====== Portescap ======

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

**Portescap** was the common name for Le Porte-Echappement Universel SA, the maker of [[Incabloc]], [[Triovis]], [[Vibrograf]] and other watch-related devices. Today, Portescap SA continues as a maker of miniature electric motors while Incabloc SA, a separate company, continues in the watchmaking field.

===== History =====
Founded in [[1931]] as Le Porte-Echappement Universel SA, Portescap introduced the famous Incabloc shock protection system in [[1933]]. The company was founded by Frédéric "Fritz" Marti, with Georges Braunschweig, owner of the [[Election]] watch company, joining soon after his family firm went bankrupt in [[1931]]. Portescap was located across the street from Election's massive factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and Braunschweig would lead the company to become a dominant factory in the city.

Fritz Marti was a prolific inventor, having patents for numerous inventions including [[electric clock]]s and watch cases in the 1920s and 1930s. His system, which would become known as [[Incabloc]], used cone-shaped jewel and distinctive lyre-shaped spring embedded in an easy to apply [[chaton]]. The system was extremely successful, and Portescap encouraged or required companies to use the Incabloc name widely, including adding it to the dial of watches so equipped. In [[1938]], the double-cone shock protection system was introduced, which remains dominant today.

In just 15 years, it came so synonymous with anti-shock devices that the company was forced to take aggressive legal action against competitors and counterfeiters. Competing systems, notably [[KIF]] from [[Parechoc]], were eventually able to offer similar performance without the advertising and dial labeling requirements. Portescap also produced testing equipment throughout the 1950s under the Vibrograf brand. With [[high-beat]] watches appearing, Portescap introduced the [[Triovis]] fine regulator in [[1968]].

Georges Braunschweig turned over management of Portescap to his son, Philippe Braunschweig, in [[1960]]. He had been deeply involved with the company for many years, and would lead it for decades. Georges remained Chairman of the Board until [[1973]] and died in [[1975]] at the age of 83.

By [[1970]], Portescap was the largest employer in La Chaux-de-Fonds but had diversified into the production of electric motors and linear actuators. These would find use throughout the Swiss quartz watch market, making Portescap as important to high-end quartz movements as it had been to mechanical movements.

Portescap introduced a lower-priced alternative in [[1974]], Antichoc 2000. This used a synthetic material as both bushing and anti-shock membrane, replacing the cone jewel entirely. A later addition was Novodiac, a lower-priced jewel-set shock absorber with a three-leaf clover look reminiscent of KIF Trior.

In [[1987]], Portescap divested the watch testing market to [[Greiner]], and the company divested Incabloc and other watch shock absorber technologies the following year. Incabloc SA, founded in [[1988]], received the equipment and some staff and began a new era of production in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In [[2003]], Incabloc became entirely independent of Portescap, which continued to focus on DC motors.

===== See Also =====
  * [[Incabloc]]
  * [[Parechoc]]


{{tag>La_Chaux-de-Fonds}}