Frédéric Japy founded a workshop in 1777 to mechanize the traditional establishment process practiced in the Jura by the watchmaking profession. He then turned to the manufacture and operation of watchmaking, screws, bolts, hardware, kitchen utensils, motors, bicycle parts, lights, garden furniture, pumps, coffee grinders, typewriters, etc.

The 1880s marked Japy’s golden age. Nearly 5,000 workers work in Japy factories in the Belfort region. A sign of its success, the family had 13 castles built in Beaucourt and Dasle.

The activity also turned to the search for coal between Montbéliard and Villersexel. The serious crisis between 1930 and 1935 made business difficult. The board of directors reorganized services, the Badevel factory was abandoned in 1933 and watchmaking was centralized in Beaucourt.

The Japy company successfully launched typewriters in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century but lost its predominance on industrial innovation. The Japy company was finally broken up into several independent companies until 1979, when the last Japy company was put into liquidation.

A Frédéric Japy museum will be opened in the 1980s retracing the epic of the Japy dynasty.

Signature of Jules Japy.