I came across this pocket watch at an online auction; its dial caught my eye:
A pocket watch from the brand TYPE. Never heard of it, but how on earth did they come up with such a meaningless name?
Anyway, what’s more interesting is the following inscription on the dial:
So the watch comes from the Manufacture Française d’Armes & Cycles in Saint-Étienne, France. In other words, a manufacturer of weapons (Armes) and bicycles (Cycles).
My curiosity was piqued even more when I saw the movement:
A Lépine (open face) movement with a diameter of 19´´´ (French lines), a Swiss lever escapement, and just seven jewels. I recognized the movement from somewhere, but it took me a few moments to place it. It’s an Omega! Well, almost, anyway.
Almost, because it doesn’t bear the Omega brand name! The company S.A. Louis Brandt & Frères, Omega Watch Co., as it was known from 1903 onward, used the Omega brand only for its watches featuring movements with the following bridge design, introduced in 1894:
The similarity between the two movements is evident when you look at the positions of the components, screws, and jewels. The similarity becomes even more apparent on the dial side. On the left is the movement from the TYPE pocket watch; on the right is the Omega 19 LB:
Omega had a number of sister brands designed to serve different markets, which were equipped with movements featuring bridge designs different from those of the Omega brand. The movement shown here, for example, was used in watches from the sister brands Celtic, Luxor, Regina, Décimal, Labrador, and Mora.
The design of the movement shown was registered by Louis Brandt & Frères in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce in 1904 as model No. 14:
The movement was produced in sizes 13´´´, 17´´´, 19´´´, and 20´´´, as well as with 7, 15, 17, and 21 jewels. In addition to the Lépine (open face) version shown here, there was also a Savonnette (hunter) variant for pocket watches with a dial cover:
TYPE isn’t one of the sister brands, but Omega apparently supplied these movements to other manufacturers as well. Or perhaps even manufactured entire watches on their behalf.
So let’s return to the Manufacture Française d’Armes & Cycles from France. The company was founded in 1885 under the name Manufacture Française d’Armes et de Tir (French Manufactory of Arms and Shooting Sports). It was not only a manufacturer of firearms and bicycles, but also a pioneer of mail-order sales in France. Starting in 1887, the company published an extensive catalog containing up to 30,000 items, with millions of copies in circulation! The somewhat cumbersome company name was changed in 1911 to Manufrance, or MF for short. The watch shown here was likely produced shortly before that, around 1900 to 1910.
I have a copy of the 1930 catalog, which runs to a good 730 pages and features an enormous range of products, including pocket watches and wristwatches. However, these were almost certainly not manufactured in-house but were sourced from suppliers. The TYPE brand is also advertised in this catalog:
Manufrance offered a 20-year warranty on these watches and also made them available with an optional official accuracy certificate from the Besançon Observatory. The least expensive model cost 175 French francs, which is equivalent to a purchase price of about 300 euros today. The same catalog also features simpler, everyday watches, with prices starting at 45 French francs—roughly a quarter of the price of the least expensive TYPE model.
In the 1970s, Manufrance had more than 4,000 employees, enormous factory facilities in Saint-Étienne, and, in addition to its mail-order business, operated 64 department stores in France. In 1985, 100 years after its founding, the company went bankrupt, but it was revived as early as 1988 and still exists today. However, the company no longer sells watches.