Prehistory The history of Tornos goes back to 1880, when the first machines for the production of small parts for the
watchmaking industry were manufactured in Moutier. One of the entrepreneurs at the time was Nicolas Junker, a mechanic from
Thurgau born in 1851. In 1883, Junker and his business partner Anselme Marchal founded the company
Junker et Cie. In the same year, Junker began producing automatic machines and was the first entrepreneur to bring mass-produced
lathes onto the market. The lathes were mainly used to produce screws, due to the increasing demand from the watchmaking industry. Junker also further developed the so-called
Schweizer Drehbank (Swiss lathe), an invention of Jakob Schweizer from 1880. Following Anselme Marchal's departure, the company was entered in the commercial register in 1886 under the name N. Junker. In 1891, Junker bought the company building from Basel industrialist Emile Abt, whose possession it had been in since 1886. 1895 Junker built the Villa Junker, which has since become a museum for automatic lathes, where visitors can learn about the history of the municipality of Moutier. The company was realigned under Junker's direction in 1896. From this point onwards, the company manufactured clocks and watches as well as their components. As Junker was unable to cope with the company's demise, he committed suicide in 1907.
Foundation and beginnings In 1914, from the bankruptcy of Junker et Cie. emerged the new company called
Tornos, which manufactured automatic lathes in competition with Joseph Pétermann and André Bechler's company, the latter a former apprentice of Junker. In the same year, Bechler founded his own company, which also produced automatic lathes from 1924. In the following years, Tornos developed the
Lambert (1925) and
Walker (1930) automatic sliding head lathes equipped with three tools and a counter drill, as well as the
Tornos B1 (1930) automatic lathe, which had five tools and a movable headstock. With the
Pétermann n°0 (1935), Tornos launched a pedestal-mounted automatic lathe with three tools and a threading device; the
Tornos R7 automatic lathe (1959) with six sliding toolholders was sold by Tornos as a limited product series. The three companies Tornos, Pétermann and Bechler became
Tornos-Bechler SA in 1981.
Acquisitions and reorganisation In 1989, Tornos-Bechler SA acquired a majority shareholding in the French company
Wirth & Gruffat in
Annecy. In addition to its own production programme, Wirth & Gruffat also took over part of Tornos-Bechler's production. In 1996, Tornos-Bechler launched the
Deco turning machine line on the market. When Tornos-Bechler SA was renamed to
Tornos SA in 2001, the three former competitors Tornos, Pétermann and Bechler were united under a single company name. In the same year, the company was listed on the stock exchange. In 2008, Tornos took over the machine manufacturer
Almac in
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Tornos launched the
Multiswiss multispindle machine in 2012. In 2014, Tornos focussed its product strategy on a more affordable price segment, moving away from its previous focus on selling high-priced machines. As a result, the company opened production facilities in
Xi'an, China, and
Taichung, Taiwan.
Recent developments In 2016, Tornos added three new models to its
Multiswiss multispindle turning machine programme. In 2021, the production site in La Chaux-de-Fonds closed, while the following year saw the opening of s production facility in
Poland. On 7 December 2023, Tornos Holding AG merged with
Starrag Group Holding AG to form
Starrag Tornos Group AG. Tornos Holding AG, a subsidiary of Starrag Tornos Group AG, was renamed
Tornos AG. == Company structure ==