Betty Fiechter
{{Short description|Swiss businesswoman (1896–1971)}}{{Infobox person
| name = Betty Fiechter
| image = Betty Fiechter.jpg
| caption = A bust of Fiechter in her hometown of Villeret, Switzerland
| birth_name = Berthe-Marie Fiechter
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|04|29}}
| birth_place = Villeret, Switzerland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1971|09|14|1896|04|29}}
| death_place = Bienne, Switzerland
| occupation = Businesswoman
| years_active = 1912-1971
| employer = Blancpain
}}
Betty Fiechter, born Berthe-Marie Fiechter (April 29, 1896 – September 14, 1971) was a Swiss businesswoman. She was known for her tenure as director of luxury watch manufacturer Blancpain. {{Cite web |last=Felder |first=Rachel |date=2024-03-03 |title=Overlooked No More: Betty Fiechter, Pioneer in the World of Watches |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/obituaries/betty-fiechter-overlooked.html |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=The New York Times}} {{Cite web |date=2019-12-07 |title=How Betty Fiechter rose to become the first woman CEO and owner Blancpain |url=https://www.lifestyleasia.com/sg/style/watches/betty-fiechter/amp/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Lifestyle Asia Singapore |language=en-SG}}
Life
= Early life and career beginnings =
Fietcher was born to Jacob and Mary Fietcher in Villeret, Switzerland on April 29, 1896. Her father owned a watch movement company, which sparked Fietcher's interest in watches. Fiechter first joined Blancpain as an apprentice in 1912 as part of her trade school curriculum.{{Cite web |last=Roldan |first=Beatriz |date=2022-08-16 |title=Betty Fiechter, la primera mujer en la cumbre de la relojería suiza |trans-title=Betty Fiechter, the first woman at the top of Swiss watchmaking |url=https://www.elmundo.es/yodona/lifestyle/2022/08/16/62f38fbffdddff190b8b4578.html |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=El Mundo |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816010020/https://www.elmundo.es/yodona/lifestyle/2022/08/16/62f38fbffdddff190b8b4578.html |archive-date=2022-08-16}} Two years later, Blancpain purchased her father's company and Fiechter joined full-time. The company had been owned by the same family since its founding in 1735 and Fiechter grew close to the owner, Frédéric-Emile Blancpain.
During World War I, Fiechter volunteered as a nurse in Saint-Imier, where she met Andre Léal. Léal would go on to work at Blancpain as a salesman. She continued to work at Blancpain during this time and became assistant to the company's owner in 1915, who personally trained her to lead the company's workshops.
= Leadership of Blancpain =
After Blancpain's death in 1932, Fiechter became the company's director and co-owner alongside André Léal. Without a member of the Blancpain family involved in the company, the pair renamed the company Rayville S.A.{{Cite web |last=Pereztroika |first=Jose |date=2024-08-30 |title=A Bunch of Baloney? – The Fabricated History of the Modern Blancpain Brand |url=https://perezcope.com/2024/08/30/a-bunch-of-baloney-the-fabricated-history-of-the-modern-blancpain-brand/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Perezcope}} After Léal died in 1939, Fiechter became the company's sole owner. As director, she emphasized creating women's watches and was known for having a stern-but-fair attitude towards her employees.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-25 |title=Des femmes d'exception : Betty Fiechter (4/5) |trans-title=Exceptional women: Betty Fiechter (4/5) |url=https://www.rjb.ch/rjb/Actualite/Region/20220725-Des-femmes-d-exception-Betty-Fiechter-4-5.html |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Radio Jura bernois |language=fr}} Under her leadership, the company created multiple new watches that had wide appeal, including the Fifty Fathoms diving watch.
In the 1960s, Fiechter led a merger between Blancpain and several other manufacturers into a single company called the Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère. The merger allowed each manufacturer to retain a clear identity while benefiting from the financial support of the other manufacturers. Fiechter's impact on the Swiss watchmaking industry was widespread, with her nephew Jean-Jacques joking in 1984 that "the downfall of the Swiss watchmaking industry coincided with an all-male recruitment drive."{{Cite news |last=Diezi |first=Cecile |date=1984-03-30 |title=La passion du passé, les méthodes de l'avenir |trans-title=The passion of the past, the methods of the future |url=http://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=IMP19840330-01.2.132 |access-date=2024-10-30 |work=L'impartial |pages=27 |language=fr}}
= Personal life and death =
Fiechter did not marry but had a partner who was killed in an accident in the early stages of her time as director. She was close to her nieces and nephews, eventually partnering with her nephew Jean-Jacques to run the company when she became ill. Fiechter died in Bienne, Switzerland on September 14, 1971.{{Cite news |date=1971-09-15 |title=Avis Mortuaire |trans-title=Mortuary Notice |url=http://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=JDJ19710915-01.2.52.1 |access-date=2024-10-30 |work=Journal du Jura |pages=17 |language=fr}}{{Cite magazine |last=Kingston |first=Jeffrey S. |date=September 2021 |title=A Woman of Consequence |url=https://lettresdubrassus.blancpain.com/en/issue-21/woman |access-date=2024-10-31 |magazine=Lettres du Brassus |issue=21}} A marble bust of Fiechter, commissioned by two of her nephews, was erected in her hometown of Villeret in 1996.{{Cite news |date=1996-05-11 |title=Hommage à Betty Fiechter |trans-title=Tribute to Betty Fiechter |url=http://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=IMP19960511-01.2.171 |access-date=2024-10-30 |work=L'impartial |pages=29 |language=fr}} A second monument was created in 2021 by Swiss artist Helena von Beust and consists of a life-size statue of Fiechter and an accompanying biographical video.{{Cite news |date=2021-12-17 |title=Cinq statues de pionnières dévoilées |trans-title=Five pioneer statues unveiled |url=http://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=ARC20211217-01.2.31 |access-date=2024-10-30 |work=ArcInfo |pages=10 |language=fr}} The monument stands in Villeret's town square.