History of clockmaking in Besançon

And although today the number of workshops is low, representing just 89 establishments and 2,119 salaried jobs in the whole region, Besançon nonetheless retains indelible traces of this rich past.

[3] In 1793, Genevan Laurent Mégevand (1754-1814) settled in Besançon with 80 colleagues, founding the city's clockmaking industry,[2][4][5][6][7] apparently to escape unemployment[8] or because of his political activities.

[2][9] They subsequently brought 22 clockmaking families to the city, representing between 400[6] and 700 people,[10] mainly from Le Locle and the principality of Neuchâtel, but also from Geneva, Porrentruy, Montbéliard, Savoy, and even the Palatinate.

[6] These immigrants were greatly encouraged by the French authorities, notably by a decree in 1793 which founded the Manufacture Française d'Horlogerie in Besançon,[8] offering them spacious premises and subsidies.

In 1795, there were a thousand clockmaking in the city,[9] and by the end of the Empire, some 1,500 Swiss lived in the Comtoise capital, 500 of them working exclusively in watchmaking and producing around 20,000 units a year, before this community was gradually replaced by local labor.

[12] A testimonial reports the existence of this small workshop as early as the 1800s; it was to become one of France's largest clock manufacturers:[12][13] "In 1800, the future emperor, who was still only First Consul, was visiting Besançon.

[...] He is the ancestor of all the Lip companies who, from a small firm of fifteen people set up in 1867 by Emmanuel Lipmann in Besançon's Grande Rue, went on to become the most powerful of all French manufacturers."

[15] At the International Universal Exhibition held on Place Labourey in Besançon in 1860, the city was recognized as the Capitale de la montre française[6] (Capital of French Watches).

[16] However, a crisis struck in the late 1880s: thousands of jobs disappeared and many inhabitants left the town for lack of work, while others saw their wages drastically cut;[14] production fell to 366,197 watches in 1888.

[17] At the Philadelphia Exhibition in 1877, the Swiss realized that the progress made by American clockmaking could put them in difficulty, and they immediately began to reform their tools to keep up with the times and remain competitive.

Bloch-Geismar and Cie, which owned workshops for case assemblers in the city, and opened a veritable small factory producing watches from A to Z, without recourse to family labor.

[20] In 1901, the magazine La France horlogère defended Besançon's reputation and workforce, and the town reached such heights of popularity in the clockmaking industry that Parisian firms such as Maison Leroy set up shop in the city.

[25] In 1905, a controversy erupted in the town because of the perceived unfair competition from civil servants (letter carriers, teachers, customs officers, country wardens, etc.)

[11] From 1912 to 1944, the École municipale d'horlogerie was governed by an outstanding figure: Louis Trincano, a former graduate of the school who became a clockmaker in the town and secretary of the factory's union, who obtained the de facto nationalization of the establishment in 1921.

[11] The site on Avenue Villarceau in the Grette-Butte district was chosen, and the work was entrusted to the architect Guadet, who built the future Lycée Jules Haag.

[30] In the long term, partial or total unemployment soared, exports and imports dropped considerably, many companies in the sector were jeopardized, and around thirty closed for good between 1931 and 1936.

Established on a 75-hectare site built in the 2000s,[41] the area is home to 150 companies employing over 1,000 people,[42] and features the Témis innovation building, with 6,500 m2 entirely dedicated to microtechnology,[41] as well as the École nationale supérieure de mécanique et des microtechniques,[42] which trains around 900 students a year.

Other assets, such as quality of life and heritage, as well as its location on the Rhine-Rhone axis, which is a structuring factor on a European scale, are enabling Besançon to make a fresh start at the beginning of the 21st century.

[45] A large number of Franche-Comté companies produce the majority of watch components (cases, dials, movements, glasses, hands, crowns and bracelets) for Swiss brands with a world-renowned[45] image for quality.

[45] The presence of the centre technique de l'industrie horlogère (CETEHOR) in Besançon is a valuable asset for keeping abreast of all the technical innovations in the clockmaking sector.

[49] After several unsatisfactory redundancy plans and a bankruptcy filing, on June 12, 1973, workers occupied the factory and sold the watches they produced[12] themselves, before the forces of law and order dislodged them on August 14, 1973.

From a small shop in the Rue Jeanneney in Besançon's capital, he and his wife launched a first catalog featuring twelve watch models for men and women: the Maty company was born.

[55] The building is made of reinforced concrete with steel beams, and also includes a private formal garden with a swimming pool and tennis court, and was decommissioned in 1994.

[58] The company won several CETEHOR (Centre Technique de l'Industrie Horlogère) awards, before disappearing in the face of competition from emerging countries.

[58] In addition to the clockmaking business, there were also companies specializing in items associated with watches, such as Georges Pargemin, which made leather bracelets, and the M. Matille jewelry store, founded in 1920 and employing up to ten people.

[11] In 2010, the school's administration is working with the Franche-Comté regional council on a rehabilitation program, including the refurbishment of existing buildings and the construction of new ones, as in 2003 to accommodate BTS students and preparatory classes for grandes écoles.

[11] The clockmaking school offers a more social alternative, ensuring a professional outlet in the region itself, hence the reputation it has been able to acquire, particularly among the population deeply involved in the city's industrial fabric.

[11] When Besançon lost its clockmaking vocation, it became the capitale des microtechniques (capital of microtechnology), and the Lycée Jules Haag played its part in this development.

Unanimously acclaimed by critics for its concept and neutrality, the film pays tribute to this struggle and aims to pass on this page of history to younger generations.

[66] In the first documentary, we see scenes filmed at the time, where striking workers express their points of view and in particular in the person of a particularly highlighted employee: Monique Piton, who explains her vision of the conflict with enthusiasm and lucidity;[66] she narrates the course of the occupation of the factory by the police, the four months of fighting, the place of women in this struggle, what she learned, and also criticizes the role of television and the media.