====== Fleurier ======
**Fleurier** is a Swiss watchmaking town in the district of [[Val-de-Travers]] in the canton [[Neuchâtel]] in western Switzerland. Well-known watch companies such as [[Parmigiani]] and [[Chopard]] have their headquarters here, and it is the namesake of [[Richemont]] movement manufacturing operation, [[ValFleurier]].

===== History =====
The beginning of watchmaking in Fleurier came in [[1730]], as David Jean-Jacques-Henri Vaucher began to manufacture watches here. Another famous Fleurier watchmaker of the time was Ferdinand Berthoud, born in [[Couvet]] in [[1723]]. In [[1750]], 15 watchmakers worked in one place, and this number rose to 106 in [[1794]], amounting to 13% of the population.

[[Bovet, Edouard|Edouard Bovet]] and his brothers worked in Fleurier starting in [[1820]], producing [[pocket watch]]es. Since these were designed specifically for the Chinese market, they were known as "Chinese Market Watches". The Bovet brothers held a virtual monopoly over this export activity until they were followed by other companies in Fleurier [[Vaucher Frères]] (1848 ), [[Juvet, Edouard|Edouard Juvet]] (moving his workshop from Buttes in 1844), and the Dimier brothers (who came over from Geneva). Since the village Fleurier had specialized in the production of these watches, they became known as "Fleurier watches", but soon they began exporting to other areas.

In [[1851]], the first school of watchmaking is opened in Fleurier. This continued catalyzing the area as a center for watchmaking. [[Georges Piaget]] founded [[Piaget]] in nearby [[La Côte-aux-Fées]] in [[1874]]. An [[ebauche]] factory was established around the turn of the century, and this was brought together with local brands like [[Arcadia]] to become the [[Fleurier Watch Co.]] in [[1915]]. In [[1920]], [[Guillaume, Charles Edouard|Charles Edouard Guillaume]], a native of Fleurier, won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in the field of iron and nickel alloys. He invents the alloys [[Invar]] and [[Elinvar]] for the production of [[balance spring]]s.

Watch production in Fleurier had declined by the 1970's, but this changed in [[1975]], as [[Parmigiani, Michel|Michel Parmigiani]] based his company, [[Parmigiani|Parmigiani Mesure et Art du Temps SA]], in Fleurier. Parmigiani also established [[Vaucher Manufacture]] in Fleurier. Today, these companies are part of [[Parmigiani|Parmigiani Fleurier SA]]. [[Bovet|Bovet Fleurier SA]] was re-established in [[1989]] (though it remains in [[Geneva]]) and [[Chopard Manufacture]] and [[Fleurier Ébauches]] were created with [[Chopard]] in [[1996]]. Beginning in the 1990's, [[Panerai]] began manufacturing in Fleurier. By [[2006]], this operation is named [[ValFleurier]] and provides movements to Panerai as well as other [[Richemont]] brands, including [[Baume & Mercier]].

[[2001]], the "Fondation Qualité Fleurier" ("Fleurier Quality Foundation" or [[FQF]]) is formed with the goal of creating a better certification of watches than the [[COSC]]. The new certification guidelines of FQF are officially defined on on 27 September [[2004]]. Since September [[2006]], "L.U.CEUM - Traces of Time" is run in Fleurier by [[Chopard]].

===== Weblinks =====
  *[[https://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/encyclopaedia/watchmaking-museums/s/luceum-traces-of-time/|L.U.CEUM - Traces of Time]]


{{tag>Watch_towns Fleurier Val-de-Travers}}