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14th Century
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The history of the mechanical music begins in the Flanders. An
ingenious bell ringer invents a cylinder with pins which operates cams,
which then hit the bells.
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1780
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The mechanical singing bird is invented by
the Jaquet-Droz brothers, clockmakers from La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1848,
the manufacturing of the singing birds is improved by Blaise Bontems in
his Parisian workshop, to the point where it has remained unchanged to
this day. Barrel organs become more popular.
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1796
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Antoine Favre, a clockmaker from Geneva, replaces the bells by combs
with pre tuned metallic notes, which produce more varied and more
precise sounds. Numerous musical objects are produced.
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1811
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The first music boxes are produced in
Sainte-Croix; an industry which surpasses the watch making and lace
industries, and rapidly brings renown to the town. At this time, the
luxury music box industry represents 10% of Switzerland’s export.
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1865
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Charles Reuge, watchmaker from the
Val-de-Travers, settles in Sainte-Croix and begins making pocket
watches with musical movements.
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1870
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A German inventor creates a music box with
discs, therefore allowing an easier and more frequent change of tunes.
It is also the golden years of the automaton. Already known in Egypt,
they will be improved to become real works of art.
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1877
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Thomas Edison invents the
phonograph, which has important consequences for the music box
industry, especially around the end of the century.
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Early
20th Century
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The discovery of the phonograph, the First World War and
the economic crises in the 20’s bring down Sainte-Croix’s main industry
and make the luxury music box completely disappear.
Reuge, created in 1865 by Charles Reuge, manages to make it
through the crisis, due to its several other activities. At the end of
the war, the Americans discover "the little music" and make it famous
in their country.
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1950
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Arrival on the music box market of the Japanese. They rapidly become
very productive. It is the biggest challenge for the Swiss
manufacturers since the phonograph.
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1960
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About thirty of the luxury music box manufacturers still exist. In fact, Swiss
or foreign, they are more or less all confronted with the same reality:
their industry is declining rapidly and their installations are growing
old. Closing appears to be the only way out.
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1985-1993
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This period of time is marked by a consolidation of several companies.
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2004
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Reuge holds the worldwide monopoly on the luxury
music box, singing bird and musical pocket watch markets.
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2007
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The music box, is found today across the globe. It is passed down through the generations. It is an exclusive gift, as interior decoration object or corporate gift, that arouses a sense of wonder.
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