The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-03-07
MATCHMAKING IN AMERICA.



q Guard Favre- Perret, member of the Interna-
3 tional Jury on Watches of the Exhibition at
Philadelphia, and one of the Swiss Commis-1
q sioners to the United States.
Mr. Arnold Grosjean, president of the
4 board OF commerce, announced that NJ Ed
eouard Favre-Perret. member of the interna-,
ltional jury on watches of the exhibition at,
philadelphia, haG kindly consented to re-;
3peat, at la Chaux -de-Fonds, the speech al
Sready delivered by him at LOcle and Neu-i
kchatel on the situation of the industry of,
matchmaking in the United States.
n THE ADDRESS
4 "GENrLEMEN-I must, to start with an:
5nounce to you that you have not orator.
4before you, but a manufacturer, and rs such,
81 ask your indulgence. l shall give you in
SformatiOn which, unluckily, is not cheerful,
Non the condition of Swiss Matchmaking
4compared with the American competition.E
81 shall tell you of facts simply, such as II
8have seen them, such as / have understood
dthem. Frankness is here more necessary
athan anything else, for tbs not by pallisting?
! the bad sides of difficult situation that We
lzcap succeed in improving it.
For long time we have heard here of aIiss
5American competition, without believing it,
IL skeptics, and there many of them,
5denied the possibility of competition ats
3once so rapid and so important To-day weS
iare forced to believe the proofs of it. and TOY
the existence OIL q tOrln1uaDlel
3manufacture.
"We have had the proofs of it under ourI
Sown eyes; we have seen the American lac l
3tories, and we have been able to satisfy our
SELVES exactly as to their p0wer.I
ave have treated the Americana
fmanufacture We have treated;
zthe neighboring manufactures-in theI
MIXTURE of which we did not wish to believe.
Nat hrSt, ar d which form to-day a most Seri-s
zous competition. refer to Besancon,
4Bienne, st. Imier, Morat and Schaffhausen.
a "FOr a long time America has been thei
&principal market for our watches-our milk !
: cow, so to speak. To day we must earnestly
sprepare to struggle with the Americans onI
1the fields where hitherto we have been theE
Hmasters. Some of you have known Mr.. DEM
Unison, who was we may say, the father of
SAmerican matchmaking. Mr. Dennisoni
. 2traveled through the canton of Neuchatel,
&studying our mode of manufactur
ding, seeking to inform himself OF everything
land carefully noting the week parts in our,
5Iindustry. After his return to the United.
Estates, he founded factory at Boston-the!
8BoSton watch company. This was in 1854 :
srhe capital, scarcely 500, ,0OO was subscribed
Sby capitalists more than by practical busi-
aness men. In the beginning the company
Xturned out only the rough skeleton move
1ment, and attended to the finishing; all,
bother parts, such as trains, balances, jewels,
ffietc., etc, were imported from Switzerland
SLittle by little however the factory ex-
Htended its operations and produced otheri
4parts. Notwithstanding all this progress,
&this mode of doing things not suiting the
a American character, so little inclined to lett
3capital remain almost unproductive, theE
&capitalists abandoned the factory, and il,
Hfailed in 1856.
Another American, Mr.. Robbins, whom|
4you have also known, gentlemen, when bel
ho6 hrrs raj LOT uyffh ne al
3good speculation, and bought in the entirei
3factorY, tools included, for $75, 900. A newl
<Icom pany-the American watch company
was afterwards formed, with a capital of
5000 900, Soon this capital became insult
Xhcient, and it was increased 10 $500, 900 be
fore the war of secession. This war, which,
seemed calculated to destroy such an enter
4prosperity. America put on foot milliOn|
4of soldiers, and as every one wanted his.
Xwatch, there was great animation in theI
watch business. At this juncture, which,
8might have been a lucky one forI
xour industry we failed to comprehend
Jour real interests. Instead of send-l
ding good watches to the Americans, the
&worst trash was sent. Had mere skeleton
amovements been sent in cases they would
Hhave been thou ght good enoughl The Amer
"a cans, however, went to work on an entirely
Indifferent plan. The company increased their
Hplant and turned out a better ordinary watch
&than the Swiss watch. At the end of several
8years and with the aid of patriotism, thel
81 American watch enjoyed a good reputation
dwhile our own was discredited everywhere
.lln 1865 the capital was increased 10 $3.50, ,000|
land the operations of the new company
! 8grew to immense proportions. During the
Following years business went on so well that
Everywhere new watch factories sprung upl
HEvery one wanted to make watches Tod ly
4 60 ~
important, after the Waltham company, is
1.-The one at Elgin, which turns out about 800
Z movements day. The Waltham company
Xgives employment to 900 workmen, and
make about 425 movements per day. The
: company again increased their capital in
IiS72; il amounts to-day to s., 500, ,0O0 besides
3S30O, 900 as reserve fund or a capital of 9, 900
8OO0 francs This watch factory is real
8power; there is none like il in Europe. We
&have seen il in all its details, and we have
a admired its splendid organization. Last
May, on the eve of the exhibition. we still
Hseemed masters OF the situation. One
z3event, however, dealt a mortal
Hblow. Be it through the effect of the
Hcrlsis, or from any other motive, the
IN reduction on the price of their movements
Hof 40 per cent. 10 so per cent, so that all
8stocks of Swiss watches were seriously
3affected. Lever movements, with visible
&pallets, were sold at 10 francs. How can we
Smeet this? Under such circumstances, bow
Ecan we maintain competition? 1t will be
Unnecessary to turn out our movements at IL
nor Ia francs to pay the custom duties and to
i Seave little margin Of profit. The Wal
'Stham company, however, would not be out
fdone by the Eigin company; they even pro-
= Xposed to do better. They announced re-
x iuction Of price from 40 to so per cent. on
Y prices already lower than their rivals, but
Nat the same time they made known that
this reduction would go back as far as Jano1
Hary l. 1876 So that a dealer in watches had
simply to indicate the stock of his Waltham
8goods on hand TO secure the rebate of 40 to
R5O per cent. This coup de commerce has cost
1.-The company $4,000