Paul Ditisheim (1868–1945) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

Early years

Paul Ditisheim was born into a wealthy family in 1868 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The Ditisheims belonged to a small social circle of industrialist families that were at the forefront of the Swiss watch industry at the time. His father, Gaspard, and uncle, Maurice Ditisheim (or Ditesheim), were the founders of the established watch company Vulcain, which was one of the many watch companies started by

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

families in the region. Ditisheim studied at the Ecole Industrielle and the Horological School of La Chaux-de-Fonds. He worked in his family’s company, Vulcain, until 1892 when he founded his own brands: Solvil (whose items were often signed Paul Ditisheim) and

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

(whose items were generally marked separately).

Innovation and success

Paul Ditisheim developed a new generation of chronometers, improving them through his studies on the impact of

atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

and

magnetic fields A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

. He invented the affix balance. By 1903, his watches were awarded by the

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and Neuchâtel Observatories contests. In 1912, he won the ''world’s chronometric record'' of the Royal Kew Observatory. He also worked closely with Physics Nobel prize winner Charles-Edouard Guillaume and has been considered "the father of the modern chronometers". According to Professor M. Andrade of the Besançon Astronomical Observatory, Ditisheim’s work ''“constitutes the most important progress of modern

chronometry Chronometry (from Ancient Greek, Greek χρόνος ''chronos'', "time" and μέτρον ''metron'', "measure") is the science of the measurement of time, or timekeeping. Chronometry provides a standard of measurement for time, and therefore serv ...

”''.

Later life

In the 1920s, Paul Ditisheim handed over the '' Solvil et Titus'' and ''Paul Ditisheim''

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

to wealthy Swiss

entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and

captain of industry In the 19th century, a captain of industry was a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way. This may have been through increased productivity, expansion of markets, providing more ...

, Paul Bernard Vogel. Vogel, heir to a family of

industrialists A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and married to the heiress of the prominent Eberard family, was also a member of the Swiss watch industry’s elite. Vogel moved the company headquarters to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, which boosted the company's size and popularity, leading to expanded business throughout the world. In 1925, after selling his company, Ditisheim left La Chaux-de-Fonds and moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he collaborated with an earth oils chemist to research and develop watch and clock oils. Paul Ditisheim was still in Paris when France was invaded by the Germans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Persecuted for being Jewish, he fled to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, where he lived until a year before his death. He died in Geneva in 1945 at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ditisheim, Paul 1868 births 1945 deaths People from La Chaux-de-Fonds Swiss Jews Swiss watchmakers (people)