[ In 020805 MMDigest Kathy Cochran asked about her bracelet marked
 [ only as "Breitler Switzerland Pat. Pend."

Breitler is discussed in 'Les faiseurs des musiques', p. 280/1.  The
book is not yet available in the English language but soon it will be.

Breitler started working for Hermann Thorens in the 1940s.  In 1944
he made himself independent and made a lot of inventions in the field
of miniaturization of the musical movements.  At last (I presume in
the early 1950s) he succeeded in making a movement of only 22 by 17
by 6 millimetres, which he used in bijoux, etc.

In 1967 a limited company, Breitler S.A., was formed with a capital of
50,000 Swiss francs.  In 1970 the company employed 33 workers in the
plant and 33 as home workers -- so it was not at all a small company!

At last Breitler lost the competition with the Japanese movements, and
closed his doors in the beginning of 1975.

Beatrice Robertson

 [ Found at http://www.galactus.ch/luthier/luthier/BIB0275.HTM :
 [ "Les faiseurs de musiques [The Music Makers] ...", by Jean-Claude
 [ Piguet; Sainte-Croix: Journal de Sainte-Croix et environs, 1996;
 [ 433 pages, illus., 24 cm.  "A detailed presentation of the different
 [ music box manufacturers of Sainte-Croix (Switzerland, VD)"
 [ -- Robbie