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Saint-Imier (and Longines), birthplace of anarchism

Syrte
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According to this new and very serious public television story (in French), called the “ticking of anarchism”, the Swiss watch industry gave rise to anarchism as the Swiss laborers stood against the very strict organization imposed by the manufactures.

And it is no coincidence if the founding conference of the anarchist movement was held in 1872 Saint-Imier, home of the oldest manufacture, Longines.

One of the historians interviewed in the piece is Stephanie Lachat, former Longines historian and head of its Brand Heritage department (Stephanie Lachat before joining Longines had earned a doctorate studying the condition of women in the watch industry). Although of course Longines is not mentioned by name in the story, the manufacture building is visible in the pictures.

The story also talks about the rise of those movements in La Chaux de Fond, which we mentioned a long time ago was a hotbed of union and revolutionary activism.
(See thread about dial makers).

Below at 19 minutes for those who speak French.
https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/11557...sfSqYriqoi8rQRO8zmAf2M0Bdc5g7LFEYDYRWmBgT5gFw

The story must also be available in German as the broadcaster is the French-German TV Arte.
Edited:
 
sxl2004
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Very interesting!
Here is the link to a German podcast with the same topic.
https://na01.safelinks.protection.o...BUMaqQZ2uzvsgIT+lyZ5ckF+5UjpzMkt0=&reserved=0

GAG176: Die Anfänge des Anarchismus und was Uhrmacher in der Schweiz damit zu tun haben
Geschichten aus der Geschichte

Wir springen mal wieder in die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts und beschäftigen uns diesmal mit den Anfängen des Anarchismus und der Schweizer Uhrenindustrie. In den 1860er- und 1870er-Jahren war die Gegend um Saint-Imer im Berner Jura eine Hochburg des Anarchismus in seiner Entstehungsphase als internationale politische Bewegung und gleichzeitig ein Zentrum der Uhrenindustrie, die in dieser Zeit dort weltweit führend war. In der Episode sprechen wir darüber, wie sich die Arbeitsbedingungen der Uhrmacher in der Schweiz veränderten durch die Globalisierung und der Streit zwischen Marxisten und Anarchisten zum Bruch der Ersten Internationalen führte – und damit die Juraföderation für kurze Zeit zum Zentrum der anarchistischen Bewegung wurde.
 
TimeODanaos
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Thank you so much for this @Syrte, it was thought-provoking in so many different ways. I had not joined the dots before about Bakunin (Bakounine)'s 1872 meet-up with the anarchists/communists (such fun...) and St-Imier. While I guess the juxtaposition with the modern luxury industry is poignant, the story is the same as with Belgian lacemakers or English weavers - the first industrial revolution was not kind to craft workers, and it has taken us a long time to deal with that. It's an acknowledged part of the origin story of IWC that their American founder saw the Swiss workers (who were cheap in the nineteenth century) as ripe for streamlined new industrial methods.

I loved the serious French TV vocabulary ("Les notions de progrès social irriguent(!) la société..."); I learned that "concurrence" means almost the opposite of what a native English-speaker assumes it must mean; and I was astonished by the resemblance of St-Imier's hold-out old anarchist Michel to Jay Rayner, the notable British restaurant critic.
Edited:
 
SpeedyPhill
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At the " same " time ... the idea/invention of Luxury... in Switzerland Schweiz Suisse Helvetia
. 😗
L U X U R Y.jpg
 
Syrte
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SpeedyPhill SpeedyPhill
At the " same " time ... the idea/invention of Luxury... in Switzerland Schweiz Suisse Helvetia
. 😗
L U X U R Y.jpg
Indeed and other historians in the report highlight the paradox.
 
M
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Syrte Syrte
According to this new and very serious public television story (in French), called the “ticking of anarchism”, the Swiss watch industry gave rise to anarchism as the Swiss laborers stood against the very strict organization imposed by the manufactures.

And it is no coincidence if the founding conference of the anarchist movement was held in 1872 Saint-Imier, home of the oldest manufacture, Longines.

One of the historians interviewed in the piece is Stephanie Lachat, former Longines historian and head of its Brand Heritage department (Stephanie Lachat before joining Longines had earned a doctorate studying the condition of women in the watch industry). Although of course Longines is not mentioned by name in the story, the manufacture building is visible in the pictures.

The story also talks about the rise of those movements in La Chaux de Fond, which we mentioned a long time ago was a hotbed of union and revolutionary activism.
(See thread about dial makers).

Below at 19 minutes for those who speak French.
https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/11557...sfSqYriqoi8rQRO8zmAf2M0Bdc5g7LFEYDYRWmBgT5gFw

The story must also be available in German as the broadcaster is the French-German TV Arte.

Very interesting article.
 
JohnLy
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Here's a paragraph taken from book "The Ten Swiss Watchmaking Schools"

It was Jacques David, the technical director of Longines in Saint-Imier, who would shake up the watchmaking schools as well as the industry itself. In 1876 he returned home from the Philadelphis Universal Exhibition, convinced that the Swiss watchmaking industry needed to adopt the American model if it was to rise to the challenge of stiff foreign competition and rapid industrialisation. He recommended that the watchmaking schools should introduce machines in their training laboratories and instruct students on the fundementals of mechanics. David's visionary ideas did not sit well with the schools's conservative approach to education. Not one to give up easily, the far sighted-engineer decided that Longines, which was based in the village of Saint-Imier, should set-up it's own in-house training centre. Before long all watchmaking schools in Switzerland had adopted the Saint-Imier model.

Could this have added to the unrest during this period? It was interesting to read an earlier post bringing up IWC. I had read awhile back that Jones, the American engineer, originally wanted to start the company in Switzerland but found opposition so went to Germany instead.

Thank you @Syrte for bringing up such an interesting part of watchmaking history
 
SpeedyPhill
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Hoping to find some historic stuff at the Saint-Imier museum
"Special Offer" 2500 LONGINES in Nickel and Gun metal ...
1918 Add in the Palestine News - The Weekly Newspaper of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force of the British Army in Ocupied Enemy Territory.
.
L O N G I N E S -.jpg
 
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