as a "dive" watch, but perfectly satisfactory for everyday use, and without the extra cost and complication of the screw down crown. They are very distinctive and easy to spot, even in a fuzzy eBay photograph, and I am amazed at how often they appear.

Patek Philippe reference 438
Image by kind permission of and ©
J&P Timepieces Inc

Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe is one of the most illustrious watch makers in the world, tracing its roots back to Geneva in 1839. As makers of the finest watch movements, they naturally looked for watch case makers who could supply cases to match. Of course they had well established relationships with many case makers, but when they wanted in 1932 to introduce watches with stainless steel cases, their existing case makers couldn't work with the new material because it was so much harder than the gold and silver they were used to working with, so Patek Philippe approached Taubert & Fils, the leading stainless steel watch case maker in Geneva. The Tauberts made the first stainless steel pocket watch, wrist watch and desk watch cases for Patek Philippe.

The first watch cases made by the Tauberts for Patek Philippe were some pocket watch cases, made in May 1932. The Patek Philippe reference 96, which had a snap back case (later called "Calatrava") was launched in 1932. The first cases in 18k gold were made by Patek Philippe's usual suppliers, but later the same year The Tauberts made cases in for the reference 96 in stainless steel.

After making cases to Patek Philippe's existing designs for some time, the Tauberts eventually persuaded the very conservative company to try a Taubert designed case, and in 1935 the Patek Philippe reference 438 was introduced using, of course, the Taubert patent waterproof decagonal screw back case. The cases for the reference 438 were supplied by the Tauberts in steel and gold. The picture here shows a steel reference 438 sold by J&P Timepieces Inc. of New York, who always have a wide selection of Patek Philippe and other fine watches for sale.

The reference 1463 was Patek Philippe’s first waterproof chronograph and is one of the most coveted of all Patek Philippe chronograph references because of its waterproof Taubert decagonal case with waterproof crown and pushers. It was launched in 1941 and continued until the mid 1960s, and was available in steel or gold.

The Tauberts also made cases for Patek Philippe references 96; 437; 438; 448; 565; 608; 612; 778; 1463; 1485; 1486; 1563; 1591; 2438; 2451; 2457; 2508; 2509; 3237.

The case for the Patek Philippe Reference 1485 and 1486 was the same unusual Taubert patent clip together waterproof rectangular case as that of the Alpina watch I describe in a later section.

The Tauberts continued to supply cases to Patek Philippe until 1965.

Thanks to Flavia Ramelli, the Patek Philippe archivist, and John Goldberger for help with this section.

West End Watch Co. watch inner cuvette

Taubert Frères SA

La Fédération Horlogère Suisse, 2 August 1939

Taubert & Fils was renamed in 1938 as Societe Anonyme Tabert Frères (Taubert Brothers) or Taubert Frères SA, after the death of the father Paul Taubert. Here we have the announcement in La Fédération Horlogère Suisse of the change from Taubert & Fils to Taubert Frères. Note that this is not simply a change of name: the old company is officially struck off and a new company formed. The announcement says:

Trade Register

Social reasons: Changes:

28/1/39. - The company named Taubert & Sons, Manufacturer of Borgel Cases, manufacturer waterproof Borgel screw watch cases, in Geneva, was declared dissolved on 31 May 1938, its assets and liabilities assumed by the company Taubert Freres S.A. The reason is it was struck off.

On the date 24/12/38 was formed under the name Taubert Brothers S.A. a company with headquarters in Geneva, taking over the assets and liabilities of the company by the name of Taubert et Fils, Manufacturer of Borgel Cases. The object of the new company is the manufacture and sale of watch cases in various metals and all items related to this industry. Were elected directors: Marcel Taubert, president, Petit-Lancy, Paul and Bernhard Taubert Taubert, in Geneva, all three of Le Locle, with individual signatures. 10 Fisheries Street, Geneva.

It is interesting to note that the three brothers are listed as all being of Le Locle, an important centre of the Swiss watchmaking industry in the Jura mountains. The 1945 Directory of Swiss Manufacturers and Producers records Taubert Frères SA, Watch case factory, 10 Rue des Pêcheries, Geneva

Two Important Court Cases

Taubert versus Piquerez-Frésard

In 1940 the Taubert firm instituted proceedings before the Commercial Court of Bern against a watch case manufacturer of Bassecourt named Piquerez-Frésard, which was in the opinion of the Tauberts, imitating their decagonal back watch cases. Piquerez then challenged the validity of the patent.

During the trial, expert opinion was sought from M. Berner, director of the School of Horology in Bienne. M. Berner concluded that some claims in the patent were not new. However, he allowed the claims on the polygonal periphery of the screwed case back, considering that they met the required characteristics of "an invention, idea, or even daring, technical progress, etc.." M. Berner maintained his view after having heard conflicting legal opinions from Blum & Co., Matter, and others.

Following the expert's report, the parties agreed on November 12, 1941, a court settlement under which the Taubert patent was limited to the following claim: "Hermetic watch case comprising a middle, and a portion (bottom or bezel) screwed therein, characterized in that the outer periphery of this section is in cross section, polygonal." So the Taubert claim to a patent on the decagonal case back was upheld.

1939 Taubert Advertisement

Bréguet-Bréting versus Taubert Frères S.A.

The information about the court case in the following was extracted from the judgment of the Swiss civil Court of September 14, 1948 in the case of Bréguet-Bréting versus Taubert Frères S.A.

The court noted that Taubert Frères had secured patent CH 156807 entitled "Boîte de montre hermétique" (Hermetic Watch Case) in 1931. As you can see from two of the figures reproduced from the patent specification above, the bezel and case back both screwed into the case. The case back was designed to screw in to, rather than on to, the middle part of the case. This gave a neater appearance, with no join visible on the side of the case, and also prevented the problem of repairers, who wouldn't have encountered many screw back cases at the time, from trying to lever off the back as if it were a snap on back.

Part of the patent specification was that the external circumference of the case back was made polygonal, with flats on it like a nut, instead of round. This allowed the use of an adjustable wrench, a vice, or a similar instrument for tightening and releasing the case back.

The splendid advertisement reproduced here from La Classification Horlogere des Calibres de Montres et des Fournitures d'Horlogerie Suisse - 1939 Edition shows one of these Taubert cased watches strapped to a submarine with the headline "The waterproof watch par excellence".

The court noted that this design of threaded or screwed polygonal case back was immediately very successful, and that Taubert Frères either supplied or licensed cases featuring it to a great number of of watch manufacturers, including Mido, Movado and West End. Taubert also supplied a polygonal wrench or key that fitted the polygonal form of the case back, allowing easy screwing and unscrewing.

In January 1941, the partnership of the sons of J. Bréguet-Bréting, Bienne, manufacturers of watch cases, asked Taubert Frères S.A. for a supply of polygonal keys. As a result of this Taubert Frères realised that Bréguet-Bréting were making watch cases with screwed polygonal case backs the same as theirs, and pointed out the existence of their patent. Bréguet-Bréting were dismissive of Taubert's patent, so Taubert sued in the Bankruptcy court of Bern for Bréguet-Bréting to cease manufacture of watch cases with polygonal case backs, for any existing counterfeited or imitated products to be destroyed, damages of 8,000 Swiss francs, publication of the judgement in newspapers to be indicated by the court, and legal expenses.

The court case continued on for a number of years, during which the patent expired due to the passage of time, and in June 1945 Bréguet-Bréting went into liquidation. The lawsuit was continued against the two former associates and on November 28, 1947, the Bankruptcy court found in favour of Taubert Frères and ordered the defendants jointly to pay Taubert Frères the sum of 45,000 Swiss francs as damage interests. During the court case, industry experts appointed by the court were asked to comment on the Taubert design, and they remarked that it was "superior to the Wilsdorf design and other designs using notches or slots cut into the case back, both technically and aesthetically."

In the next sections we will go on to look at the three watch manufacturers specifically mentioned in the court judgment as shown in the extract reproduced here, which says "The polygonal form of screwed case back was an immediate success, and quite a number of manufacturers used it, among other manufacturers of watches brands like Mido, Movado, West End, etc." Mido, Movado and West End were three of the early adopters of the decagonal back case with the cork seals in the winding stems, and all played heavily on the waterproof nature of their watches in advertising at the time. We will now look at each one in turn.

Mido

The name "Mido" comes from the Spanish "to measure". It's pronounced "Me-doe" not "My-doe".

Kathleen Pritchard in "Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775 — 1975" states that the company was founded in 1886. In their book "Technique and History of the Swiss Watch" Jaquet and Chapuis illustrate in Plate No. 148 a pocket watch, presumably an anniversary model, marked around the bezel "Henry Schaeren" and signed on the dial "Melik Mido 1886-1936". Thanks to Bruce Shawkey for drawing this latter item to my attention. Both items concur on the date 1886, but there is no more information about the company in either book until the early part of the 20th century.

Mido are now part of the Swatch group of companies, and state that the modern company, "Mido G. Schaeren & Cie SA", was founded by Georges Schaeren in Solothurn, Bienne, on 11 November 1918. This is not necessarily a discrepancy with the information given by Pritchard, and Jaquet and Chapuis; the inclusion of "G. Schaeren" in the name being to distinguish the new company from any other company employing the name Mido, much like companies are often renamed after an event, e.g. Rolls-Royce Limited became "Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited" after problems with the RB211 jet engine. Similar name, legally different company.

The Mido founded in 1918 started out as a sort of novelty or designer brand, making art-deco styled watches with coloured enamelled shaped cases, departing from the strictly functional appearance of a watch, making watches that could be worn as much as accessories as timepieces. In the 1930s they made some watches in the shape of radiator grills of well know brands of motor cars such as Bugatti, Buick, Excelsior, Peugeot, and Chevrolet.

Mido Watch Brit Pat 385509

Taubert British Patent 385509

Mido Multifort watch

Mido significantly changed direction in 1934 when they introduced the Mido Multifort watch. This watch was waterproof, antimagnetic and impact resistant, and provided the Mido brand with a totally new image of serious watchmaker, not just a "fun" brand. In 1935 the Mido Multifort Automatic was introduced, bringing together for the first time the four features of self winding, watertight, antimagnetic and impact resistant. The Multifort became the best selling Mido watch until the 1950s.

To prove that the Multifort functioned under extreme conditions, Mido had it tested by the New York Electrical Testing Laboratories Inc. Tests were conducted in freshwater and saltwater for over a thousand hours. The watches were then subjected to ten cycles of 15 minutes at 50°C followed by 15 minutes at -40°C. The winding crown was subjected to a test representing 34 years of use. Simulated tests of immersion to 13atm (120 m) and ascending to altitudes of 6,600, 13,300 and 16,600 metres were performed. One of the 6 watches tested ceased operating at 13,300 metres, but apart from that the watches seem to have passed the tests with flying colours.

Part of the success in the tests was due to the use of specially treated natural cork to seal the winding stem. In their official history Mido don't exactly claim to have invented this sealing method themselves, but they do say "Because it formed such a perfect join with the winding shaft, Mido was able to guarantee absolute watertightness even when the crown is pulled out" and "In 1959, this cork system was named ‘Aquadura’".

Saying that Mido was able to guarantee absolute watertightness is not the same as saying that they designed or invented the system. Mido were the company with their name on the dial and so had to take responsibility for their products. However, the way it is said implies that Mido invented the cork stem seal, and the current Mido management seem to believe this because they have refused to discuss it with me, although they have told me that they don't have any records from the time.

Mido Wristwatch Vacuum case back

The cases Mido used for the Multifort were without doubt the Taubert patented decagonal backed cases, with the patented cork seals around the winding stem, that Taubert also supplied to the West End Watch Co., also in 1934, which Taubert guaranteed as 100% waterproof (see below). It seems likely that the testing that Mido had carried out was to substantiate Taubert's claims as to 100% watertightness before they started using the cases, and staking the Mido name on their watertightness. Perhaps this was why Bernard Taubert was able to go to the West End Watch Co. and guarantee his cases as 100% waterproof without it being questioned - if he had the results of the New York tests already to hand. Perhaps this was why the Taubert decagonal case back was adopted by both Mido and West End in the same year 1934, although the patent for the cork stem seal had existed since 1928, and that for the decagonal case back from 1931.

Although the case backs of these Mido Multifort watches do not bear the FB-key mark, they were stamped "BRIT PAT 385509". British patent 385509 was of course the British version of the Swiss patent for Taubert's decagonal case. Presumably Mido didn't want to reveal where they were sourcing their cases from. Perhaps because Mido were an early adopter of the decagonal case back, or in some sort of quid-pro-quo for the New York tests, they were able to wring this concession from Taubert, who usually insisted on stamping all cases with the FB-key mark, such as those supplied to Movado and West End.

Mido Vacuum

In later Mido watches, the word "Vacuum" is stamped in the watch case back, a trademark the Tauberts adopted in the mid-1950s. See the section below Taubert, Manufacture Vacuum for more details.

Later Mido case backs didn't even have this explicit reference to Taubert, simply referring to "Modele Depose" (Registered Design) and "Brevet Depose" (Registered Patent) - which must be a reference to the Taubert patent, because they still had the distinctive 10 flats of the Taubert decagonal case back.

Mido Ocean Star Vacuum

Mido Ocean Star wrist watch

The relationship between Taubert and Mido lasted at least into the 1960s. Evidence for this can be seen in a range of waterproof cases supplied by Taubert to Mido stamped "Vacuum" with the number "+346175". This number refers to a patent for a "Montre étanche" (waterproof watch) registered by Bernard Taubert on 16 April 1958 and published on 30 April 1960. These Taubert Vacuum cases were used in the Ocean Star range of watches by Mido, including a dive watch that was stamped on the outside case back with an image of a Scuba diver and the words "Guaranteed 300m / 1000 ft".

The picture here is from the case back of one of these Mido Ocean Star watches. The word Vacuum is clearly seen above a plus sign, the sign of the Swiss flag which in this case indicates a Swiss patent, followed by the number 346175. Patent CH 346175 "Montre étanche" was registered by Bernard Taubert on 16 April 1958 and published on 15 june 1960.

The salient features of this patent were that the case was made in one piece with no separate back, very much like the original Borgel one piece screw in case. For this new design, Bernard Taubert conceived a winding stem that was in two parts, one part fixed in the movement and one part fixed to the case. A joint allowed to two parts of the stem to separate when the movement was removed from the case, but coupled them axially and rotationally so that the watch could be wound and set as normal. The movement and dial were held in the case by the crystal, supported by a tension ring. The winding stem was, of course sealed by the tried and trusted cork seal, which is not mentioned in the patent but can be clearly seen in the accompanying diagram.

In 2008 on the 90th anniversary of the founding of Mido, director Franz Linder introduced a new watch at Baselworld, the Mido Jubilee. This watch used the Aquadura cork stem sealing system, and so far as I am aware, Mido are still using these cork seals in watches today. Not bad for a design conceived by the Tauberts in the late 1920s!

The press report of this event said:

MIDO: Cork makes waterproof watches

Mido compete with the winemakers for cork to make waterproof watches. The system, patented in 1934, has never been matched by synthetic seals. Franz Linder, director of the Bienne brand, presents its latest creation, Jubilee, sealed with cork.

Using cork to make a waterproof watch: this invention patented in 1934 has never been matched by synthetic seals called "o-ring". The Bienne watchmaker Mido thought of using cork to seal the crown, the weak point of all dive watches. In the Aquadura system, the stem of the crown passes through a tiny cork gasket compressed in a housing, which ensures a seal even if the crown is not fully pushed-in. "Like a bottle of wine that remains sealed even if the cork is half-drawn," compares Franz Linder, Director of Mido.

Attention to defects

Compared to the vintners, the Bienne watchmaker is not a big consumer of Portuguese cork. But as its seals are tiny, they cannot bear the slightest defect of a poor quality cork. "Two thirds of the handpicked seals go in the garbage," says the director of Mido. Natural cork is heated and greased to ensure its moisture, but the real difficulty lies in the cutting of the brittle material: a small piece of cork falling into the case would be enough to stop the movement. The assembly is more difficult and more expensive than plastic seals."

Hardly anyone goes under water to a depth of 50 m. But this system, "simple but brilliant" according to Franz Linder, assured the success of Mido in Brazil, Thailand or Indonesia, wherever humidity attack the movement. And, curiously, doctors around the world are happy to wear a Mido: "Simply because they often wash their hands ..." smiles the director.

The use of cork in the watch is so efficient that Mido applied the "Aquadura" system in the chronometer "Jubilee" presented at Baselworld for the 90th anniversary of the brand. "With an automatic watch, the cork wears only during setting the time or date ..." notes Franz Linz.

Note that Mido claim to have invented the cork sealing system, and patented it in 1934. In fact, although there are a number of patents registered to Mido, I have found none dated between 1930 and 1940.

Movado 1940 Advert

Movado

Movado was founded in 1881 by Achilles Ditesheim, a 19-year old entrepreneur who hired six watchmakers and opened a small workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1905 the company name was changed to Movado; a word meaning always in motion international language of Esperanto.

In "The Movado History" Fritz von Osterhausen writes "The year 1935 saw the introduction of the first Movado water-resistant wrist watch, the ‘Acvatic’. This unusual spelling of the word is derived from the Latin word ‘aqua’ (water) and was first registered as a trademark on 13th February 1936. Produced in various sizes the Acvatic had a screwed back with a lead gasket and a cork seal for the winding crown. It was developed by the case-making firm of François Borgel of Geneva, which was owned by three brothers called Tauber[sic]. They developed many other variously shaped water-resistant cases for Movado during the subsequent decades. Later a two-button chronograph called "Cronacvatic" was developed."

The screwed back case was of course the decagonal back Taubert case, complete with cork seal for the winding stem. Von Osterhausen gives the year of introduction of the Acvatic as 1935, a year later than the waterproof models using the decagonal case back introduced by Mido and West End. So the wording of the 1940 Movado advert shown here is a little misleading, because the wording in the advert says "with the pre-tested waterproofing pioneered by Movado". It also says "Dustproof, airtight, unbreakable crystal ..." - how advertising standards have changed since 1940!

Movado became a big customer of the Taubert's and one sees many Movado watches from the 1930s to the 1960s in the distinctive decagonal back case, but unlike the Mido cases these are proudly stamped with the FB-key Borgel / Taubert trademark. Some of these marks are also understamped "Vacuum" as discussed in the section below Taubert, Manufacture Vacuum.

West End Watch Co.

The early history of the West End Watch Co. is rather difficult to piece together, so don't be surprised if the next few paragraphs are subject to change! In compiling the following history I have drawn on Kathleen Pritchard's "Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775 - 1975", Karl Kochmann's "Clock and Watch Trademark Index of European Origin" and the judgement of the Mumbai High Court in the case of The West End Watch Co. vs The Berna Watch Co. on 22 November, 1910.

Foundation of The West End Watch Co.

In 1864, Alcide Constant Droz and Henry Perret of St. Imier in the Swiss Canton of Berne founded the watchmaking company Droz and Perret. This company subsequently went through many changes of name and registration, and registered many trade marks.

1885 West End Watch Trademark

In 1883 the company changed its registered name to Alcide Droz & Fils (Alcide Droz and Sons). Two of the sons were the brothers Louis, the elder, and Constant. The firm was recorded as makers of watches, specialising in waterproof (imperméable) watches. They registered a trademark of a flying eagle carrying a watch in its beak, surrounded by the words "Imperméable Brevete Dans Tous Pays" (Waterproof Patented in All Countries). On 16 October 1885 they registered a trademark of an eagle carrying a watch in its beak with above it the name "West End Watch".

In 1884 a watch business was started in Bombay by Alcide Droz & Fils and Arnold Charpie. Some reports say that Charpie was the Indian representaive of Droz, but I haven't found anything to substantiate this. The firm was evidently a joint venture between Charpie and Alcide Droz & Fils, with the intention of mainly, but not exclusively, importing watches manufactured at the St Imier factory.

In 1887 Alcide Droz & Fils underwent another change of name, becoming Droz & Cie (Droz and Co.). Also in 1887, Arnold Charpie retired from the Bombay firm, and it became wholly owned by Droz & Cie. And also in the same year of 1887, the Bombay firm was renamed the West End Watch Co. And finally, also in 1887, Alcide Droz & Fils patented a trademark of a bear and flag with the word Berna, and also registered "West End Watch Co." on a movement. I think these events, all taking place in the same year, were all connected. The name of the Bombay company before the retirement of Arnold Charpie is not known, but it was evidently not The West End Watch Co. It appears likely that when Charpie retired in 1887 and Droz & Cie took over completely, they took the opportunity to rebrand the company The West End Watch Company, using the trademark name that they had already registered in 1885.

There is a story that after the creation of the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Arnold Charpie decided to add a Helvetia figure, as appeared on Swiss coins, as a trademark, but that this caused a problem because Muslims reject representations of the human form. The story goes that Charpie ordered replacement dials bearing the name West End Watch Company. It is said that this was because he always stayed in and enjoyed the West End on his visits to London. However, as the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property was not created until 1893, some aix years after Charpie had retired and eight years after Alcide Droz & Fils had registered the West End Watch trademark, this part of the story at least is apocryphal.

The West End Watch Co. remained a wholly owned subsidiary of Droz & Cie until 1891, when Arnold Amstutz became a partner. In 1893, The West End Watch Cie. was listed as a brand of Droz & Amstutz, St Imier; a branch of a Bombay firm of the same name. In 1895 the Indian branch was named West End Watch Co., Droz & Amstutz, and in 1898 this was changed to West End Watch Co., Droz, Amstutz & Cie.

It seems that at some stage in the early 1890s the two Droz brothers separated their business interests. Constant Droz joined up with Arnold Amstutz in India, forming a company called Droz and Amstutz, and Louis Droz remained at the factory in St Imier with the company Droz & Cie.

In 1904 Droz & Cie, the exclusive owners of the St. Imier Factory, got into financial difficulties and converted their manufacturing business into a Joint Stock Company under the name of the Fabrique d'Horlogerie Berna. The West End Watch Co. supported the flotation by taking up a large number of shares in the new Company. At the same time, Droz & Cie sold their interest in the West End Watch Co. to Arnold Amstutz and Constant Droz.

By virtue of their large shareholding in the new company, Constant Droz and Arnold Amstutz were able to insist on a monopoly of all the products the joint stock company Fabrique d'Horlogerie Berna sent to India for a period of ten years. But by 1907 the joint stock company Berna was itself in trouble, and in December went into liquidation. It seems that at least part of the reason for this was a lack of orders from The West End Watch Co., who had complained about the watches supplied by Berna and began importing watches largely from other manufacturers, while they ceased giving orders to the St. Imier factory. This was almost certainly the beginning of the relationship between the West End Watch Co. and Longines, who were also based in St Imier since 1832 and who would have been well known to Constant Droz.

The company sold West End Watch Co. branded Longines watches until at least the 1940s.

More to follow...

The West End brand gave the Swiss made watches a distinctly imperial feel, and the clever juxtaposition of Swiss precision engineering and an Empire brand name was a hit. By the mid-1930s, the company estimated that 100,000 of its Queen Anne model alone were being worn in India.

Extract from M. Foëx Memoirs
Extract M Foex Memoirs

Extract from M. Foëx Memoirs

1934: A Significant Year

In 1934 two events occurred that had a significant effect on the subsequent history of the company. Georges Braunschweig of La Chaux-de-Fonds offered the company the Incabloc shock resisting system for protecting the balance staff from breakage, and Taubert offered them the cases with decagonal screwed backs and cork sealing in the winding stems, which "he" guaranteed 100% waterproof.

The extracts reproduced here are from the memoirs of M. Foëx, who was the managing director of the West End Watch company from 1916 to 1973, which were supplied to me by M. Jérôme Monnat, the CEO of West End Watch Co. These extracts discuss the development and introduction of the Sowar Prima, shockproof thanks to the Incabloc system and waterproof thanks to Taubert's cases. Sowar means warrior in Hindustani, Afghan (Aziz) and Persian (Sadeghi). The Sowar Prima became West End's most successful model.

The West End Watch Co became thus the first company to use the Incabloc shock resisting system in their watches, and they used Taubert's waterproof watch case with the cork stem sealing and decagonal back from 1934 until 1954, when Taubert were no longer able to keep up with West End's demand, which by then had risen to more than 2,000 case per month. The Taubert patents for the cork seal and decagonal screw back case having long since expired, West End asked Donzé to copy Taubert's cases which, after some hesitation, they manage to do, complete with cork sealing and decagonal screwed case back. M. Foëx remarks "We are saved."

The West End Watch co. is still flourishing today, with 15 million watches having been sold throughout the world during more than 120 years of uninterrupted activity since its creation. West End is today one of the most highly esteemed Swiss watch brand names in the world, especially in India, the Middle East and China. And they are still using cases with decagonal backs, which can trace a line of descent back to the Taubert family of Geneva in the 1930s, and through them, back to François Borgel!

Collective Responsibilty Marks

Swiss Hallmarks - Poinçon de Maître / Responsibility Mark

Beginning some time in the mid 1920s, and centralised since July 11, 1934, all precious metal (gold, platinum and palladium cases) watch cases made or imported into Switzerland must carry a poinçon de maître or responsibility mark to identify who is responsible for guaranteeing the purity of the metal used to make the case. These marks are recorded by the Swiss Federal Assay Office and are stamped only on the watch case, not on the bracelet.

Collective Responsibilty Mark No 5.

Watch case makers who are or were members of a collective, l'Union Suisse pour l'Habillage de la Montre (USH), use one of the six poinçon de maître collectif or collective responsibility marks shown in the picture. From left to right they are:

Hammer-head or hammer without handle
Hammer with handle
Marquee
Crossbow
Geneva Key
Shield

The individual case makers are identified by a two or three digit registration number which is stamped where the xx is shown in the picture.

Manufacture Taubert were registered to use both mark number 1, the hammer head, and mark number 5, the Geneva key. Why did they have two registered marks? I have no idea. In both cases their registration number was 11, so if you ever see a case with either the hammer head mark or the Geneva key mark stamped in it, and 11 where the xx are in the picture, you know it was made by the Taubert company. You can see the Manufacture Taubert registration for the Geneva key symbol in the picture to the right.

CH 155519 Schwob Frères patent

1936 Cyma case marks

Cyma Gold Borgel Cushion Case Wristwatch

Pictured right are the case marks from an interesting watch and case. The movement is a 15 jewel Cyma, and the case is a one piece design, without an opening back, made of 9 carat gold. The case has a screw bezel which, when removed, allows the movement, in a ring and further protected by an inner dust cover, to swing out on a hinge. The inner dust cover can then be removed to reveal the movement.

The case is marked inside at the top with the Borgel FB-with-a-key mark, and at the bottom with the collective responsibility mark of the Geneva key with the number 11 on the lever, the mark for Manufacture Taubert. I have highlighted this mark because it is not easy to see on the reduced size image.

Then, working down from the top, the other marks are:

A Swiss patent, referred to in the case back by the word PATENT followed by a cross for Switzerland and then the number 155 519. This patent for a for a "Boîte de montre" was deposited on 17^th March 1931 by Schwob Frères & Cie SA of La Chaux-de-Fonds and published on 30^th June 1932. I have shown some figures from the patent in the picture on the left so you can see they match the watch case.
The Glasgow import mark of two facing Fs and the date letter n for 1936.
The 9 and 375 purity indicators for 9 carat gold.
The initials SFC in a fancy cartouche, which stand for Schwob Freres & Co. Ltd.

Schwob Frères owned the Tavannes / Cyma watch company, and were listed as their retailers in Tavannes / Cyma adverts. So it looks like Schwob Freres designed and patented the case, and then had cases to this patent design manufactured by Borgel / Taubert to take Cyma movements, and then Schwob Freres & Co. imported them into Britain and retailed them.

The images of the watch and case were kindly supplied to me by Simon Collier, who usually has some interesting watches for sale at All Time Classics.

Taubert Patent CH 207378

Rectangular Watch Cases

In the 1920s and 1930s under the influence of the art deco movement, rectangular watches became fashionable. To respond to this trend, the Tauberts designed a new rectangular watch case with a twist - of course, it had to be waterproof! The patent for this new case was registered on 25th August 1938 as Swiss patent CH 207378, and published 31st October 1939.

The method of construction of this case is quite difficult to understand from the drawings in the patent, so I have made this version which shows the cross sectional drawing from the patent, and also an exploded view. The watch movement and dial, together with the winding stem (the stem opening sealed with Taubert's patent cork seal, which isn't discussed in this patent) and crown, are mounted in a rectangular inner case called a báte. The báte is open at the top and bottom.

The báte is encased in a two piece rectangular outer case. A rectangular gasket fits into a groove in the case back where it is trapped between the bottom edge of the báte and the outer case back, sealing the open bottom of the báte to the case back. Another rectangular gasket fits beneath the crystal where it is trapped between the top edge of the báte and the crystal, which is itself held in place by the top part of the outer case. This seals the open top of the báte to the crystal.

By carefully controlling the height of the báte and the dimensions of all the other components, the action of pressing the two parts of the outer case together clamps the gaskets between the inner case and the back and crystal, creating a watertight seal. The two pieces of the outer case are held together by clips which slide into grooves along the case sides.

US3791135 reference to CH207378

The pictures below are of an Alpina watch in this rectangular Taubert case. In the middle picture you can see one of the clips that holds the two parts of the outer case together slid to one side. The third picture shows all the various components, including one gasket. This gasket is made of rather hard, incompressible material, which I would have thought was not ideal for the intended use. I don't know whether it is original, but as it is the perfect size and shape it probably is original. There definitely should be two gaskets, and the watch could not be watertight without both gaskets being in place.

These cases seem to have a reputation amongst some watchmakers for not being very watertight, but they must be at least as capable of being watertight as the later 1939 Omega Marine Standard, which employs a very similar design of case with rectangular gaskets, and doesn't have such a reputation. The design is sound and they would have been assembled correctly at the factory, so there must be a problem with after sales servicing.

The problem is revealed in a later Taubert patent for another waterproof rectangular case, Swiss patent CH566048 dated 19 June 1972 "boîte de montre étanche", also registered in the USA as US 3,791,135 dated May 28, 1973, an extract from which is shown here. In this patent Bernard Taubert writes that the earlier case has "the drawback of requiring special tools for performing the closing operation, i.e., for strongly pressing together the two case parts to enable the slide devices to be placed in a working position.

Many watch makers would not have possessed the necessary special tool and so, having been able to get the case apart relatively easily by sliding the clips out, they would have difficulty in properly pressing the two parts of the case together to establish the watertight seal. Some watchmakers would have taken the time to make a jig and press the case together properly, but others would have bodged the job and handed it back to the owner with the well known phrase "it can't be guaranteed to be watertight". In my Alpina, it is evident that at some stage one gasket has been left out, most probably to enable the case to be assembled by hand. I have recently acquired a Movado in one of these cases, very similar to the Alpina. Again, one of the gaskets is missing and I am sure that this has been done to enable the case to be assembled by hand.

If you know of a source or old stock of these gaskets, please let me know.

In addition to Alpina, Taubert supplied this case to Movado, to Patek Philippe for the Reference 1485, and possibly to other manufacturers as well. If you know of one I haven't listed, please let me know.

In "The Movado History" Fritz von Osterhausen writes "The year 1935 saw the introduction of the first Movado water-resistant wrist watch, the ‘Acvatic’ . . . It was developed by the case-making firm of François Borgel of Geneva, which was owned by three brothers called Tauber[sic]. They developed many other variously shaped water-resistant cases for Movado . . ." There is an implication there that the Tauberts developed this case for Movado, one of their biggest customers at the time. Whether this is true I don't know, but certainly the majority of the watches that I have seen in one of these cases are Movados.

The Alpina came from www.styleintime.com who always have an interesting range of vintage watches for sale, and are nice people to deal with. If you are in the market for a vintage watch, I suggest you check out the Style In Time web site, or give Jonathan a call.

Taubert, Manufacture Vacuum

Pritchard⁽²⁾ records the following information:

Taubert Vacuum entry in Pritchard

The date given by Pritchard of 1883 obviously predates the 1887 that I have above for Borgel registering his mark, and indicates that Borgel first registered his trademark in 1883. We know from the Taubert & Fils advert that the Borgel company was actually founded in 1880, so it is not surprising that Borgel would have registered his trademark soon after that.

The reference to "Taubert, Manufacture Vacuum" is intriguing - what does it mean? The image to the right shows the Taubert FB-with-a-key mark with the word VACUUM underneath in a Movado case back.

From the mid 1950s Taubert supplied cases marked with the FB-key mark underwritten with "VACUUM"" to Movado, such as the one shown in the picture to the right. They also supplied cases without the FB-key mark but stamped "Vacuum" to Mido for the Mido Multifort range of waterprood watches. Reading the official history of Mido there is no reference to Taubert, and Mido claim to have invented the cork sealing for the winding stem themselves in 1934. However, the first Mido Multifort cases have the very distinctive decagonal case back of the Taubert patent case, and the cork sealing is the same as in the cases supplied by Taubert to West End. Please refer to the sections on Mido and West End for futher details of these cases.

Other References To Taubert Frères

An entry in the Geneva Register of Commerce dated 15^th July 1950 refers to Taubert Frères, giving the management as Marcel, Paul and Bernard Taubert of Neuchatel. After the patent registered by the three brothers in 1940, Bernard Taubert went on from 1947 to register at least 24 Swiss patents under his own name, with no mention of his brothers, so perhaps they took someting of a back seat.

The End Of The Line?

The Taubert company went into liquidation in 1974. The Swiss register of collective responsibility marks shows that the firm's registration was cancelled on 16 May 1974. The final patent registered under the name Bernard Taubert, CH608322, was published in 1979. The applicant for this patent was Monique Bouchet, whereas previously Bernard had applied for all his patents in his own name. Perhaps the absence of his brothers from the patents after 1940 indicates that they had left the company, and perhaps Bernard himself retired in 1974 leading to the liquidation of the company, and patent CH608322 was applied for by Monique Bouchet as a mark of respect.

The Line Continues!

The reason that I headed the previous section with "The End Of The Line?" with a question mark is that the Taubert design of case with the polygonal, or more correctly decagonal for 10 sides, screw back is still in use today by the West End Watch Co.

Taubert Patents

The table below is an incomplete list of patents by Taubert. I will expand it to cover more of their patents soon.

Date	Number	Title	Inventor(s)
1925	CH 112153	Boîte de montre.	Taubert Fils Manufacture Des Boites Borgel
1927	CH 119762	Montre.	Taubert Fils Manufacture Des Boites Borgel
1929	CH 130942	Boîte de montre hermétique.	Taubert Fils
1932	CH 156807	Boîte de montre hermétique.	Taubert Fils
1939	CH 207232	Dispositif hermétique de poussoir au remontoir pour chronographe.	Taubert Freres
1939	CH 206762	Dispositif de ressort antagoniste pour poussoir de chronographe.	Taubert Freres
1939	CH 207378	Dispositif de montage hermétique pour montre à mouvement de forme.	Taubert Freres
1941	CH 218691	Boîte de montre.	Taubert Freres
1941	CH 217009	Boîte de montre.	Taubert Freres
1942	CH 222297	Remontoir étanche.	Taubert Freres
1947	CH 248901	Lien extensible.	Bernard Taubert
1948	CH 257308	Lien extensible.	Bernard Taubert
1948	CH 257309	Lien extensible.	Bernard Taubert
1951	CH 273458	Boîte de montre.	Bernard Taubert
1951	CH 274905	Boîte de montre étanche.	Bernard Taubert
1951	CH 274906	Boîte étanche, notamment pour montre.	Bernard Taubert
1952	CH 281492	Boîte de montre à lunette rotative.	Bernard Taubert
1952	CH 287285	Montre-bracelet.	Bernard Taubert
1954	CH 304087	Remontoir étanche pour pièce d'horlogerie.	Bernard Taubert

While searching for records of cases made by Taubert & Fils or Taubert Frères I investigated Sotheby's Auctions. I found they had sold at least 13 watches between 2006 and 2009 where the case was attributed to Taubert. The Sotheby's watch expert obviously knows his subject very well, which I suppose is what you should expect! These were mainly watches by Patek Philippe, but there was also one by Movado. Some interesting extracts from two of the sales are noted below.

Patek Philippe 1952

Sotheby's Wed 13 Jun 2007 02:00 PM New York

A Fine and Rare Patek Philippe Gold Chronograph Wristwatch with Register and Tachometer 1952, Movement No. 868505, Case No. 679108, Ref. 1463J

The following information is quoted from the Sotheby's catalogue for the sale:

CATALOGUE NOTE

Accompanied by a Patek Philippe Certificate d'Origine et de Garantie stamped Geneva 1961. Further accompanied by a Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production in 1952 and its subsequent sale on August 10th, 1961.

The inside of the case back is stamped 'FB', the maker's mark for Taubert & Fils. From the late 19th century, when it existed under the name Frères Borgel, Taubert & Fils was one of the finest Geneva-based case makers and specialized in water-resistant cases. They worked with many firms, including Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.

Patek Philippe 1959

Sotheby's Wed 13 Jun 2007 02:00 PM New York

A Fine and Rare Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Chronograph Wristwatch with Tachometer and Register 1959, Movement No. 869027, Case No. 2605614, Ref 1463A

The following information is quoted from the Sotheby's catalogue for the sale:

CATALOGUE NOTE

Accompanied by a Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production in 1959 and its subsequent sale on November 18, 1965.

When it made its debut in 1940, Ref. 1463 was Patek Philippe's first water resistant chronograph wristwatch, and was produced in less than 750 examples. It was the successor to Ref. 130, another iconic chronograph wristwatch with a snap back.

The inside of the case on the present example is stamped 'FB', which is the maker's mark for Taubert, the foremost supplier of waterproof cases.

Francis Baumgartner?

I have seen many instances of watch cases bearing an FB mark, or waterproof cases in general, being attributed to Francis Baumgartner. This is an error, probably based on the common initials of FB for François Borgel and another Geneva case maker, Frédéric Baumgartner. The two identities appear to have been conflated, in the process turning "François" into the Anglicised "Francis". The fact is that there never was a case making company called Francis Baumgartner.

Patek Philippe case back

This image is from an 18 carat gold Patek Philippe case back, and it bears the collective responsibility mark of a small key with the number 2 stamped on the lever. Thanks to TimeZone member candle7 for permission to use the image, and for the information that the watch is a 1962 Patek Philippe ref. 3434. The collective responsibility mark number 2 was registered to F. Baumgartner SA of Geneva. Candle7 has informed me that the case is a simple snap back. Just metal on metal, no rubber gasket, and no marking anywhere to indicate the watch was ever intended to be water resistant. The 1949 edition of La Classification Horlogere Suisse reveals that F. Baumgartner SA of Geneva, case maker, was Frédéric, not Francis, Baumgartner!

Frédéric Baumgartner was the maker of the 1932 Omega Marine, the first dive watch, and was the designer and maker of the 1939 Omega Marine Standard, a waterproof rectangular watch with a clip back case. You can read more about this in my section on Omega. (This will open a page in a new tab.)

These appear to have been Frédéric Baumgartner's only waterproof watches. I have found a series of 11 patents issued to Frédéric Baumgartner starting in 1929 with the design of a hinged case for a small clock or pocket watch. There is no provision for making this case waterproof, and apart from three patents issued to Baumgartner for the Omega Marine Standard design in 1940 - 1941 all his other patents concern the appearance of watches rather than their waterproof qualities. I think this proves that Frédéric Baumgartner was not in any way involved in the design of the waterproof case for the 1926 Rolex Oyster.

To return to the top of this page and start reading the true Borgel story, click on this link: Top

Numbers inside a Borgel case back

Borgel Case Number Project

If you own a Borgel cased watch, and here I am really talking about the early screw in cases made to Borgel's 1891 patent CH4001, then after finding out that it was made by Borgel, and deciphering the sponsor's mark and the hallmarks, you may, like me, have wondered what the numbers stamped in the case back mean.

I mean the numbers like the 3130633 and 40 that you can see in this Borgel case back. I am collecting as many pictures of case backs like this as I can so. I hope that by building up a big collection of numbers and dates from the hallmarks, some sense may emerge from the numbers. It may be a long shot, but if the numbers can be put into sequence and matched up with the hallmark dates, we may be able to derive production quantities for separate years, or put dates to case that don't have hallmarks.

I have started a page for this project which is not on the main menu at the head of the page, to get to it please click on this link: Borgel Case Number Project

If you can contribute a picture of the inside case back of your Borgel watch to this case number project, or have any comments, requests or suggestions, then please feel free to email me at . You shouldn't need to copy the email address, just click on it. I answer all emails I receive, so if you do write to me and don't get an answer in a few days, please check your junk and spam folders. Even better, when you write, add my email address to your contacts and my emails will not be filtered out.

Regards - David

To return to the top of the page, click on this link: Top

References

Julien John Stanislous Tripplin: Watch and clock making in 1889, being an account and comparison of the exhibits in the horological section of the French international exhibition with a view of the British watch and clock making section. Published 1890 by Crosby Lockwood in London.
Kathleen H. Pritchard: Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775-1975

Vintage Watch Straps

The place to find straps and bands for vintage fixed wire lug military trench or officers World War One era wrist watches.

The History of the Borgel Watch

François Borgel, Louisa Borgel, the Taubert family

Watch Case Makers of Geneva

François Borgel

François Borgel - Early Life

Borgel's First Patent

Borgel's One Piece Screw Watch Case

Borgel Produces Wrist Watch Cases

International Watch Co. (IWC) and Borgel

The Earliest Known Borgel Wrist Watch?

Other Case Types Made By Borgel

François Borgel Patents

Early Taubert Developments

Patek Philippe

Taubert Frères SA

Two Important Court Cases

Taubert versus Piquerez-Frésard

Bréguet-Bréting versus Taubert Frères S.A.

Mido Multifort watch

Mido Vacuum

Mido Ocean Star wrist watch

MIDO: Cork makes waterproof watches

Attention to defects

Other References To Taubert Frères

The End Of The Line?

The Line Continues!

Taubert Patents

Sotheby's Wed 13 Jun 2007 02:00 PM New York

Sotheby's Wed 13 Jun 2007 02:00 PM New York

References