Creation of a watch case polishing workshop by Mrs Blanche Châtelain Degoumois. End of activities in 1939 at the time of the 2nd World War..

Mme Châtelain resumes business in collaboration with her sons Georges and Francis. The same year, creation of G&F Châtelain SA, whose main activity is the polishing of clasps for leather bracelets. Very quickly the activities extended to the polishing of gold cases.

The company undergoes wide expansion and complements its know-how with new skills, such as stoning and finishing of jewelry ?? and gold cases. This, to satisfy both watch and jewelry customers as well as to keep up with technology.

Francis Châtelain joins forces with his brother-in-law and invests in the company Sandoz & Co, specialized in the field of progressive stamping and the manufacture of precision tools. Under the name Madimédic, the company manufactures and markets sterile podiatric blades. Francis Châtelain is responsible for all the companies.

G&F Châtelain SA continues to expand and moves into new buildings, where Sandoz & Co also takes up residence. Diversification continues through the manufacture of metal bracelets. On June 8 of the same year, G&F Châtelain registered the Master "C" hallmark, testifying to a growing reputation and an easily identifiable quality label.

Proof of the entrepreneurial audacity of the two Châtelain brothers is the tremendous expansion of the company. They took over other independent workshops, and acquired new skills such as cutting, machining, assembly and electroplating. With the advent of information technology in industry, the company's creation departments were equipped with the latest generation of computers, placing Châtelain at the cutting edge of technology, which was highly envied at the time.

The Châtelain company demonstrates its mastery of several trades by becoming the prime contractor for luxury watchmaking products.

G&F CHÂTELAIN SA takes over the entire Sandoz & Co company, which had been under the personal management of Francis Châtelain for 30 years. This takeover triggers a new expansion of activities by bringing in new skills: progressive stamping, the manufacture of precision tools and fully robotized box production lines.

The same year, the owners of CHANEL bought out the activities of
G&F CHÂTELAIN which then became a branch of CHANEL SARL.

To meet the needs of rapid growth the construction of a new factory begins.

Move to the new 8'000m2 factory. This testifies to the company's dynamism, both by its contemporary architecture as by the visionary choice of location in La Chaux de-Fonds. Many other renowned watchmaking companies also moved to the surrounding area.

This new site now has about 330 employees and employs a wide range of
skills, technologies and know-how.

The company develops a new activity, the manufacturing of ceramic components. Since then, Châtelain has been constantly reinforcing hard material shaping processes. We master all aspects, from the manufacture of raw material to the finishing of elements.

The manufacture integrates a complete jewelry workshop in order to respond to the increasing demands of customers. In addition, a new extension of 8’000 m2 is under construction.

The new watch movement development is unveiled at Baselworld; Châtelain becomes a watch manufacturer in its own right.

The factory is equipped with a large park of solar panels of more than 4’000 m2.

In order to develop the company's development and unify the structure and becomes G&F Châtelain, a branch of CHANEL SARL.