Soprod
Soprod is a Swiss manufacturer of watch movements and parts and is now part of the Festina Group.
Overview
Soprod SA Les Reussilles was founded on September 16, 1966 in Tramelan in the Jura region of Switzerland. It was founded by Arly SA, Béguelin & Cie SA/Damas Watches, Willy Chofat & Cie SA/Rila, Dulux SA, Hoga Watch SA, A. Reymond SA, and Spera SA. All of the companies were centered in Tramelan, and Soprod was to produce mechanical watch components for them on an industrial scale.
Later, Soprod became a general movement producer and assembled movements by other companies, including ETA. The company was purchased by Léman Capital and merged with Swiss low-end quartz specialist, SFT Group in 2005 as a new company, STM Holding. SFT subsidiary, Indtec SA of Sion, Switzerland, had licensed the design for the Seiko 4L movement and announced the new Alternance 10 the year before. Together with SFT subsidiary Ineltec of Maiche, France, and Les Reussilles, Switzerland-based Soprod, the company hoped to create an alternative to the ETA 2892A2.
This group was purchased by Peace Mark of Hong Kong in 2007 but that company became insolvent the following year. STM was repurchased in 2008 by Festina management without the mass-market quartz manufacturing operations the company had established in China. Indtec was renamed Soprod, Sion, and continues to produce movements.
Today, Soprod is the corporate parent within Festina Group that produces Swiss watch components
- Soprod mechanical movements in Tramelan/Les Reussilles
- Soprod high-end quartz movements and components in Sion
- Soprod wheel trains in Le Saignelégier
- IMM Ineltec milling and preforms in Maiche
- Manufacture Horlogère Vallée de Joux (“MHVJ”, formerly Dubois Technique Horlogère) regulators in Le Sentier
- MSE/Astral Technologies hairsprings in Porrentruy
Soprod's main mechanical movement is the Soprod A-10, based on the Seiko 4L family. On this base, Soprod also produces a number of complications, including “big date”, second time zone, power reserve indicator, 24 hour indicator, chronograph, moon phase, and more. Soprod also produces escapements and hairsprings for other manufacturers.
Members
A 1970 list of member companies included the following