Lanco was the brand name of the Uhrenfabrik Langendorf SA, located in Langendorf, Switzerland, right in the middle of the Solothurn Canton. A certain family Kottmann from Solothurn (Langendorf isn't far) set up industrial production in 1842 there, and in 1873 a chicory factory was rebuilt to make ebauche for other companies, using between 70 and 80 workers. However, the company did not do well and almost collapsed in 1880. In the middle of 1880, just before the company would have been liquidated, Kottmann was able to import specialists from western Switzerland, who were able to turn the company around. In 1902, Ernst Kottmann (1874–1944) became manager of the company which he led until 1942 when he had to resign due to health reasons. His brother Rudolf Kottmann held the position until 1964. Hans Kottmann took over in 1964, but died the same year in an accident. The company was then led by Guido Kottmann and a committee of family members, but due to challenging business conditions – and perhaps problems of mismanagement – the company decided to join a conglomerate of watch makers called "Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Uhrenindustrie AG" (SGU) in 1964. Soon after, in 1965, Langendorf Watch Company is bought by "Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère SA" (SSIH) which was itself the result of a 1930 merger between Omega and Tissot. Along with Langendorf Watch Company, SSIH acquired more than fifty of its competitors fueled by its new-found commercial success. Although SSIH was Switzerland’s largest and the world's third largest producer of watches, the company suffered due to heavy competition. It went on to merge with ASUAG into SSIH/ASUAG Holding Company in 1983 – which was renamed SMH in 1986 and in 1988 became The Swatch Group. The company started using the name “Lanco” (for Langendorf Company) sometime in the 1960s. Langendorf Watch Company was attractive for the Lanco brand and its highly sophisticated and semi-automated production line with modern manufacturing equipment. With the acquisition, SSIH managed to broaden its product range and got the machinery needed to produce quality products at a lower cost than before. In 1973, production was ceased at the Langendorf production facilities, and the Lanco brand was relegated to the Aetos Watch Company, another sub-branch of SSIH. Since 1977, the old factory building in Langendorf has been a shopping centre. Comments are closed.
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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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