 It began to manufacture wristwatches in order to create work in the Waldenburg valley whose location at the route Basel-Geneva had become insignificant due to the newly established train connection Basel - Olten - Geneva.In 1859 Gédéon Thommen and Louis Tschopp acquires the company and privately restructured it.Gédéon Thommen is also the founder and promoter of the Waldenburgerbahn, a steam train connecting the valley’s villages.