Longines watches have a long tradition and look back upon an eventful history. Today, Longines is a well-known brand; Some of us are wearing a Longines watch right now, or are planning to add another Longines watch to our collection.
But what is the story behind Longines watches’ rise to popularity? Who created the first Longines watch? And how did Longines watches get their name? In 1832, Auguste Agassiz founded a comptoir in the village of Saint-Imier, in Switzerland’s Jura region. Agassiz then became an active participant in the watch business known as “Comptoir Raiguel Jeune.” As of 1838, this business became known as “Agassiz & Compagnie,” which would develop into what we know today as the Longines watch company. The timepieces produced by this company, the predecessors to today’s Longines watches, developed a reputation for quality that extended far beyond the Swiss border. Another important figure in the history of Longines watches is Ernest Francillon, the man behind many of the brand’s innovations. Francillon’s mission was to replace the mostly handmade individual timepieces with precise, serially manufactured products. In 1867, he started to construct a new factory building for the company, locating it beside a river in an area called “Les Longines,” which means “the long meadows” in the local dialect. The new Longines watches attained great success but also attracted unscrupulous counterfeiters. To defend against fakes, Longines developed the winged hourglass logo that’s still engraved on many of the company’s movements and cases, the legally protected trademark of Longines watches. The Longines story is full of innovative timepieces, from early ones like the Lépine Caliber 18 L to later pieces like the Longines Evidenza and Longines LungoMare. Some innovative technological advances made for Longines watches, such as the “Vibrograph,” a device for controlling the rate of watches, debuted in 1946. While continuing to create mechanical timekeepers, the company also pioneered innovations in quartz technology for its Longines watches. One was the first portable quartz clock, in 1954, which exceeded its era’s requirements for precision and reliability. Longines watches still incorporate both technologies today; both quartz and mechanical have been represented in the brand’s diverse product portfolio for many decades. Today Longines is part of the Swatch Group, which has ensured that Longines watches have continued to evolve over the years, exactly as Francillon and his successors might have wished. The spirit of those early pioneers is still alive and well in Longines’ longtime CEO, Walter von Känel, a resident of Saint-Imier since 1945. He said, “I’ve always been fascinated by watchmaking. Watchmaking shaped our whole region in those days, and I secretly knew that it would one day offer me the opportunity to discover the great wide world.” He was right. Winton is a trademark used in commerce since May 01, 1919. It was originally owned by “Hipp. Didisheim Company, Inc.” in New York, NY. Didisheim also owned the trademark Nassau; the trademarks (and Didisheim’s business) were transferred around 1940 (?) to a company “L. Adels Company”, New York, NY. Said company was owned by Louis Adels. Adels owned the trademarks SLEDA (used since April 1925), ELBON (used since September 1927) and LACO (since 1922); LACO is the abbreviation of “Louis Adels COmpany” and isn’t to be mistaken with the German trademark “Laco” of LAner & CO”. Foundation of L. Adels Company probably was around 1922. Louis Adels sold his watches under his several brands, mainly under “Winton”, “Elbon”, “Nassau” and “LACO”, but also “Marc Nicolet” branded watch was sold by Adels/Winton Watch Co. Adels had an ad in Swiss Watch Magazine “La Féderation Horlogère Suisse” of 13. June 1934: In fact, Winton watch movements were quality movements made by well-known Swiss makers of the Èbauches SA Group, namely by A.Schild, Aurore, ETA, Felsa, Fontainemelon and Unitas. Only the caliber 523 was made by a non-Swiss company, namely German company Durowe (Durowe 202) what’s a little bit funny, because Durowe was owned by German company… Laco. The movements are signed in several ways;
All have an import code LXA. By coincidence I found a checklist listing all Winton calibers and explaining, what the caliber really is (e.g. Winton 86 = Felsa 690). That is the “Marshall Handy Manual” of 1966: https://watchguy.co.uk/technical/Marsha ... %20Manual/ You’ll need part 2 (pages NC 138 to NC 141) for the checklist and part 5 (pages INF 2 to INF 5 and INF 9) for the explanation of maker codes and for the abbreviations used. From this list I extracted the automatic calibers: In the very few discussions on the internet you will read about Adels that he “was an importer of Watches”. Well, this is not quite exact. Yes, he imported the movements from Switzerland, but the watches were at least mostly “cased and timed in New York” (quote from a legend of an Elbon box). Adels used cases made by US Case Maker Companies, i.a. I.D. Watch Case Co. Inc., Commodore Watch Case Co., Major Watch Case International Corp. (all of New York City, NY), Lapwell Watch Case Corp., Greenvale, NY and by Pioneer Watch Case Co., Inc., Mount Vernon, N.Y. These are at least the Case makers I’ve seen so far present on cases of Winton watches (as well as on the other brands, like Nassau, Elbon, LACO). So, Winton watches aren’t much differing from other US brands: quality Swiss movements in a US watch case. Why don’t they have the same reputation like – for example – a Hamilton Kinematic? The Kinematic I (and a number of Accumatics) has a grade 672, that is in fact an ETA 1256 - the same movement may be found in a comparable Winton of the 50's and 60's. I don’t know, maybe Adels simply had too many brands or it's just because Adels did not spend enough money for advertising his brand(s), maybe he outfitted too many private labels. In any case, in the hunt for a vintage watch as we always say: a “no-name” watch you can get for under $100 can be as much as interesting as a top $$$$$ collector’s dream – it might be a Cinderella, you just have to find the matching shoe! On July 1st, 1853, Charles-Félicien Tissot, a fitter of gold cases, founded Ch. Félicien Tissot & Fils in Le Locle in the Jura, with his son Charles-Emile Tissot, a watchmaker. Tissot began life as a “comptoir d’établissage”, which consisted of a network of independent workers who were highly specialized and who produced the different watch parts, to then be further assembled and sold at the “comptoir”. Tissot’s timepieces focus was on pocket watches, luxurious pendant watches or complication watches, at that time mainly destined mainly for the United States market. In 1858, the founding son, Charles Emile Tissot, left Switzerland for Russia and successfully sold Tissot ‘Savonnette' pocket watches across the huge and influential Russian empire, starting off by selling hunter watches to the officers guarding the Tsar’s palace. Tissot went on to gain a highly coveted Grand Prix award in 1900 in Paris, the same year in which the city would host the 2nd Olympic Games. At the same time, Tissot pioneered a long history of collaboration with its ambassadors, with one of its wristwatches being worn by the iconic actress Sarah Bernhardt, the most successful stage actress of her day. At the end of 1917, the limited company Chs. Tissot & Fils SA was created and became a manufacturer with the introduction of movement-blanks production. Within a few years, Tissot was able to create a formidable presence in the worldwide horological market. Mergers and the turbulent 20th century In 1930, Tissot and Omega merged to form the first Swiss watchmaking association, the SSIH (Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère). Watches from the Tissot-Omega era are highly sought after by the collectors. Quartz, the 20th century’s greatest revolution in the watch industry, passed Switzerland by. Although the first quartz watch was developed at the Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH – Centre for Electronic Watches) in Neuchâtel in 1967, Swiss watchmakers did not capitalize on this innovation. By the 1970s the Swiss watchmaking industry was in serious crisis, arising from the advent of highly successful quartz watches, dominated by the Japanese. The Swiss watch industry would be saved when the watch was reborn as a fashion accessory - enter the Swatch. This analogue quartz watch, which combined high quality and exciting designs with a low price, was first released in 1983 and became a pop culture sensation and enormous global success in the 1980s. There is no doubt that the Swatch saved the Swiss watchmaking industry from its slump and helped boost it. Thirty years after the ‘crisis’ in the Swiss watch industry, it has now once again become one of the most prosperous economic sectors in Switzerland, and once more synonymous with Swiss quality and prestige. In 1983, Nicolas G. Hayek of Swatch, and who had been mandated to audit the Swiss watchmaking sector, recommended the merger of the main groups of watchmakers at the time: the SSIH (mainly Tissot and Omega) and ASUAG (a holding of the manufacturers of movement and component blanks). The group, which was then named SMH (Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries Ltd.), would become The Swatch Group in 1998, of which Tissot has been a part to this day. The Swatch Group is today the world's largest watch producer and distributor. Brand Recognition: “Tissot - more than a watch.” Heritage, Innovation & Global Prestige: Tissot is defined by its well-known slogan - 'Innovators by Tradition'. The company has proudly had its home in the town of Le Locle in the Neuchâtel area of the Jura Mountains since 1853, with a highly visible presence in 160 countries, including many luxurious Tissot boutiques and point of sales in high-end department and jewelry stores worldwide. Tissot's distribution spread is unmatched by any other Swiss watch company. Tissot’s enviable and groundbreaking innovation has enabled the development of high-tech products, special materials and advanced functionality. It has a broader, more versatile range of high-quality timepieces at an attractive price than any other Swiss watch brand, Tissot is also committed to making excellence that is affordable and accessible. Timeline:
Here are some interesting factoids about Tissot:
OMEGA (Ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and symbolizes accomplishment and perfection - qualities that have been inherent in every OMEGA watch since the company's founding by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in 1848. The brand's reputation for innovation and quality has led to numerous awards over the company's 150-year history, starting as early as 1900 with the Grand Prix at the Paris World Fair and continuing with the world precision record of 97.8 points at the Kew-Teddington observatory in England in 1936. OMEGA went on to be official timekeeper at no less than 21 Olympic Games, bringing numerous innovations to Olympic sports over the years, such as the first electronic timekeeping at the Helsinki games in 1952 - the same year in which the company was awarded the Olympic Cross of Merit for its outstanding contribution to sport. Because its precision and reliability, OMEGA's Speedmaster watch was chosen by NASA as its official chronometer in 1965 and 4 years later was the first watch to be worn on the moon, when, on 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind. In more recent years, OMEGA has continued to build on its reputation for precision and innovation, presenting the world's first self-winding wristwatch with central tourbillon (launched in 1994) and the revolutionary coaxial escapement was developed in conjunction with renowned English master watchmaker George Daniels first offered in limited series in 1999. OMEGA owes a large part of its watchmaking excellence to the quality of its movements. These magnificent watches are highly collectible, and hold a very special place in many collectors showcases. There seems to be an aura about Omega watches that captivate this collector especially. History of OMEGA: 1825 • Birth of Louis Brandt. 1848 • Louis Brandt opened a Comptoir of établissage, a sales outlet for watches manufactures under sous-traitance. 1880 • The brothers Louis-Paul et César Brandt manufactured watches using modern procedures in Bienne. They signed their productions JURA, PATRIA, HELVETIA, CELTIC and GURZELEN. 1885 • The pallet caliber LABRADOR reached working precision of 30 seconds per day. 1889 • LOUIS BRANDT & Son became the biggest industrial company in Swiss horology, with and annual production of 100,000 watches. 1892 • Creation, in cooperation with AUDEMARS PIGUET, of the first minute repeater wristwatch in the world. 1894 • A new caliber of fob watches went into mass production and won popularity for the simplicity of its construction and the interchangeability of its parts. The banker Henri Rieckel suggested the name OMEGA. 1903 • The success of the new name led the firm to drop all other names. 1909 • For the first time, OMEGA ventured into sports chronometers, during the international balloon races, in particular the Gordon Bennett Cup. 1917 • The British Royal Airforce chose OMEGA watches for its squadrons. 1918 • The US Army followed suit in its choice of OMEGA. 1919 • OMEGA chronometers won the Neuchâtel Observatory precision prize, the first of around twenty collected by 1971. 1933 • OMEGA obtained the world record for precision. 1936 • OMEGA obtained its 2nd world record for precision. 1946 • World record for precision. 1957 • Creation of the OMEGA SPEEDMASTER wristwatch chronograph. 1965 • Following extremely exacting tests, NASA chose the SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL chronometer. 1967 • OMEGA obtained the millionth official certificate for precision for a chronometer. 1969 • On July 21, at 2H56 GMT, the astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon. He was wearing an OMEGA SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL wristwatch. 1970 •At the request of Commander Cousteau, OMEGA created the SEAMASTER PROFESSIONAL 600 (known as the PLOPROF, from “plongeur professionnel” or professional diver). This completely water resistant watch, in its “monobloc” case with bolted winding crown and won the world record for deep-sea diving. 1972 • OMEGA obtained the 2,000,000th official precision certificate. 1974 • Launch of the marine MEGAQUARTZ chronometer. 1983 • Inauguration of the OMEGA Museum, December 16. 1995 • Introduction of the first wristwatch in the world with automatic winding crown and central tourbillon. 1999 • World first with the automatic 2500 caliber inspired by an invention by the English master watch-craftsman George Daniel, OMEGA perfected the CO-AXIAL ESCAPEMENT wristwatch and started mass production. 2001 • Launch of MUSEUM collection with re-issue of PILOT’S WATCH. 2002 • COSMIC MUSEUM Collection. 2003 •Launch of RAILMASTER. Launch of MUSEUM Collection N°4. Check out the link below. There are pictures and history of vintage Omega watches: http://www.omegamuseum.com/official Mystery late 1950’s or early 1960’s man’s budget-priced wrist watch for every- day use. This is a rather obscure brand. There is no information whatsoever on the World Wide Web... It is just another fine example of an affordable watch sold through Sears or Simpson’s catalogues in the Canadian retail market. Japan CBM Corp. was established in 1964, and started selling watches under the Q&Q brand in 1976. They released the Q&Q branded watches in October 1976 to the world markets. They were designed to be a mass market brand that made extremely affordable, and decent quality watches, especially considering the prices. My impression is that Q&Q represented different things to different markets depending on where they wanted to position themselves relative to rival brands. "Q&Q" apparently stands for "Quality and Quantity", and the "CBM" in "Japan CBM Corp." stands for "Citizen Business Machines". In 1999, Q&Q sales reached 20 million pieces in quantity and are today one of the biggest watch brands in the world. In 2002 they became entirely owned by Citizen Watch Co, and from April 2009 their operations were absorbed into Citizen Watch. Japan CBM did not actually build anything themselves, but simply subcontract, generally within the Citizen Group, although some of their mechanical models for the Indian market featured Chinese movements. Vintage Q&Q mechanical watches were made by Citizen Subsidiary “Premier Precision Ltd.” in Hong Kong and South Korea. Strangely, Premier Precision are a quartz LCD module manufacturer. The watch featured here today is a manual wind with a tiny mechanical Citizen movement in its mid-size case. It is an early model and was most likely manufactured during the "quartz crisis" era as an attempt to complete with the onslaught of Quartz watches flooding the market by making a low-cost watch using existing mechanical technology. “For some years now I have been considering the idea of making a watch that our agents could sell at a more modest price than our Rolex watches, and yet one that would attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch. It is called the Tudor Watch Company.” The announcement above was made on 6 March 1946 by Hans Wilsdorf who, having created Rolex in the first decade of the 20th century, was already a leading figure in the upmarket Swiss watchmaking world. It marked the birth of both the TUDOR brand and its production and communications strategy. Hans Wilsdorf’s intuition was as simple as it was ingenious. At that time, the development of wristwatches was in full swing and today’s widespread drive to optimize resources, which is currently behind so many major financial and brand mergers, was still in the far-distant future. The public was ready to recognize and appreciate a product whose technical, aesthetic and functional qualities, as well as its distribution, were guaranteed not by a newcomer on the market but by the Rolex brand, which had already earned worldwide renown for the high quality of its timepieces. This announcement was not merely words said for effect. It was Wilsdorf’s genuine commitment to a program. Between 1947 and 1952, therefore, TUDOR devoted itself to launching first the TUDOR Oyster model, followed by the TUDOR Oyster Prince collection, reflecting the successful marriage of precision and reliability, style and technique and high-quality production. That period also saw the emergence of the first advertisements devoted exclusively to TUDOR, in which Wilsdorf expressed pride and satisfaction regarding his personal involvement in creating this new brand. This certainly was a privileged and auspicious start for the TUDOR brand, originally represented by a decorative rose, the famous symbol of a once long-reigning dynasty in England, the Tudors, who inspired Hans Wilsdorf to give their name to his new company. This famous name, however, never led the company to rest on its laurels. From the very beginning, this was a story of technical developments, like the waterproof Oyster case and the adoption of a self-winding movement, which were not relegated to mere functionality, but turned into stylish features of watches designed in both performance and appearance for modern, dynamic men. With Rolex to usher it into the world and accompany its first steps, the TUDOR brand very quickly carved out a niche for itself, quite independently of the brand with the five-prong crown. If we look closely, early traces of TUDOR and its creations can be found as far back as 1926, the year the brand was registered by the Swiss watchmaking company “Veuve de Philippe Hüther” on behalf of Hans Wilsdorf. In 1936, Wilsdorf took it over himself, and went on to found the company Montres Tudor SA in 1946. It was, however, the products and advertising campaigns of the 1950s that really gave the brand its definitive strength and distinctive personality. The year 1952, in particular, saw the launch of the TUDOR Oyster Prince, accompanied by a press campaign that was very intense, strong and original for the period. The advertisements not only showed and described the watches, as was customary at the time, they also underlined the qualities of resistance, reliability and precision, with both detailed text and illustrations. These illustrations depicted men at work wearing a TUDOR in extreme conditions, doing strenuous work on a road or in a mine, for instance, and not strictly in sports settings, such as motorcycling, playing golf or riding horses, which were also effective test situations but far more conventional. The images, together with the, by then, widely recognized soundness of the product, helped give TUDOR watches a style and personality associated with concepts of modernity and reliability, and launched it well beyond the particular context in which it was being shown. It is significant that 30 TUDOR Oyster Prince watches were included in the British scientific expedition to Greenland organized by the Royal Navy in 1952. In the wake of its technological triumphs and the success of its image, brought about by its participation in the Polar explorations, the TUDOR brand in the 1960s became involved in a project to develop a professional underwater watch that could become a piece of official military equipment. A TUDOR Prince Submariner was produced for the US Navy from 1964 to 1966, followed in the early 1970s (and until 1984) by the “Marine Nationale” model, which was officially adopted by the French Navy. THE EVOLUTION OF THE LOGO For obvious, image-related reasons, great importance has always been accorded to the logo that generally appears with the brand name on a watch dial. TUDOR is no exception to this rule. Indeed, it has paid attention to its own logo, adapting it over the years in response to specific communication needs. The very first watches produced in the 1920s and 1930s simply bore the name TUDOR, as a kind of birth certificate. A few rare models associated the name TUDOR with Rolex, corresponding to the fact that Rolex originally guaranteed the technical and aesthetic quality of TUDOR, which the brand later went on to develop autonomously. It was around 1936 that a graphic symbol first appeared, the delicate TUDOR rose, emblem of the long-reigning English dynasty to which the brand owes its name. The rose was shown on a shield, as if to symbolize the invincible union of strength and beauty. In 1947, just a year after TUDOR was officially launched, the brand name on the dial was accompanied by the rose alone, highlighting TUDOR’s consummate elegance and style. Between 1969 and the present day, as the requirements of classical aesthetics were definitively met and TUDOR production focused increasingly on technical aspects, the rose disappeared and replaced by the shield, which remained on the dial as a powerful symbol of resistance and reliability. The invention of the “Swatch” watch: One of the most popular watch brands in the world today, Swatch is based in Bienne (or Biel), Switzerland — the country known in the world for its timepieces. These colorful, fun and unique designs have helped Swatch find a place in the world of watch fashion. Dr. Ernst Thomke (who was then the CEO of another watchmaking company ETA SA) and his small team of watch engineers invented a kind of watch that used far fewer components than the traditional mechanical watches. This was in 1983, and the new watch they invented was called “Swatch.” (a coined name from the words “Second Watch”). The same engineers had also invented the thinnest wristwatch in the world at that time, the Concord Delirium. 1983 – The Birth of Swatch: On March 1st 1983, in light of the Swiss watch making crisis, the first ever Swatch watch was born from simplicity with a unique twist of social etiquette and a desire for something different. Swatch jet streamed their way into Switzerland, Austria, the UK, France and soon the rest of the world, setting a tone of original affordable luxury which had never been experienced before. At that time Switzerland was mired in a watch making crisis, due to the advent of the quartz watches in the 1970s that mostly originated from Japan (such as Citizen and Seiko). The popularity of the quartz eventually eclipsed those of the Swiss mechanical watch, which left Swiss watchmakers and companies struggling. The birth of Swatch came as a right smack because by that time the crisis had reached a severe and critical point. Swatch as a major factor of the Swiss’ resurgence in the global wristwatches market: Leabnese-Swiss businessman Nicolas G. Hayek enters the picture. He was asked by a group of Swiss bankers to oversee the liquidation of the two failing watch companies ASUAG and SSIH, which led to the merger of Société de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie. This merger which Hayek spearheaded coincided with the invention of the Swatch watch that Dr. Thomke invented; Dr. Thomke was later made as the first president of the newly formed conglomerate. Hayek and his other group of investors took a major shareholding of the Swatch Company in 1985, and the SMH would later be re-named the Swatch Group. Under Hayek’s decisive leadership and brilliant, innovative marketing strategies as well as the watches themselves, the Swatch watch helped the Swiss recover from its sluggish performance in the last few years. These Swatch watches were used with fewer mechanical components as well as outer synthetic parts such as the plastic watch cases and watch straps which came in a wide array of colors, designs and artwork — even some of the world-renowned artists have contributed to the designs of these Swatch watches. These very materials made Swatch watches less expensive to produce, therefore translating into higher profitability. Because of these factors, Swatch became really popular with the lower end of the wristwatch market which the Swiss eventually managed to re-capture after having lost it to the Japanese makers. Although Swatch watches were primarily seen as casual fashion timepieces because of their colorful, fun designs, the company would otherwise like to maintain that their watches themselves were serious products of craftsmanship. Hayek’s determination and innovative leadership, as well as the company’s unique marketing expertise brought Swatch as one of the biggest wristwatch makers in the world. The success of the company also restored Switzerland’s position as a major global player in the wristwatch market. Swatch had also begun manufacturing stainless-steel watches and chronographs in addition to their famous plastic wristwatches. The legacy of Swatch: Hayek became Swatch’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO in 1986. His son Nick Hayek took over the CEO position in 2003, while the senior Hayek remained as Chairman of the Board until his death on June 28, 2010. Only two days after his death, his daughter Nayla assumed the Chairman of the Board of Directors position. The history of this great plastic Swatch watch has left lessons of perseverance, ingenuity, overcoming difficulties, and the fact that originality and luxury doesn’t have to come with a big price. When you think of a fun and colorful casual watch, you’d automatically think of Swatch. The types of Swatch design styles:
Mystery military Swiss watch with a 1 jewel movement stamped “Mohertus Trading Co.” It has a beautiful black military dial with contrasted white hands. The case is really well designed, and looks great from every angle. This is just pure minimalism in watch art. History: Mohertus Trading Co. sold relatively low grade movements Swiss or Austrian Made or other places in the 1960’s. They were around as recently as the 1970s. The company is also known to watch collectors as the vintage licensee for various “Dollar” fun watches displaying Disney’s ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Tinkerbell’ figures, for Walter Lantz Woody Woodpecker watches, for Babe Ruth watches, and as a U.S importer and distributor of 'Engorsele Watches', 'Florin Watches', 'Rouan Watches', and 'Nouvella Clocks'. These types of watches and movements were designed for the "common man" with an eye towards rugged, simple and inexpensive. Like vintage Timex movements, they are hard to fix if they break, but if nothing is broken, they work with no problem. It certainly looks beautiful! During the 1960's and '70's, Sears marketed a line of upscale watches under the name Tradition. I happened to come across the one pictured here.
It has a 21 Jewel Swiss Made ETA 2472 movement. I have no idea about the significance of the "crown" is on the dial above the word “Tradition”. This is a beautiful dress watch with a brown dial. Sears offered a range in quality in watches and from what I've discovered, there were a lot of good watches, clearly made for Sears by very competent makers featuring ETA upgraded movements. Until the 1950s, Sears built many urban department stores and they overshadowed the mail-order business. Starting in the 1950s, the company expanded into suburban markets and later into shopping malls in the 1960s and 1970s. This is the period where we find most of the Tradition signed wrist watches were sold. Most watches are signed “Swiss Made” or “Swiss” and often had the 3-digit Swiss Identification Code in them. An indication they were produced in Switzerland for the North American Market. The “Tradition” brand featured dress, divers and chronograph watches. During the 1980’s and later we do not find watches with the Tradition logo anymore. Newer watches sold through Sears & Roebuck featured the name ‘Phasar’. These watches had a certain style and quality, though they did not rise to the quality and movement level of the ‘Tradition’ watches. “Clebar” is apparently slang in French for wet dog. I suppose that’s better than a cat, but it’s still not overly flattering. Either way, Clebar is also the name of this particular watch I am showing today. "Clebar" was a trademark of the “Leonidas Watch Factory” at the beginning of the 1960s. The brand name was used for the first time in 1925 but was registered as a trademark in 1948. The main line of products included stopwatches and chronographs. The place of manufacture of Clebar watches was mainly Le Locle. Clebar watches were marketed by Edward Trauner Inc., which also sold the Zodiac brand products. As part of the Zodiac clan, Clebar made great chronographs. Clebar also had a reputable history as a rally and stop watch producer. They really hit their stride in the 60's with several iterations of chronographs. With the merger of Leonidas with Ed. Heuer (1964) on the Heuer-Leonidas S.A. the 'Clebar' brand eventually disappeared. This particular watch appears to be from the mid to late 60's and features a simple manual winding 17 jewels Waterproof Swiss Movement. Jean d’Eve is a Swiss watch company founded in 1888 by Mr. Charles Barbezat as Guye & Barbezat. In 1888 the firm changed the name to Le Phare - meaning 'The Lighthouse'. The watches were first produced under the “Le Phare” brand name and were immediately recognized for their quality and innovation and received the highest awards at the Universal Exhibitions in Paris (in 1889 and 1900), Liege (in 1905) and at several other international and national exhibitions. In 1905, Le Phare was so successful that the company, with now more than 200 employees, changed its name to “Manufacture d’Horlogerie Le Phare.” In 1970, Le Phare was the second largest Swiss producer of chronographs. The brand “Jean d’Eve” was launched in 1981 and gained immediate success with exclusive up-market models such as Sectora, Up-Side-Down and Blue Marlin. In 1984, the name was joined with Le Phare and became “Le Phare Jean d’Eve S.A.” The history of Hamilton Watch Company began in 1892 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hamilton Produced its first watch in 1893, designed by H.J. Cain, one of the company's founding members. This watch company was named after the man who donated a large plot of land to the city community. Some time later a new watch factory appeared on this territory. In 1893, Hamilton produced the first collection of pocket watches “Broadway Limited”. Initially manufactured to provide the country's railroads with reliable timing devices, the Hamilton railroad pocket watch was adopted as the official watch of the American Expeditionary Forces worldwide. A wrist watch version of the railroad watch was issued to General Pershing and his dough-boys in WWI, accompanied Admiral Byrd on his expeditions to the North and South Poles, served the 'Picards' well on their first balloon ascent into the stratosphere, and were on the wrist of the first American to scale Mount Everest. The watches were successfully used by the staff of the railway transport department in the USA. These watches quickly advanced in popularity thanks to their accuracy and reliability. That is why, Hamilton watches were known as the "Watches of Railroad Accuracy." The accuracy of Hamilton watches made it possible to improve the work of the U.S. transport department. The watches had put an end to numerous accidents. 1928 The Yankees win the World Series. Hamilton introduces the Yankee Watch, establishing it as a leader in watch design. Hamilton helped America keep pace with the energy of a new lifestyle. New Hamilton designs, such as the Yankee and the Piping Rock, projected the independent spirit of the day. 1930 Hamilton continues to capture the soaring spirit of the 1930's. The world turns to the skies as commercial aviation takes off. Hamilton soon becomes the official timepiece of the most famous industry leaders --- TWA, Eastern, United and Northwest. 1940 WWII Hamilton stops production of watches for consumers and creates new timepieces exclusively for military use. Soon, Hamilton Company became the official watches supplier of the U.S. Army. Hamilton watches became the accessories that were used as the equipment of the famous First Infantry Division of General Pershing during the World War II. Close to one million Hamilton military watches are produced. During the World War II the watch company created a collection of military watches that had a round dial, Arabic numerals and a khaki-colored strap. So there was a beginning of famous Khaki watches production. Today, the 'Hack' has become very collectible among watch and military collectors. In 1957, Hamilton Company made a breakthrough by creating the fist electric watches, running on batteries. So, Hamilton Watch Company broke new ground in the history of matchmaking. In 1970, Hamilton's watchmakers introduced a new product development - the first electronic watch. 1957 Hamilton's leadership in engineering and innovation creates a significant breakthrough in timekeeping. Hamilton introduces the first electric watch in 1957. The Ventura becomes an instant success. See "Hamilton Electric" 1965 Inspired by the sleek lines of the Cadillac tailfins of the 50's, the Ventura becomes the watch of choice for the icons of American style. Elvis Presley chooses to wear the Ventura in his movie, 'Blue Hawaii.' 1972 The future is close at hand and Hamilton shocks the world with a completely new kind of watch. Manufactured at its headquarters in Pennsylvania, Hamilton introduces the world's first digital watch - the Pulsar. There are two areas of watch manufacturing in Hamilton Watch Company. They are American Classic, associated with Hollywood style, and Khaki - marine and aviation watches for the U.S. Army. In the past, Hamilton was rather a categorical watch brand. Hamilton wrist watches were sold mainly in the USA, France, Japan and Italy. However, at the turn of 90-s the watch company was bought by the Swatch Group, which decided to make Hamilton the international watch brand. To this end, the main office of Hamilton Watch Company and the company's workshop moved to Switzerland. Hamilton watch brand has found its own niche in the the Swatch Group structure. These watches combine the wonderful spirit of American dream and unsurpassed accuracy of Swiss watch movements. Today, Hamilton s primary collections include the American Classics collection and the Khaki collection, updated versions of the legendary military timepieces of yesteryear. When I saw this Cornavin Dolphin or Sword fish watch I was impressed by it's tropical teal color which is so deep and beautiful. There seems to be precious little published about this brand. What I have discovered in the course of my research is that Cornavin watches were at one time produced in Geneva Switzerland, but perhaps in the late 1970s or 1980s production was shifted to Russia (I'm not sure if there's a consensus on whether this is true or not). This one is signed “Swiss Movement”. Another example of a beautiful vintage early 1970’s watch. There is a Cornavin Watch Company currently but I am not sure if it is the same company related to these old vintage watches.. Their “About” page says: “Shaped by its historical company origins, the rich in tradition watch brand “Cornavin” was founded in Geneva. “Cornavin” was one of the first Swiss watch brands to introduce the big date and became popular in the 50s and 60s by developing fine mechanical watches.” Oris is one of the leading Swiss wristwatch brands. Oris history is more than 100 years old. In 1904, two men born in Le Locle, the watchmaking capital situated in the Swiss Jurassic region, Paul Cattin and Georges Christian bought the watch company Lohner & Co and with 24 workmen founded a watchmaking factory in Hölstein, a small village in the north-western part of Switzerland. Oris is the name of a valley and a brook close to Hölstein. From 1925, the watch manufacture produced rather inexpensive, however, high-quality wristwatches. Simple fasteners fixed to bracelets of pocket watches making them full-fledged wristwatches. As a result of the marketing campaign, Oris watches were sold in England, in English colonies and in South Africa. In 1937, in Bienne, Switzerland, the Oris dial factory opened. A year later, the Oris brand made its own escapements one of which was the caliber 292W 7 Jewel found in the 'Lunox' line. From 1949, all water-resistant wristwatches were marked with the special signet “Waterproof”, and water resistance became to be one of the Oris advantages. In 1952, the automatic movement 601 with power-reserve was made, which is now in demand. In 1966, the factory produced the automatic movement caliber 645 with the escapement. In 1968, “Observatoire Astronomique et Chronometrique” awarded Oris full chronometer certification of the highest distinction for the accuracy of calibre 652. In 1970, the holding ASUAG (now the Swatch Group) bought up the Oris shares. In the Holding Oris watches set place of inexpensive products – not a very successful strategy. In 1982, the controlling block of shares was bought back by the company's management, Rolf Portmann as chairman and Ulrich W. Herzog as CEO. The Oris watch brand prestige was reviving little by little. New unique models were being developed. The original design of Oris wristwatches attracts not only professional divers but also true connoisseurs of watch art. Oris watch brand also produces aviation watches and actively supports world famous aviation companies and individual aviators, to whom new watches Oris Big Crown are devoted. In 2008-2009, Oris sponsored the Âlue Eagles Helicopter Display Team, a team of helicopter aviators. As a result, a model Oris BC4 has appeared. Oris makes only mechanical watches. A distinguishing feature of the watch brand is the original distinctive design and the red rotor, the symbol of Oris mechanicals and the registered trade mark. While a watch case producing, different materials, such as gold, steel and titanium, are used. A case is tested on durability and water-resistance. A dial is guilloched with the silver coating giving watches dull luster. Straps are made from leather (bull calf, crocodile, ostrich, shark) or rubber. Bracelets are made from steel or titanium. The model ProDiver Chronograph is completed with a rubber strap, a titanium bracelet and tools for their replacement. Oris gives preference to four directions, every of which has its own specificity: motor racing, aviation, diving and culture. Oris wristwatches are very popular. Many Hollywood stars choose these watches for acting in films and for everyday life. I stumbled across this interesting vintage 1960’s watch called ‘Dynasty’ which turned out to be an in house brand for Sears, Roebuck & Company with a Japanese Hamazawa 5026 movement. My initial investigations found very little, with only references to Seiko and eventually Orient. Now having found a little more it makes sense when you know the close connections of Seiko and Orient. Research suggest an unofficial relationship between Hamazawa and Seiko. Hamazawa Ltd was founded in 1954. In the 1970s, they took out a few joint patents with Epson on non watch related items. They seem to have sold a lot of movements to various Japanese and foreign watch companies. In 1983 they merged with two other companies, one of which was a major watch case supplier for Seiko-Epson. In 1986, this company was eventually taken over by Seiko. In the 1960’s Hamazawa released the 5000 family of movements – automatic and manual wind. They were 17 jewel movements and have a 21,600 beat. The self-winding mechanism partially uses the Seiko Magic Level System. Their movements were: 5020: manual wind, center seconds 5022: manual winding, central second, date 5023: manual wind, center seconds, date, day 5025: automatic, central second, date 5026: automatic, central second, date, day The 5026 is a 17 jewel automatic that is a rebadged Orient cal. 16720. As we mentioned above, Hamazawa was a company that was eventually taken over by Seiko in the 1980s. Back when this watch was made, they were probably somewhat independent; however the winding mechanism on the 50xx movements would have required a license agreement with Seiko who held the patent at that time. The rest of the design however has absolutely nothing in common with Seiko design practices. This movement first came out in the late 1960s, but what Hamazawa were doing from their inception in 1954 until then, it is unknown. The 7 jewel version movements they manufactured were used in Seiko's cheap labels ‘School Time’ and ’Tomony’. The 17 jewel ones were used by Orient and turned up in other Japanese brands like ‘Urika’ or other retailers such as ‘Sears Roebuck’ watches. It is unlikely that there is a 'Seiko' branded watch with this type of movement however they may exist. The movements were sold widely overseas and may be found in US brands including Sears and Benrus, and the British brand Astral. Waltham is a legendary American - Swiss precision watch making brand, which has been setting modern standards for the production of clocks and watches, and has over one thousand patents in the sector. The American Waltham Watch Company, founded in 1850 in Massachusetts, created Waltham International SA in Switzerland in 1954 and since 1957, all Waltham high-end watches have been manufactured on the premises in Neuchâtel/Switzerland, and are 100% Swiss Made. History: In 1850, Aaron Dennisson, Edvard Howard and David Davis founded Waltham Watch Company in Roxbury (USA). In 1854 The Company settled in the town of Waltham in the State of Massachusetts, and became the world's first industrial watchmaking "manufacture". Early watches were produced around 1850. They were actually marked "Howard, Davis & Dennison - Boston". The new company struggled early on as it coped with higher then anticipated manufacturing costs. They also had problems making the interchangeable parts system actually work. Although in theory the parts should have been identical once produced, they found that each part was a little different from the next. The machines weren't exact. It took the company months to produce watches that were actually no better than those already on the market. Howard would eventually perfect and patent his precision watch making machines and the company was almost ready for production. In 1851, with the factories complete, the American Horology Company was named. By 1852 the first watches were completed. The first 17 watches were marked "The Warren Mfg Co". Watches 18 through 100 were named "Warren Boston". The next 800 were named "Samuel Curtis". These early watches are extremely rare and very valuable. The name was changed to "Boston Watch Company" in 1853. In 1854 a factory was built in Waltham Mass. The watches that were manufactured here (1001-5000) were named "Dennison, Howard, & Davis" as earlier stated, as well as "P.S.Bartlett", and "C.T. Parker". Boston Watch Company failed in 1857. The company was sold at auction to Appleton Tracy & Co. in May 1857. In January 1859 the Waltham Improvement Comany and Appleton, Tracy & Company merged to the "American Waltham Watch Company". By 1860 the country was in Civil War, and the company was in trouble again. Production ground to a halt. With a war going on, finding a market for their watches was becoming a serious problem. The company decided to downsize to the lowest possible level to keep the factory open andit worked! In 1870 Waltham created the "Crescent Street" high-precision Railway watch. In 1912 Waltham launched its first feminine wristwatch, the "Lady Waltham". In 1954, over a century after its foundation, Waltham relocated to Switzerland, the leading watch manufacturing country. In 1966 Waltham successfully launched the world's first and only atmosphere proof self-winding mechanical watch in Japan, enabling durable chronometer precision. "Waltham Watch Company" went out of business in the late 1950''s to early 1960's. In 1957 they planned to merge with the "Waltham Precision Instrument Company" and the merge was completed March 1960. In the mid 60's the remaining assets were purchased by the Dextra Corporation which failed in 1983. In 1987 Waltham began the manufacturing of watches with solid gold. Today, 'Waltham International SA' manufactures and distributes Waltham Swiss Made watches in the luxury Japanese watch market. Since 2011 the majority of the company has been taken over by the American entrepreneur Antonio DiBenedetto who is now the current President and CEO. In over 100 years of existence the factory produced 40 million jeweled watches, plus clocks, speedometers, compasses, time fuses for bombs and other precision instruments. When it comes to Japanese horology we are probably all familiar with Seiko, Citizen, Orient together with their subsidiary brands. The same can be said for Casio. The one we rarely hear anything about is the last of the major Japanese watch companies, RICOH. Yes, that RICOH (the photo copier maker). A successful and important Japanese company which has a long history of manufacturing watches, Ricoh's watch history has somehow been almost lost for posterity, with no firm attempt to remedy this deficit. And indeed, the number of pre-owned and vintage Ricoh watches for sale on the internet indicates that the company was an important player in the watch market. Ricoh started on February 6, 1936 as Riken Corporation (or per the Ricoh Fact Book, "Riken Kankoshi Co., Ltd.") based on the work of Dr. Ookawati Masatoshi [which apparantly deals with photographic paper or "sensitized paper"]. March 1938, the company name was changed to Riken Optical Industry (or "Riken Optical Co., Ltd.") and started production of optical devices and equipment. On Apr. 1, 1963 the name changed (again) to Ricoh Co., Ltd. In 1962, Hamilton entered into a joint venture (60% owned by Hamilton) with the Japanese matchmaking firm Ricoh to produce electric watches meant primarily for the Japanese market. The electronic components were produced at Hamilton's Lancaster factory while production of the mechanical works and final assembly was undertaken in Japan. Although production levels of Hamilton-Ricoh watches was high (over 1000 per month), demand was low and consequently, the Hamilton-Ricoh partnership was unable to compete with the substantial market presence of Seiko. The partnership was dissolved in 1965, with the remaining Hamilton-Ricoh electronic movements (marked 'Ricoh 555E') re-cased as 'Vantage' and sold in the US." It is widely said, in collector circles, that Seiko is traditionally considered #1in Japanese watch production (at least for the 1955-to-Present time period), Citizen 2nd, and Orient 3rd [which, by default, leaves "Ricoh" 4th]. Is this indeed true? In a 1970’s research paper, "The Watch Industries in Switzerland, Japan, and the United States" Japanese watch production figures in 1970 are shown as follows: Company / Est. Share of Japanese Production K. Hattori (Seiko) = 60% Citizen = 28% Orient = 9% Ricoh = 3% Nowadays, Ricoh is most closely associated with cameras and other imaging equipment, as well as office machinery. The first ever micro-rotor automatic watch movement was patented by Uhrenfabrik Büren A.G. in the mid 50s. When their "planetary rotor" automatic movement was released in 1957 in the "Super Slender" line, it was one of the flattest automatics of its time and derivatives of the movement competed with the Universal Geneva micro-rotor for thinnest automatic in the world for many years. The most famous implementation of the Buren micro-rotor was to be found in Hamilton's "Thin-O-Matic" line but also could be found for a period in Bulova's "Ambassador" line and Dugena's "Super". Although Hamilton produced Thin-O-Matics with high-grade ETA movements as well, they were so fond of the Buren movement that in 1966 they purchased the company. Hamilton (which became Hamilton International S.A. in 1968) kept producing fully assembled watches under the Buren name as one of their "economy" lines (alongside Huguenin whom they purchased in 1959 and Vantage purchased in 1962). They kept Hans Kocher, Buren's chief designer on as the president of Buren Watch Company S.A. which they owned and operated until Hamilton was in turn purchased by SIHH (now the Swatch Group) in 1971. Buren went into liquidation within months. Founded in 1873 by F. Suter, Buren's first automatic movement (Cal. 525) released in 1945 showed a novel approach to automatic winding that was indicative of things to come. It used a pendulum winding mass recessed into the movement, resulting in a thinner automatic system than other movements of its time. It was a fragile and not particularly efficient system and could not compete with rotor winding systems, even as found in the early bumper automatics of other manufacturers. In 1952 Buren released their first full rotor automatic with bi-directional winding (Cal. 541). It featured a massive rotor surrounding a small (9 1/4-ligne) movement. The smaller movement was made more accurate by the state of the art Glucydur balance and Nivarox hairspring and in 1953 they created the Cal. 538, the smallest automatic calibre with power reserve indicator, a device to assure the public that this new fangled automatic winding stuff really worked. In 1954, through the efforts of Hans Kocher, their chief designer, Buren patented a micro-rotor winding system (they called it a "planetary rotor") that finally saw production in 1957. By 1962, the design had been refined into the Cal. 1280 "Intramatic" which won the Prix D'Honneur at the 1964 Swiss National Exposition in Lausanne. In 1965 it was further refined into the Cal. 1320 (1321 and 1322). Both designs (the 1280 and 1320) featured a slightly larger swinging mass than the earlier models, which now swung over the center of the movement, necessitating indirect seconds and minutes (I'll explain that later). Like the "Super Slender", the "Intramatic" wound in both directions and featured mutual decoupling of the automatic and manual winding systems (more about that later also) in an attempt to capitalize on all the winding power that could be squeezed out of its tiny rotor. It was the "Intramatic" movement that Buren modified in a joint venture with Breitling-Leonidas, Dubois-Depraz, Hamilton (who owned Buren at that time) and Heuer to create one of the world's first automatic chronographs in 1969, the "Chronomatic". The "Chronomatic" featured a Dubois-Depraz chronograph module (8510) attached to the backside of the movement, effectively hiding the micro-rotor entirely within the movement. The last automatic movement that Buren made was the Cal. 82, which utilized twin barrels on either side of the center wheel pinion and a large central rotor. It could run at 28,800 bph or 36,000 bph and experiments were made with a 43,200 bph escapement. It was quite thick for its time (at 6.2 mm) and consequently only two or three hundred watches were ever completed with the Cal. 82 movement. The remaining parts for approximately 100,000 more were sold to Comor in 1971. Micro-rotor movements are aesthetically much more pleasing to my eye and Buren can be proud to have been the first company to introduce them to the watch buying public. Despite the obstacles that had to be overcome, they succeeded in making a very thin, very accurate automatic movement by employing revolutionary mechanisms that functioned reasonably well in a variety of different levels of execution and elaboration. As a classy example of a turning point in the history of both Hamilton and automatic movements in general, a Buren powered Thin-O-Matic makes for an interesting, horologically significant addition to any watch collection. Here’s another watch with great local history. Fremes watches were created and sold in Canada by members of the Fremes family. The company was owned by Simon Fremes who was president of S.Fremes and Co. Ltd., manufacturing jewellers on Adelaide St. West. The business was based in Toronto, Canada. For the manufacturing of their watches, swiss watch movements were purchased in Switzerland and faces and cases were designed and built locally in Toronto. It wasn’t uncommon for local jewellery manufacturers in the beginning of the century to manufacture and sell watches locally. From the City of Toronto Archives we learn that the “Commodore Building” located at 317 Adelaide St. West, was built by Simon Fremes, a local jewellery manufacturer. The King Spadina neighbourhood, named for the intersection of the two major streets that cross it, took on its 20th century character after the Great Fire of 1904 destroyed the city's original Manufacturing district.. Among the first men to acquire property in King Spadina was Samuel Fremes, a local jewellery manufacturer who, in 1912, commissioned the Fremes Building on the southwest corner of Adelaide Street West and Peter Street. It is now designated as a heritage building. The business most likely shut down in the 1950's.
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Old Time WatchesI enjoy collecting mechanical (manual wind and automatic) and early electric and quartz timepieces. I take great pleasure in researching and writing about the companies and people that created these beautiful watches. PF
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September 2018
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