====== Jean d'Eve ======

{{wst>author|[[Foskett, Stephen|Stephen Foskett]] ([[https://grail-watch.com/|Grail Watch]])}}

{{wst>menue|Jean_d'Eve}}

**Jean d'Eve** is a Swiss watch brand associated with **Le Phare**. It traces its roots to [[1888]] and the firm, Barbezat-Baillot. Other brands used include Memory, Lighthouse, Rolnik, Kowal, Temporis, and Elfarc.

===== Barbezat-Baillot and Le Phare =====
On November 30th, [[1888]] Charles Barbezat-Baillot founded the Barbezat-Baillot watch factory in [[Le Locle]]. This was the successor company to Barbezat's earlier firm, Guye et Barbezat, which was founded before [[1873]. The company was located on Rue de la Côte 222 by [[1894]]. Charles Barbezat-Baillot was involved in local business and became President of the Société des Fabricants d'Horlogerie du Locle in the 1890s.

Barbezat-Baillot specialized in high-end watches with [[repetition]], and boasted of a centrifugal force mechanism and special mechanism that silenced the noisy mechanics, allowing the alarm to ring clearly. The company also introduced a pushbutton to activate the alarm, a novelty for the time, and reduced the size of the mechanism to fit in a normal watch case.

Barbezat-Baillot sold the products under the brand name "Le Phare" ("The Lighthouse") by [[1896]]. Le Phare repeaters were more reasonably priced and produced in high volume. Some models also included [[complication]]s like a [[chronograph]], [[full calendar]] with [[moon phase indicator]], and various [[automata]]. These were a highlight of the Swiss National Exhibition in Geneva in [[1896]]. In [[1905]], the company changed its name officially to Le Phare SA. The brand name "Tempora" was also used by [[1899]] and "Memory" was also used beginning in [[1925]]. The company was very successful, tripling the size of its operations at Rue de la Côte 29-33 in [[1920]].

Barbezat-Baillot also produced machines for watchmaking under the [[Dixi]] brand, and this would become a successful firm in its own right. Indeed, Dixi would purchase nearly every watchmaking form in Le Locle in the 1970s, saving brands like [[Zenith]] and [[Zodiac]] from extinction. Dixi was a product of Le Phare until it was spun out as an independent company in [[1931]].

The Great Depression caused issues for high-end firms like Le Phare, and the company was reorganized in [[1933]] as Nouvelles Fabrique Le Phare S.A. Le Phare produced complicated pocket watches in the 1930s, including [[rattrapante]] and standard [[chronograph]]s, [[stop watch]]es, [[alarm watch]]es, and [[repeater]]s.

In [[1939]], Le Phare relocated to [[La Chaux-de-Fonds]], changing ownership the following year. The company continued to specialize in complicated pocket watches but also added wrist watches by [[1940]], including [[pilot's watch]]es. The brand's slogan was "Précision, Qualité Irrérochable" and their products reflected this focus.

===== Le Phare-Sultana =====
In [[1950]], the company changed its name to Le Phare-Sultana SA after merging with [[Sultana]]. By [[1970]] the company was the second-largest manufacturer of chronographs in Switzerland, and it was widely known for masculine watches with modern designs. As early as [[1974]], Le Phare offered a watch with retrograde hour and minute hands. By [[1976]], the company also offered LED watches and quartz movements. In [[1977]], the "Pebble" model embedded a quartz movement in a semi-precious stone as a table clock or pocket or pendant watch. The company continued to produce mechanical watches, however, including an ultra-thin skeleton model in [[1980]].

===== Jean d'Eve =====
In [[1981]], the brand "Jean d'Eve" was launched, generally being used for higher-end models. One signature piece was the Spinnaker, which included a rope design around the bezel and inspired many copycats. In [[1984]] the brand launched its "Sectora" models, in which the time was represented in sectors of the dials by [[retrograde]] hands. The company also changed its name to Le Phase Jean d'Eve SA in [[1984]].

The [[1988]] Samara model is claimed to be the first [[automatic quartz]] watch in the world. The Kentron Cal. 861.0 "Generotor system" features a dial-side rotor (between the hands and dial) that winds a generator spring that spins up a multi-polar generator to 15,000 rpm. This charges a condenser which can hold 10 days (240 hours) of power for the quartz movement. It also included an "Energizer" which can re-start the watch once it has stopped.

Le Phare-Sultana was acquired in [[1991]] by [[Renley Watch Manufacturing]] along with [[Buler|Buler Quartz SA]] of [[Lengnau]]. Founded in 1983 by Hong Kong-based Stanley Lau, Renley was a private label producer of Swiss and French watches.

The "Quarta" model was launched in [[1993]] and included retrograde hands in all four corners of a rectangular dial. The Sectora was updated with a new case in [[1999]]. The [[2006]] Sectora II Automatic turned this display sideways in a new case. In [[2010]], Jean d'Eve launched a [[tourbillon]] at [[BaselWorld]] based on the [[Progress]] movement.

The Le Phare brand is no longer active [[as of 2020]], but the Jean d'Eve brand was active at least until [[2017]].

===== Address =====
Jean d'Eve\\ av. Leopold-Robert 96\\ CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds

Tel. +41 32 910 92 32\\ Fax +41 32 910 92 35

===== Weblinks =====
  * [[http://www.jeandeve.ch/|Jean d'Eve]]
  * [[https://grail-watch.com/2020/04/03/jean-deve-samara-the-first-automatic-quartz/|Jean d'Eve Samara: The First Automatic Quartz]]


{{tag>Watch_brands Watch_brands_Switzerland}}