History of Casemaker Ervin Piquerez and Vintage Super Compressor Dive Watch Cases
Hamilton Aqua-Date ref. 64040-3 in an Ervin Piquerez Super Compressor case / Credit: Hodinkee
Even more so than watchmakers, casemakers often fly under the radar as far as popularity in the watch industry goes. Ervin Piquerez may just be the most popular of said casemakers, known especially for their Compressor and Super Compressor cases, which were popular throughout the 1960s and ‘70s on vintage dive watches. Today it is a very collectible style for vintage watch enthusiasts, although the company, unfortunately, no longer exists.
It may surprise some to know that the Piquerez family’s history as casemakers actually goes back to the late 19th century. In fact, records show that on January 1st, 1886 the first casemaking company named ‘Frères Piquerez’ started in Bassecourt, in the Jura canton of Switzerland. The company was followed by a successor in 1898 called ‘Ervin Piquerez’. This second company was short-lived and only lasted until 1910. However, a relative, Arthur Piquerez, had also started an adjacent casemaking company in Bassecourt and operated until 1913. The company/family was largely inactive in the watch industry throughout the early 20th century, with the successors of the original Piquerez family even foraying into bicycle production in the late 1920s. They came back to casemaking in 1939, when Ervin Gustave Piquerez, born in 1909, founded the new Ervin Piquerez S.A. Ervin and his brother would’ve been babies when the original casemaking company closed, but surely still had a knack for the enterprise.
History of Ervin Piquerez: Rebirth of the Casemaking Company
In fact, Ervin did work in a casemaking company prior to founding his own, taking a job with Léon Frésard at his casemaking company in 1935. Although Ervin was working with Frésard and even founded his own casemaking company in 1939, he continued manufacturing bicycles, releasing the Aero-Stella, Super-Stella, and Reina-Stella models that same year. As far as 1947, the Piquerez family registered the company name ‘Cycles Jurassia’, showing that they continued manufacturing bicycles well into the mid-20th century.
1940s Ervin Piquerez S.A. Aero-Stella bicycle ad
Nonetheless, Ervin Piquerez S.A. rose to become the most important company in the town of Bassecourt, employing nearly 600 people! The Piquerez family was very successful upon their return to the casemaking sphere, focusing on the production of watertight cases. With, of course, the Compressor and Super Compressor vintage dive watch cases being the most successful.
After Ervin Gustave Piquerez’s death in 1971, his heirs eventually merged EPSA, as it was also known, with a Bourquard-family holding company called ‘La Générale SA’, before it was acquired by Samsung and then Valentini S.A.
Today, although the company is mostly remembered for the Compressor and Super Compressor cases, it should also be recalled that Ervin Piquerez was also responsible for a number of other case developments like the fluid-tight case patented in 1954 or the ‘Monobloc’ case patented in 1955.
By: Andres Ibarguen