The city continued to play a leading role in the clockmaking industry until the crisis of the s, and recovered before the end of World War II , but the industry lost a significant share of its activity after the end of this conflict. The s brought an end to this mythical epic, as the major companies went into decline in the wake of the oil crisis.
However, the clockmaking industry remained very much alive in the town. For several generations, the life of the inhabitants was shaped by this industry, particularly in terms of skilled employment.
Indeed, this pendulum clock, made in particular in Morez and Morbier in the Haut Jura , is considered one of the region's typical industries, before industrial production came to a halt at the beginning of the 20th century.
In , there were a thousand clockmaking in the city, [ 9 ] and by the end of the Empire , some 1, Swiss lived in the Comtoise capital, of them working exclusively in watchmaking and producing around 20, units a year, before this community was gradually replaced by local labor. A family workshop appeared in the s: Lip, founded by Emmanuel Lipmann. On this occasion, a clockmaking presented him with a clock in the name of the Israelite Consistory, of which he was president. This is a character from a novel, wearing a velvet skullcap and an abundant beard.
Originally, Emmanuel Lipmann was an artisan clockmaker who, when he wasn't bent over his clocks, magnifying glass in hand, roamed the Alsatian plain, repairing clocks or selling his own work, half peddler, half clock doctor.
