This same year, Theodore retired and handed over the control of the company to his nephew Rudolf Schild. īy 1932, Eterna had set up a subsidiary company, ETA SA, to make movements for itself and other Swiss watch companies. The watch went into production in 1914 and was launched at the Swiss National Exhibition in Bern that year. The company continued to be at the leading edge of watch development, and in 1908 it patented the first alarm wristwatch.
In 1905, the company changed its name to Eterna. Schild Fréres, as the company was then known, started to produce ladies’ wristwatches adapted from small pocket watches. In the 1900s, wristwatches were just starting to become fashionable. Discouraged, he left the company and handed power over to his brother Theodore, with whom Eterna entered a prosperous 20th century.
Max Schild was ahead of his time and his ideas were unpopular. He returned to introduce machinery to the craftsmen. After the death of Urs Schild, his son Max took over the company and soon made a business trip to the United States. Six years later, he died at the age of 58. Urs Schild became a National Councilor in 1882. Eight years later the enterprise set out the mutual rights and obligations of employees and employers in writing. Joseph Girard and Urs Schild, a 28-year-old school teacher, founded the ébauche factory 'Dr.
