Synopsis: In the fall of 1876, two Swiss spies came to America and conducted some of the most covert and consequential industrial espionage in history, changing the course of the global watch industry forever. Had the events of 1876 never happened, we would likely know little of Swiss watches today.

Disrupting Time is a true historical narrative of business strategy, espionage, and consequences. Set during the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, a great world’s fair in Philadelphia, it details the story of Jacques David and Theo Gribi. Having attended the Centennial Exhibition and witnessed the powerful Waltham Watch Company’s frighteningly novel assembly line exhibit, they knew it spelled the end of their Swiss industry. Rather than be deterred, Gribi and David were commissioned by the Society of Jura Industries, a Swiss trade association, to acquire the secrets of America’s technology sector – the American watch industry. They captured their intelligence in a 130-page report that would remain mostly secret until 1992. Disrupting Time tells the never-before-told story of David and Gribi’s secrets and mission, showing how they used disguises, agent recruitments, and other classic espionage methods to steal the secrets of America’s technology sector of the era.

Disrupting Time details a fascinating tale of cutthroat competition, industrial espionage, societal development, and a great world’s fair using the archival reports and letters of the spies, the Waltham Watch Company, and records from the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. It specifically examines the years 1857 to 1900. This period catalyzed modern, industrial watch production and solidified the Swiss’ role as the world’s best watchmakers, a reputation which has endured through many subsequent chapters of their history. The competition in this era was so intense it was even referred to as “combat of industry” by contemporary observers. It is a chronicle of strategy, competition, espionage, decisions, and consequences that shaped the global watch market at the turn of the twentieth century. It is the account of a remarkable turn of events driven by cunning spies, visionary leaders, and strategic choices that put the Swiss and American watch industries on entirely different trajectories.

The themes of this book are explored through the eyes of Waltham, the Swiss watchmakers, and their main characters: Royal Robbins, Ambrose Webster, Jacques David, Theophilus Gribi, and Edouard Favre-Perret. This is the story of industrial combat, an industry ‘broken apart’ and ‘thrown into disorder,’ and how a cottage industry of Swiss watchmakers organized to defeat an American industrial power.