Unlike the majority of typewriter manufacturers on this site, Paillard S. A. was not specifically a typewriter manufacturer, and is still better known for the music boxes they manufacture and export than their typewriters. They used this fact in advertisements so the customer would pair other precision machines they may already know, such as the supposedly well-known Bolex movie camera, with their typewriters. The family-owned company started in 1814 by creating watch mechanisms and music boxes. It's not surprising that a former watch mechanism company would eventually turn to typewriters as some of their components, such as the escapement, are very similar. In 1963, Paillard and the Thoren Group merged for three years. Later Paillard was incorporated into the Olivetti corporation, and eventually stopped production in 1981.