Behind the brand of Cyma

1862-1902

Fusing timeless elegance with contemporary flair, Cyma timepieces are the descendants of a long tradition of watchmaking that stretches back one-and-a-half centuries. The name Cyma has its roots in the French word “cime”, meaning “summit”, which, in turn, is derived from the Latin word “cyma”, meaning “a shoot”. It is a name that reflects not only the company’s constant striving for perfection but also the inextricable link with its birthplace in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland.

Initially, it was the harshness of the climate in the high valleys of the Jura – buried for more than half the year beneath deep snow and frequently cut off from the outside world – that gave rise to watchmaking activity during the long winters of isolation. During the 18th century, the efforts of the region’s industrious and ingenious inhabitants gradually led to the establishment of fully-fledged workshops for the design and manufacture of watches, and by 1780 watchmaking had developed into a process involving 30 distinct operations.

Inheritors of the horological gene that pervades the Jura, the two brothers Joseph and Theodore Schwob decided in 1862 to set up their own watchmaking company, Cyma, focusing much of their attention on avant-garde mechanical production techniques. Indeed, with its ongoing achievements in technical innovation, Cyma was one of the companies that made Neuchâtel the renowned centre of the watchmaking industry it is today.

Some 30 years later, the brothers went into partnership with a businessman called Frederic Henri Sandoz who had created a new watch company in Le Locle, another cradle of fine Swiss watchmaking. By this time, Cyma had established itself as a pioneer in the manufacture of intricate repeater watches, high complications and chronographs. The daily production was 150 pieces.