====== Revue Thommen ======
{{wst>image_r|Revue_Thommen_Logo|Logo}}
**Revue Thommen** (simply **Revue** until [[1987]]) is a Swiss watch manufacturer dating to [[1853]]

===== Revue =====
The residents of [[Waldenburg]] in Northwest Switzerland, near [[Basel]], decided in [[1853]] to begin producing watches, as traffic in their valley was to be bypassed by the construction of a railroad the following year. The **Waldenburg Watch Manufacturing Company** was not successful, but in [[1859]] was taken over by local entrepreneurs. 10 years later, Gedeon Thommen took over and, between 1870 and 1890, progressed from building 4,000 [[cylinder watch]]es to 13,000 cylinder and [[lever watch]]es. In [[1905]], his son Alphons Thommen incorporated the concern as the **Thommen's Watch Factories Ltd.**.

In [[1932]], control of the firm passed to [[Straumann, Hermann|Doctor Hermann Straumann]], the son-in-law of Alphons Thommen. A noted medial doctor and Swiss Army Colonel, Straumann managed the company until [[1944]], when it passed to his son, [[Straumann, Roland|Dr. Roland Straumann]]. Dr. Straumann's cousin [[Straumann, Reinhard|Reinhard Straumann]], also from Waldenberg, joined the firm in [[1916]] and rose to managing director. He would invent the [[Nivarox]] hairspring material in [[1931]] but did so on his own time and for the benefit of a separate company, Nivarox SA.

Thommen was one of the early pioneers of interchangeable parts, and the factories were increasingly mechanized and automated. By the 1950s, the Thommen factories in Waldenburg, Langenbruck, and Gelterkinden were producing over 200,000 watches per year under the brand name, **Revue**. The company also produced precision measuring instruments for aviation and other machinery since [[1936]].

In [[1961]], Thommen, [[Vulcain]], [[Buser]], and [[Phénix]] joined together to form the [[MSR|Manufactures d'Horlogerie Suisse SA Réunis SA (MSR)]]. This gave Revue Thommen access to the [[Vulcain Cricket|"Cricket"]] [[alarm]] watch in the product range. In [[1967]], the group unveiled their jointly-developed [[Exactomatic]] movement, a 11.5 ligne automatic designed for durability and accuracy. Over the next decade, these firms increasingly specialized, with Phenix producing movement components, and Vulcain, in [[La Chaux-de-Fonds]], handling final assembly. But they continued to operate as separate businesses under MSR. The long-standing [[Marvin]] brand was also soon added.

===== Revue Thommen =====
In [[1987]], Thommens Uhrenfabrik AG launched the **Revue Thommen** brand.

The company became dependent on Asian markets in the 1980s and 1990s and was hard-hit by the financial crisis at the end of the 1990s. In [[1999]], Revue shuttered its [[La Chaux-de-Fonds]] operation and transferred production back to [[Waldenburg]] as a cost-saving exercise. The company was bankrupt by July [[2000]] and the [[Vulcain]] and [[Marvin]] brands divested.

Revue Thommen sold the rights to the watchmaking enterprise to [[Grovana]] in [[2001]], and it was re-launched in [[2004]]. In [[2012]], the rights to the name were acquired by Andreas Thommen, Roland Buser and Christopher Bitterl, members of the original watchmaking family, and reorganized as [[GTWAG|GT Thommen Watch AG (GTWAG)]]. In [[2015]], the Revue name was removed from the aircraft equipment maker.

Since [[2014]], Grovana has sold its existing stock of watches under the Revue Thommen name. [[As of 2020]], this is the only source of Revue Thommen branded watches.

===== Weblinks =====
  *[[http://www.revue-thommen.com/|Revue Thommen]], offical website


{{tag>Watch_brands Watch_brands_Switzerland}}