Though woodturning appeared in the 5th century in the Jura region, it is said to have developed in Saint-Claude, then a pilgrimage center in Haut-Jura, during the 13th century. Religious objects were crafted along with toys for children and culinary utensils. The trade spread across the valleys, and Maison Villet opened in Moirans-sur-Montagne in 1911. It specialized in the manufacture of lacquered toys and was renamed Vilac (contraction of Villet and lacquer) in 1979.