    
Baptist-Antoine Brémond, Geneva, 1834 – 1925
Brémond-Greiner, Geneva, 1858 – 1863
Ph. Bremond, 1909 – 1913
Bremond, 1913 – 1916
Baptiste Antoine Bremond was born in Geneva in August, 1834. His father and grandfather were jewellers. The Bremond family originated from Uzès (about twelve miles to the west of Avignon) and settled in Geneva in 1698.
Research by Pierre Germain shows that on 25 February 1858 B. A. Bremond entered into partnership with Theodore Greiner at rue Sismondi, manufacturing musical boxes. However, while Greiner was described as a musical-box maker.
Bremond was listed as a merchant. In 1859, Bremond married Anaïs Langdorff, the daughter of David Langdorff. The partnership with Greiner was concluded five years later and by 1866 Bremond is listed at rue Pradier 7.
In 1873, he was appointed manufacturer of musical boxes to HRH the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of England. Bremond´s life now entered its most prosperous period and from 1878 to 1886 he was a town councillor of Geneva. In 1880 his address was rue des Alpes 2 and in 1889 he was at la Lyre d´Or. Having had to report and advise on the Geneva musical-box industry, it was ironical that the competition from Germany, France and, aside from musical boxes, the gramophone, should single out his business for attack, but on 4 September 1902 he asked to be declared bankrupt. Even so, he remained as a musicalbox maker until 1908 when his son,
Philippe Albert Bremond (1863-1930) took over the business as Ph. Bremond until 1913. It was then known as Firm Bremond until 1916, when it closed. B. A. Bremond himself lived to the ripe old age of 91 and died in October 1925.
Although recently Bremond´s musical boxes have been accorded their just rewards, for a long while they were not rated highly as compared with those of his contemporaries. Always of faultless quality and united with quality examples of cabinetwork. Bremond probably drove himself into bankruptcy by striving too long to maintain quality in the face of cheapening competition.
Significantly, the work of Greiner and of Bremond is extremely similar and their vox célestes box with deeply carved and incised frets behind the cylinder, often with a miniature oil painting let in, are obviously to a common design. Both craftsmen also manufactured boxes in cases with angled corners, and also made interchangeable-cylinder organ boxes in richly inlaid cases on desk-type matching tables. (Ord-Hume, Musical Boxes, p. 296)
Representation of the firm Brémond
Operating instructions (2, the second printed by J. Dajoz, Geneva)
Normalformatige Spieldosen ( )
Kleinformatige Spieldosen (a) ( )
Kleinformatige Spieldosen (b) ( )
Eine weitere kleinformatige Spieldose ( )
Zu einem Bremond Spielwerk (Nr. 7748) ausschließlich mit Mozart-Arrangements bitte hier klicken ()
Bremond-Nicole ( )
Schlüsselloch-Bleche ()
Sehr große Spieldosen mit interwined-columns-Design ( )
'Captains Desk' Davenport Side-Change Interchangeable Mandolin Cylinder Musical Box ( )
Zehn verschiedene Designs (1–3, 4a, 4b, 5–9)
( )+( )+( )+( + )+( )+( )+( )+( ) Spieldosen und dazu noch kleinformatige Spieldosen
The following six of the ten designs consisting of {angle bracket elements} /
Die folgenden sechs der zehn Designs bestehen teilweise aus folgenden
  
flowerlike edge elements and {angle bracket like elements with the composer's names} /
blumenartigen Eckelementen und {spitzklammernartigen Elementen mit den Komponistennamen}
aus der Druckerei von J. Dajoz, Genf
❶Nr. 10/1, ❷Nr. 12/1, ❹/a: Nr. 14/2a, ❹/b: Nr. 14/2b, ❺Nr. 16/2, ❽Nr. 22
❶10/1: •BelMoRFoWeFlot – VerSLabGSch•
Spielwerke: ungemarkt, unnummeriert (und dann mit dem Rechtspfeil weiterklicken)
❷12/1: •BelMoRoWeFlotAub – VerSLabGSchMus•
Spielwerke:
ohne Nummer,
ohne Nummer,
ohne Nummer bzw. vielleicht 58655,
344,
1348,
7009,
8482,
8937,
12604,
13156,
1xxxx,
13948,
unumerierte Musiktafel ähnelt der vorigen,
16522,
17759,
18446
❸Nr.12/3: •BelMoRoWeMeyerFlot-VerDonSLabGSch•
Spielwerke:
Händler Hays,
unnummeriert,
Bells in sight, 10 airs,
unnummeriert, datiert 1871,
unnummeriert, 2nd tune: Romeo and Julia,
Tennant's,
1st tune: The bell goes,
Musikprogramm beginnt mit zwei Motiven aus Norma,
ähnliches Musikzettel-Design wie das der vorigen Spieldose,
[2] Mandoline Organocleide,
[3] Bells exposed 8 airs,
189,
494-7649,
573,
582,
759,
1051,
1248,
26??,
2754,
3307,
5289,
6652,
Musikzettel-Design dem der vorigen Spieldose (Nr. 6652) ähnlich,
ein weiteres vermutetes Musikzettel-Design dem der vorigen und vorvorigen Spieldose (Nr. 6652) ähnlich,
7720,
7872,
8772,
ähnlich wie 8772,
9886,
10113,
11519,
11584,
11872,
12436 (?),
12779,
13380,
13179,
13444,
13743,
13969,
14454,
15977,
16139,
16522,
16589,
16742,
16822,
18159,
18434,
21341,
28613,
38778,
40077,
41093,
41596,
41647,
42195,
43534,
44404
❹Nr. 14/2a: •??? ... ... – ... ... ???•
Spielwerk: 15105
❹Nr. 14/2b: •BelMoRoWebFlotAubBruschi - VerS-LabGSchulMus-???bach•
Spielwerk: 13034
❺Nr. 16/2: •BelMoRoWeFlotAubHalJull – VerSLabGSchMusHändBalf•
Spielwerke:
10617,
11380,
12828,
13531
❻Nr.16/4: •BelMoRoWeMeyerFlotOffBruschi – VerDonSLabGSchWagAub•
Spielwerke:
10496,
12268,
12333,
12387,
12639,
13846,
14907
15261
❼Nr. 20: •BelMoRoWeHändHayMendelBeetMeyerFlot – VerDonSLabGSchHalAubBalfeJullien•
Spielwerke:
ohne Nr.,
1532,
1897,
3370,
3510,
~3800,
5163,
6329,
7763,
um 1865,
u 1870,
um 1870,
um 1870,
12197,
15553
❽Nr.22:
•VerSLabGSchBelBoieWeFlotAub-BelBoieWeFlotVerSLabGSchMus•
Spielwerk: 10981
❾Nr. 24: •BelMoRoWeHaGouHändBalfeSchMendelMeyerFlot – VerBeetDonSLabJullienKettFaustMasseGAubHal•
Spielwerke:
Ouverture Mand.,
1867,
1875,
1880-20880, unnummeriert, verkauft 1883, ohne Nummer (48 airs),
ohne Nummer (60 airs)
Zu einer Liste der der Medaillengewinner bei der Ausstellung in Philadelphia 1876
Werbekarte von 1878
Exposition universelle de 1878: Brémond was one of the three winners of the highest musical box award in the Exposition universelle de 1878 in Paris. (Bulleid, Technology, p. 17-18)
Die Firma Bremond war zeitweise Visavisnachbar der Firma Conchon
Firmenschildchen mit demselben Design
Bulleids list of serials
(fat: irregularly dated!)
serial / year
6329 1860
7102 1862
8873 1864
9886 1867
11200 1869
12505 1862
16455 1872
16742 1875
17614 1872
18516 1878
18777 1879
19103 1880
20257 1882
20739 1883
Bulleid, Technology, p. 66 (heavily abridged)
Zur Firmengeschichte siehe bei Théodore Greiner
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