Precision - Text 2
Paillard finally got into the cinema adventure by purchasing the declining Bol S.A. company, whose products included 16 mm Bolex brand cameras. Designed by the Ukrainian-born inventor Jacques Boolsky, this camera was manufactured at the time in the Longines workshops in Saint-Imier, another sign of the extent and fluidity of the clock-making sector. This industrial heritage set Bolex apart from its competitors at the time. Unlike Bell & Howell, Arri or Victor, which came into existence through and for the cinema, Paillard’s principal activity was not the manufacture of cinema equipment; this was seen instead as an extension of its industrial manufacturing activity. And unlike Kodak, Agfa or Zeiss, which came out of photography and optics, Paillard came out of clock-making and precision mechanics.
