Gallet
Gallet and Company can trace its roots back to Humbertus Gallet in 1466 who lived in Geneva and worked as a clockmaker. By 1685 other members of the Gallet family had moved to Geneva and registered as watchmakers and goldsmiths. In 1702 Philippe Gallet is included in the Geneva Registry of Jewelers and Watchmakers. A generation of jewelers and watchmakers continues and by 1855 Léon Gallet purchases Grumbach & Co which has a complete factory to expand manufacturing capabilities. This larger space allowed Gallet to bring under one roof many of the watchmakers of the area as watchmaking was in high demand This is when Gallet et Cie was formed. Léon Gallet allowed the watchmakers to hold their own patents and thus increased creativity. In 1864, Léon's brother, Lucien Gallet opened a location in Chicago and a NYC office followed. Lucien partnered with his cousin Jules Racine (from enicar) to expand the US market and began to style their pieces for Americans. By the 1930's with the crash of the stock market Gallet pulled their production of pieces and consolidated and focused their production during World War II. The company continues to operate through the quartz crisis and by the 1980s and 1990s had military contracts for timepieces for the United States. The company passed generations and is still producing timepieces today in Switzerland under the direction of David R Lawrence.
