Pavel Pavlovich Bure became his father's companion at the age of 26. He studied at the Petropavlovsk Commercial School and, better than his father and grandfather, imagined how to turn a workshop into a big business. He bought a small watch factory in Le Locle - a town in the French part of Switzerland, which is often called the heart of the watch industry. After this investment, Bure's business went uphill: he became an appraiser at the emperor's office, and this title allowed him to place the state emblem on the window of the watch shop. A couple of years later he became a technician at the Hermitage and consul of the Venetian Republic. And in 1884 he finally received the honorary title of merchant of the first guild.

The business was actively developing, but for some unknown reason, in 1888, Bure sold the factory to his partners, the Swiss Georg Pfund and the Frenchman Paul Girard, and he himself retired. Apparently, he left the business due to illness - he died four years later.

Pfund and Girard founded the Pavel Bure trading house with an authorized capital of 30,000 rubles. There was no point in changing the name: the surname Bure gave the right to depict the Russian coat of arms on the watch. The new owners took advantage of flaws in the Russian customs policy, which imposes high duties on only finished products. For example, for pocket watches, depending on the case, the duty ranged from 1 ruble 30 kopecks (in a steel case) to 6 rubles 30 kopecks (in a gold case), while only 75 kopecks per pound of parts were charged for the same disassembled watch. . The partners opened several workshops in Russia to assemble watches from the parts that the factory in Switzerland produced. They decided to reduce costs at the expense of child and female labor. For a 10-hour working day, they were paid no more than 60 kopecks.

Watches "Pavel Bure" were inferior to the quality of Tissot or Patek Philippe, but they cost only 2 rubles, almost anyone could afford them. There were other models, decorated with gold and diamonds, the prices of which reached 750 rubles.

In 1899, Pavel Bure Trading House became the official supplier of watches to the imperial court. By this time, the number of products manufactured by the factory for high-ranking officials of the Russian Empire was becoming enormous. Every year it brought the company 50,000 - 60,000 rubles.

Thanks to the range, suitable for a wide variety of audiences, the brand has become not only widely known, but also a true symbol of the era. For example, in the works of Chekhov, the Bure clock is mentioned more than 20 times. And later they were mentioned by Ilf and Petrov in The Golden Calf.

After the revolution

After the October Revolution, all watch workshops were nationalized and transferred to the Precision Mechanics Trust. The losses of Pavel Bure amounted to 7 million gold rubles, and the company also lost ten buildings.

But they managed to save the business: the main production was still located in Switzerland. When the headquarters was moved to Le Locle, work resumed. Despite the fact that the first years after the revolution were difficult due to the loss of the Russian market, Bure managed to become one of the leading Swiss watch companies, and later significantly increase the geography of product supplies.

The Soviet authorities liked the products of the "Bure" no less than the imperial court. Wall clock "Pavel Bure" hung in the Kremlin office of V.I. Lenin. Also, Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev had pocket watches from Bure.

The first mention of the name Bure appears in Russian sources in 1815. It was at this time that the owner of a small watch business, Karl Bure, moved from Revel to St. Petersburg with his ten-year-old son Pavel. From early childhood, the boy actively helps his father in running the family business, and thus not only learns the basics of entrepreneurial activity, but also acquires important knowledge about the operation of watch mechanisms.

In 1865, the name of Pavel Karlovich was mentioned in the Reference book about merchants, where P.K. During these years, the eldest son of Pavel Karlovich, named after his father, studied at the Petropavlovsk Commercial School, so that already in 1868, having reached the 26th birthday, he would become his father's partner in the family business. And already in 1874, it was Pavel Pavlovich who acquired a large watch factory located in the Swiss city of Le Locle.

In 1876, Pavel Karlovich was awarded the title of hereditary honorary citizen for honest, diligent and conscientious fulfillment of obligations in the Court since 1839. And subsequently, the Bure family really justifies the trust placed in it by the Dukes of Leuchtenberg.

In 1888, Pavel Pavlovich fell seriously ill and was removed from doing business. Having no direct heirs, he decides to sell the factory in Switzerland to its immediate leader, the Frenchman Paul Girard, as well as his associate, the Swiss Jean-Georges (Georges) Pfund. The new owners of the factory, P.P. Bure's colleagues, became the founders of the Trading House "Pavel Bure", which already in 1892 opened its first store in Moscow, and a little later - a branch in Kiev. In the same year, P.P. Bure dies before reaching the age of 50, and Pfund receives a position as a full-time appraiser of watches and other mechanical products for His Majesty.

In 1899, Pavel Bure Trade House became the official supplier of watches for the imperial court. By this time, the number of products made by the factory for high-ranking officials of the Russian Empire turned out to be huge, and the cost of elite watches, in the manufacture of which precious stones and metals were used, was steadily increasing. For example, in 1903, F.I. Chaliapin refuses a gift in the form of a gold watch made by the Pavel Bure Trading House only because the cost of 150 rubles seems unworthy to him - and very soon such watches are decorated with rubies and diamonds, which triples their price. After that, Chaliapin still accepts the gift, which today belongs to the descendants of the great singer of the Russian Empire.

In addition to expensive models for people close to the imperial court, the factory also produced simple metal watches - railway, souvenir army, as well as mass-use wristwatches. At the beginning of the 20th century, Pavel Bure Trading House occupies a leading position among Swiss watch manufacturers, and also receives various domestic and international awards and medals. And in 1916, the factory receives a Swiss patent for the invention of its own chronograph mechanism.

But in 1917, the activity of the Trading House ceased due to a change in the political system. However, despite this, the Pavel Bure watch continued to decorate the offices of prominent party leaders, including I.V. Stalin himself, for many years.

In 2004, the "Trading House for the revival of the traditions of the watchmaker of the Court of His Majesty Pavel Karlovich Bure" was created. Already today, the anniversary series of watches, created in the old traditions, have seen the light of the day, which allows us to believe that one day the Pavel Bure watches will regain their former fame.

) - April 15 (27) - son of P.K. Bure, who expanded his business; technician at the Imperial Hermitage, consul of the Republic of Venice, supplier of the Imperial Court (since 1879) and merchant of the 2nd guild. On the basis of the P.P. Bure watch factory, in 1888, the famous Pavel Bure Trading House was created.

Biography

From early childhood, the boy actively helped his father in running the family business, thus, not only learning the basics of entrepreneurial activity, but also acquiring knowledge about the work of watch mechanisms in order to become his father's partner in running the family business as early as 1868. In 1874, it was Pavel Pavlovich who acquired a large watch factory located in the Swiss city of Le Locle.

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An excerpt characterizing Bure, Pavel Pavlovich

- Isn't she amazing? - she said to Pierre, pointing to the departing majestic beauty. - Et quelle tenue! [And how she keeps herself!] For such a young girl and such tact, such masterful demeanor! It comes from the heart! Happy will be the one whose it will be! With her, the most non-secular husband will involuntarily occupy the most brilliant place in the world. Is not it? I just wanted to know your opinion, - and Anna Pavlovna let Pierre go.
Pierre sincerely answered Anna Pavlovna in the affirmative to her question about Helen's art of keeping herself. If he ever thought of Helen, he thought precisely of her beauty and of her unusual calm ability to be silently worthy in the world.
Auntie received two young people into her corner, but she seemed to want to hide her adoration for Helen and wanted to express her fear of Anna Pavlovna more. She looked at her niece, as if asking what she should do with these people. Moving away from them, Anna Pavlovna again touched Pierre's sleeve with her finger and said:
- J "espere, que vous ne direz plus qu" on s "ennuie chez moi, [I hope you won't say another time that I'm bored] - and looked at Helen.
Helen smiled with a look that said that she did not allow the possibility that anyone could see her and not be admired. The aunt cleared her throat, swallowed her saliva, and said in French that she was very glad to see Helen; then she turned to Pierre with the same greeting and with the same mine. In the middle of a boring and stumbling conversation, Helen looked back at Pierre and smiled at him with that smile, clear, beautiful, with which she smiled at everyone. Pierre was so accustomed to this smile, it expressed so little for him that he paid no attention to it. Auntie was talking at that time about the collection of snuff boxes that Pierre's late father, Count Bezukhy, had, and showed her snuff box. Princess Helen asked to see the portrait of her aunt's husband, which was made on this snuffbox.
“That’s right, it was done by Vines,” said Pierre, naming a well-known miniaturist, bending down to the table to pick up a snuffbox, and listening to the conversation at another table.
He got up, wanting to go around, but the aunt brought the snuffbox right over Helen, behind her. Helen leaned forward to make room and looked around smiling. She was, as always at the evenings, in a dress that was very open, in the fashion of the time, in front and behind. Her bust, which always seemed marble to Pierre, was at such a close distance from his eyes that with his short-sighted eyes he involuntarily discerned the lively beauty of her shoulders and neck, and so close to his lips that he had to bend down a little to touch her. He could hear the warmth of her body, the smell of perfume, and the creak of her corset as she moved. He did not see her marble beauty, which was one with her dress, he saw and felt all the charm of her body, which was covered only by clothes. And, having once seen this, he could not see otherwise, how we cannot return to the deceit once explained.
“So you still haven’t noticed how beautiful I am? – as if said Ellen. Have you noticed that I am a woman? Yes, I am a woman who can belong to anyone, and to you too,” said her look. And at that very moment Pierre felt that Helen not only could, but should have been his wife, that it could not be otherwise.

/EVGENY KNYAGININ/

Consumer goods from the famous company "Pavel Bure"

Why do the hands on mechanical watches go from left to right? Maybe it happened by accident? No, modern watch mechanisms have adopted this movement from their distant ancestors - sundials. Now, if solar and then mechanical clocks were invented in the Southern Hemisphere, everything would be the other way around. In the centuries-old history of watches, nothing happened by accident.

In 2004, the “Trading House for the Revival of the Traditions of the Watchmaker of the Court of His Majesty Pavel Karlovich Bure” was established in Russia, after which many articles about the history of the company “Pavel Bure” were published in the press. From these articles it followed that it was created in St. Petersburg as early as 1815 and until the revolution it produced watches that were of excellent quality. In the publications, it was certainly reported that after the execution of Emperor Nicholas II, two Pavel Bure watches were found in his possession - gold and silver marine. The wall clock of this company hung in Lenin's office in the Kremlin, and Stalin had a pocket watch "Pavel Bure".
It looked like Russia would soon revive the glorious traditions of pre-revolutionary watchmakers, outdoing the vaunted Switzerland. In 2005, a batch of Pavel Bure watches went on sale, but for some reason it was not in demand. On this venture with the revival of traditions ended. And this is no coincidence either.

A projectile that counts time

The assertion that the Bure watch company was established in 1815 is not confirmed by anything. Around this time, a certain Karl Bure, together with his son, moved from Revel to St. Petersburg, but it is not known exactly what kind of craft he was engaged in. In the reference book about merchants of 1865, Pavel Karlovich Bure is mentioned only as "the Reval workshop, 55 years old, in the merchants since 1839." But after all, someone supplied the Russian nobility with watches? This was mainly done by the famous Swiss company Breguet, which opened its representative office in St. Petersburg in 1808. In Russia, the name of the company has even become a household name. Alexander Pushkin in the poem "Eugene Onegin" did not forget to mention this:

Wearing a wide bolivar,
Onegin goes to the boulevard
And there he walks in the open,
Until the dormant breguet
lunch will not ring for him.

In fact, attempts were made in Rus' to establish their own watch production, but they were unsuccessful. Empress Catherine II established watch factories in St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1769, but they did not last long. The Moscow factory ceased to exist after nine years. Most of the products of the St. Petersburg factory were used as awards, gifts for special merits and distinctions in service. Watches were produced in small quantities in a gold case with diamonds, with a rehearsal (ringing), however, this institution was soon closed. Only folk craftsmen remained, like Ivan Kulibin, who created the “time reckoning projectile” - 427 parts were installed in a case the size of a goose egg: a clockwork mechanism, a musical apparatus that plays several melodies, and a built-in theater. “In it hourly dissolved,” recalled an eyewitness, “the small Royal doors, behind which one could see the tomb of the Lord. On either side of the door stood two warriors with spears. The doors of the golden chamber opened, and an angel appeared. The stone, rolled to the door, fell off, the door leading to the coffin opened, the guards fell on their faces. Half a minute later, the myrrh-bearing women appeared, the chimes played the prayer “Christ is Risen” three times, and the doors closed. At noon, the clock played an ode composed by Kulibin in honor of the arrival of Catherine II in Nizhny Novgorod.

Swiss watch for two rubles

As for the Pavel Bure company, in fact it was created only in 1874, when the grandson of the founder of the merchant dynasty, Pavel Pavlovich Bure, acquired a watch factory in the heart of the Swiss watch industry - the town of Le Locle. But this undertaking did not bring special dividends to Pavel Bure - by that time the Russian market was already occupied by other Swiss companies, among which the company of Heinrich Moser was in the lead. The title of the official supplier of the Russian imperial court since 1866 belonged to Tissot. Patek Philippe was no less successful on the Russian market. In the so-called Russian collection of this company there are pocket watches that belonged to the beloved of the Russian Emperor Alexander II Ekaterina Dolgoruky, Leo Tolstoy (they were presented to him before leaving for Sevastopol) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
In 1888, Pavel Bure sold the factory to his partners - the Swiss Georg Pfund and the Frenchman Paul Girard. It was they who established the Pavel Bure trading house with an authorized capital of only 30 thousand rubles. But very soon this enterprise grew by leaps and bounds. Maybe the companions achieved this thanks to the quality of their watches? No, in terms of quality and design, Pavel Bure watches were much inferior to those of Moser, not to mention the products of Tissot and Patek Philippe. But they were much cheaper. Pfund and Girard took advantage of flaws in Russia's customs policy, which only imposes high duties on finished goods. For example, for pocket watches, depending on the case, the duty ranged from 1 ruble 30 kopecks (in a steel case) to 6 rubles 30 kopecks (in a gold case), while only 75 kopecks per pound of parts were charged for the same disassembled watch. .
The partners founded several workshops in Russia and began to assemble watches from the parts that the factory in Switzerland produced. During the assembly, mainly female labor was used. Women's earnings were 50-60 kopecks a day with a 10-hour working day. As a result, the cheapest watch "Pavel Bure" cost only two rubles. In essence, it was this company that opened the era of mass consumer goods in watchmaking. However, under the order of the trading house "Pavel Bure" produced genuine masterpieces. Suffice it to say that in 1900, at the World Exhibition in Paris, the Pavel Bure watch was awarded a gold medal.
The revolution of 1917 ended the existence of the Pavel Bure company. And it's not just that her losses amounted to 7 million gold rubles. The trading house lost the market for its products, since its consumer goods were not in demand in Europe. There, from time immemorial, they adhere to an unshakable rule: "Only very rich people can afford to buy cheap things." And there were no workers in Europe who would agree to work for a penny. But the case of the Pavel Bure company did not disappear - after half a century it was revived, however, the company itself had nothing to do with this.

On captured equipment

After the October Revolution, all watch workshops were nationalized and transferred to the Precision Mechanics Trust. By 1926, stocks of imported components were running out, and Europe categorically refused to resume deliveries. There was nothing left to do but to arrange the release of their watches. On December 21, 1927, the Labor and Defense Council adopted a corresponding resolution. But it turned out that the country does not have the necessary equipment, not to mention specialists. They acted simply - in the USA they found several bankrupt watch companies, having bought their equipment, tools and accessories. On November 5, 1930, the first batch of watches was produced on this equipment, which, as expected, came out useless.
But the trouble is the beginning. In 1938, the production of other watches began at the Penza Bicycle Plant. The pre-war Zvezda watch was copied from the French LIP. The next stage in the development of the Soviet watch industry began, oddly enough, during the war years. In 1943, the central enterprise of the industry, NIIchasprom, was established. Just think, as soon as the Germans were driven away from Moscow, resources are sorely lacking, and the government is preoccupied with the production of watches. Everything is explained simply: the watch industry is an industry that has unique equipment. Only here they can produce many precision parts necessary for the same military needs: fuses, delayers, high-precision equipment.
After the war, serial production of K-26 caliber watches began at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory. Their name is "Victory", the design and technical characteristics were approved personally by Stalin. However, connoisseurs claim that the mechanism of these watches exactly matched the German model, especially since the watches were made on captured equipment. In turn, the 2nd Moscow Watch Factory diligently copied the best French samples. Things came to the ridiculous: the watchmakers of two Moscow factories sometimes did not understand each other, naming the same detail differently - as the Germans and the French called it. As for the quality, the post-war Soviet watches were almost as good as the Swiss watches of the middle class.
The revival of the business of the Pavel Bure trading house began in the late 50s, when Soviet watch factories began to manufacture cheap watch models in huge numbers, and the lion's share of these handicrafts were exported to Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the 80s, a completely absurd situation developed - the worse the watch was, the more profitable it was to manufacture it. As a result, production at the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, which became famous for its watches and chronometers for working in extreme conditions, turned out to be unprofitable.
The matter was further complicated by the fact that by 1993 the largest Russian factories, following the trends of the time, curtailed the production of mechanics and focused on the production of cheap quartz movements. When the production of quartz was stopped, the factories ended up with nothing. They tried to switch to the release of mechanics, but it turned out that only the simplest calibers could be revived. In full accordance with the saying “When the caravan turns around, the last camel becomes the first,” the “Commander’s” watch of the Chistopol plant, which could not master the production of quartz and therefore retained its mechanical potential, began to be considered the standard of quality.

"When I was in charge..."

Now, out of 17 Soviet watch factories, only two remain - in Chistopol and Penza, but they are already breathing heavily, since their products are not in demand. Those who cannot afford expensive watches choose the Chinese Rolex, or even limit themselves to mobile phones. Those who are able to buy decent watches avoid buying the products of the Penza factory, which are assembled mainly from Chinese parts. It is significant that Vladimir Putin, as president of Russia, wore a Swiss Patek Philippe watch - the same company that was very popular in pre-revolutionary Russia. By the way, there is nothing strange in the fact that he wears a watch on his right wrist - at the time of his youth, bracelets were in use, which were almost impossible to adjust. The crown of the massive Petrodvorets Rocket (Leningraders did not recognize other domestic watches) scratched the back of the hand - so they had to be worn on the right wrist.
Putin's watch is rumored to cost $60,000, which is about the same as his annual salary, but this cannot be grounds for suspecting corruption. Most likely, the watch was presented to him by friends - that is why he does not part with them. But the watch, which was presented to Putin by the then President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, is not worn by the Russian prime minister. They depict a map of the starry sky and are engraved with the words of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant: "There are two things that elevate our souls - the starry sky above us and the moral law within us." Apparently, Kant's statement does not quite fit Putin's image. Just like a Patek Philippe watch does not fit the image of US President George W. Bush playing the role of a simple guy. He defiantly wears a watch of the famous American brand Timex for only $50.
However, this watch may be dear to Bush, because many people of the older generation have a special attitude to mechanical watches. Someone keeps their first watch, and, for example, Grigory Yavlinsky, when asked about the watch, always remembers his father: “As a child, he was a homeless child and was full of gopstopnik on the roads. Priority for him then were only three words: the piano, the clock and the boss. Moreover, his favorite phrase was containing all three: "When I was the boss, I left my watch on the piano."
Whatever they say about the fact that the time of mechanical watches has gone forever, this is not at all the case. The time for consumer goods has passed. Stanisław Jerzy Lec once joked: "You can't stop time: the watch industry won't allow it." But the Pavel Bure firm has sunk into oblivion, and time has not stopped. The Russian watch industry collapsed, but almost no one noticed it. Now Chinese watches are being scrapped, but no one feels sorry about this. Doesn't this mean that time passes according to Swiss watches?

) - a hereditary watchmaker, full-time watch mechanic of the Imperial Hermitage, supplier of the Imperial Court (since a year, consul of the Republic of Venice. On the basis of the P.P. Bure watch factory, the subsequently famous Pavel Bure Trading House was created in 1888.

Biography

Watch shop P. Bure on Nevsky prospect, 27.

At the request of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg, Imperial Highnesses Eugene and Sergei Maximilianovich, in the year Pavel Karlovich Bure was awarded the title of hereditary honorary citizen "for conscientious and diligent, with the preservation of public interest, the fulfillment since the year of the obligations assumed at the Court in Bose of the reposed Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (daughter of the emperor Nicholas I) and Sergievskaya Dacha.

From early childhood, Pavel Pavlovich Bure actively helped his father in running the family business, thus, not only learning the basics of entrepreneurial activity, but also acquiring knowledge about the operation of watch mechanisms in order to become his father's partner in running the family business already in 1868. In a year, it was he who acquired a large watch factory located in the Swiss city of Le Locle.

In the year of P.P. Bure received the honorary title of "appraiser at the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty". This title gave the right to the state emblem in the window and other privileges. Subsequently, P.P. Bure also received the post of technician at the Imperial Hermitage.

In 1888, Pavel Pavlovich fell seriously ill and was removed from doing business. Having no direct heirs, he decides to sell the factory in Switzerland to its immediate leader, the Frenchman Paul Girard, as well as his associate, the Swiss Jean-Georges (Georges) Pfund. The new owners of the factory, colleagues of P.P. Bure, became the founders of the Pavel Bure Trading House, which opened its first store in Moscow in a year, and a little later a branch in Kiev.

In the same year, P.P. Bure dies before reaching the age of 50, and Georg Pfund receives the position of a full-time appraiser of watches and other mechanical products of His Majesty. On the basis of the P.P. Storm in