ULYSSE NARDIN

When it comes to mechanical watches, today’s vocabulary flourishes with superlatives and ready-made statements.

Words like "creativity, manufacture, exclusivity, innovation, limited edition, trend, ultimate, etc." keep flooding the professional literature and the advertising in general.

This somewhat legitimate turmoil conceals the very nature of a mechanical timepiece.

Because of the hundreds of tiny pieces combined in an intricate web of gears and wheels, the precision of a mechanical instrument will never match that of a quartz instrument. Interestingly enough this has never been an issue.

Why?  Simply because a mechanical timepiece is and will always remain the quintessence of traditional craftsmanship with a long lasting value. Some of our museum pieces have been passed on from one generation to the next six times already.

To many of us, acquiring or inheriting an ever ticking instrument with a noble history behind it is like making a dream come true.

Swiss Watch Manufacturer Ulysse Nardin was founded in 1846. Ulysse Nardin has been dedicated to excellence for over 165 years in manufacturing mechanical watches. Among the most reliable ever made, Ulysse Nardin's marine chronometers are still sought by collectors around the world. Ulysse Nardin continues to be in the forefront of watchmaking technology by pioneering new materials in manufacturing high precision movement components and most innovative timepieces.

ULYSSE NARDIN Tellurium Kepler. 

Founded in 1846, Ulysse Nardin was named after its founder, Ulysse Nardin, an accomplished watchmaker. Nardin first trained in horology under his father, Leonard-Frederic Nardin, and perfected his skills under the tutelage of Frederic William Dubois and Louis JeanRichard-dit-Bressel, two master watchmakers whose fame extended beyond the mountains of Neuchatel, Switzerland.

In 1983, Ulysse Nardin was purchased by Rolf W. Schnyder, its current President. At about the same time, Schnyder also discovered Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, a scientist, inventor, historian and watch-maker extraordinaire. In a unique relationship of professional cooperation and personal friendship, Schnyder and Oechslin created timepieces that had never before existed.

The Ulysse Nardin collection is in the proud tradition of quality and mechanical innovation. Its consistent excellence had also been recognized by the award of 18 international gold medals and 4,300 first prizes in chronometric excellence.

In its over 150 years of history, Ulysse Nardin had been widely respected as a specialist in marine chronometers. Among the most reliable and accurate ever made, Ulysse Nardin’s marine chronometers are still sought by collectors around the world, and have seen service with the navies of some 50 countries.

Today, Ulysse Nardin continues to develop and produce specialized timepieces of the highest technical level in limited editions. Using the company’s patented inventions, these often include complications offered by no other watchmaker, such as the renowned Trilogy of Astrolabium, Planetarium and Tellurium; the Jaquemart Minute Repeater and the Hour Striker San Marco.

Steadfast in its journey to remain in the lead, Ulysse Nardin looks to its own universe to plot its course. Steering the Ulysse Nardin spirit of innovation and independence into new, unchartered territory is Chai Schnyder, president of the Board of Directors, CEO Patrik P. Hoffmann and the expertly skilled and dedicated Ulysse Nardin team. At its Switzerland-based headquarters, true invention and design meet to form the most remarkable timepieces of today and tomorrow.

ULYSSE NARDIN Michelangelo. 

ULYSSE NARDIN Diavolo. 

ULYSSE NARDIN Royal Blue Tourbillon. 

BAUME et MERCIER

Baume et Mercier is a Swiss luxury watchmaking company founded in 1830. It is owned by Richemont, and with Cartier and Piaget they make up the core of the group. This company is represented in 75 countries and produces around 200,000 watches a year. The most important markets are in Europe, especially Italy, Spain and France. Baume et Mercier is distributed by 220 exclusive retailers worldwide and has established itself as a manufacturer of sporty chronographs.

In 1830 the Baume family opened one of the first comptoirs horlogers (watch shops) in the Swiss Jura region in the village of Les Bois. “Frères Baume” soon became a major watch company, thanks to the commercial flair and rigorous industrial methods of the two brothers, Louis-Victor and Joseph-Célestin Baume, who strictly followed their motto: “Accept only perfection. Only manufacture watches of the highest quality.”

Baume watches earned ever-growing success and recognition under the impetus of the second generation.

The House distinguished itself at the national exhibitions and world fairs that began to be organized from the second half of the 19th century onwards, in Paris (1878 and 1889), Melbourne (1890 and 1895), Zurich and Amsterdam (1883), London (1885 and 1890) and Chicago (1893), winning ten Grand Prix awards and seven gold medals.

The end of World War I in 1918 brought sweeping changes in industry, the arts, and society in general. Women’s emancipation led them to wear jewellery watches as brooches, long necklaces or on the wrist, a trend made possible by the miniaturization of watch movements.

After proving its use in a military context, the wristwatch gradually took over from the pocket watch as the masculine timepiece of choice. Baume witnessed the emergence of a new generation, and the young William Baume, a great visionary and an accomplished watchmaker, was eager to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded by the ebullient mood of the era. Having by then settled in Geneva, he decided to partner with a colorful figure named Tchereditchenko, who subsequently adopted his French mother’s family name and became known as Paul Mercier. Born in Odessa to a Russian father, Paul Mercier was a passionate and refined individual, a dedicated art-lover who spoke seven languages and was endowed with exceptional business acumen.

The period between the late 1930s and the 1950s saw the baton being passed on to a strong new personality at the head of Baume & Mercier, the Count Constantin de Gorski.

William Baume withdrew from the company in 1935 for health reasons, and Paul Mercier sold his shares in 1937 to the Ponti family, who were jewellers and goldsmiths from northern Italy.

During the 1940s and throughout World War II, Baume & Mercier chronographs became watches of choice that are still highly sought-after collector’s items today. After the war, Baume & Mercier launched one of its most successful models: the Marquise.

This jewellery watch, set in a “bangle” type bracelet, asserted itself as the leading post-war ladies’ model and remained a brand best-seller until the early 1960s.

In 1952, Baume & Mercier acquired a new production facility for its chronographs by buying up the C.H. Meylan factory in the village of Le Brassus, in the Joux Valley.

In 1964, in order to reinforce its brand identity, Baume & Mercier chose the Greek symbol PHI as its new visual brand emblem.

Considered since Antiquity to be the “golden section” representing perfect proportions, the PHI appeared from then on as the Baume & Mercier logo on all its watch dials. It was from this time onwards that Baume & Mercier acquired its status as an affordable luxury brand, a positioning it continues to uphold. The brand also accentuated its avant-garde, innovative approach, especially during the 1970s.

In 1971, Baume & Mercier was one of the first brands to adopt the new electronic tuning-fork movements, forerunners of quartz, in its Tronosonic model.

In 1973, this was followed by the innovative Riviera model, one of the very first steel sports watches featuring an original twelve-sided design. The Riviera was to become Baume & Mercier’s best-seller and its flagship model for 20 years.

In 1972, the brand caused a sensation in the field of ladies’ watches by introducing the Mimosa and Galaxie models, both of which won the Golden Rose at the Baden-Baden international watch and jewellery competition held in Düsseldorf, Germany – the most important contest of its kind at the time.

In 1973, Baume & Mercier once again earned the supreme Golden Rose distinction for its splendid Stardust model featuring an onyx dial surrounded by 138 diamonds.

The 1980s witnessed the global success of the Linea ladies’ model, and in 1988 the destiny of Baume & Mercier took a new turn when the luxury group that would later become Richemont bought up both Piaget and Baume & Mercier

Baume & Mercier has had many celebrity ambassadors including Andy Garcia, Gary Sinise, Ashton Kutcher,

Teri Hatcher, Kim Basinger, David Duchovny, Evangeline Lily, and most recently, Gwyneth Paltrow.

VACHERON CONSTANTIN

The company was founded in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron, an independent watchmaker in Geneva, Switzerland. This makes it one of the oldest watch manufacturer in the world with an uninterrupted history. Besides being a young businessman, Vacheron was also a talented craftsman. In 1770 his company created the first complication, and nine years later he designed the first engine-turned dials.

The son of Jean-Marc Vacheron, Abraham, took over the family business in 1785. During this period the company was able to survive the French Revolution (1789–1799). Later, in 1810, Jaques-Barthélemy Vacheron, the grandson of the founder, became the head of the company. He was the first to initiate the company's exports to France and Italy.

Later, Jaques-Barthélemy realized that he was not able to handle his business alone. In order to travel overseas and sell the company's products, he needed a partner. Consequently, in 1819 François Constantin became the associate of Vacheron. The company continued its activity under the name Vacheron & Constantin.

François Constantin traveled around the world and marketed watches. Thus he helped the company to open new markets. The main market was North America. The company's motto (which remains today), "Do better if possible and that is always possible," first appeared in Constantin's letter to Jaques-Barthélémy. The letter was dated July 5, 1819.

In 1839 Vacheron & Constantin hired Georges-Auguste Leschot. His job was to supervise the manufacturing operations. Leschot was an inventor and his creations turned out to be successful for the company. His inventions had a great impact on the watchmaking industry in general. He was the first person to standardize watch movements into Calibers.

In 1844 Georges-Auguste Leschot was awarded with a gold medal. The Arts Society of Geneva highly appreciated his pantographic device, a device that was able to mechanically engrave small watch parts and dials. This invention pushed Vacheron & Constantin forward much further than other watchmakers.

Later, after Constantin's death in 1854, and Vacheron's death in 1863, the company was taken over by a series of heirs. At one point, the company was headed by two women.

In 1862 Vacheron Constantin became a member of the Association for Research into non-magnetic materials. Later in 1885, the company created the first nonmagnetic timepiece which included a complete lever assortment made of materials able to withstand magnetic fields. Its construction included a balance wheel, balance spring and lever shaft that were made of palladium, the lever arms—in bronze and the escape wheel was in gold.

In 1877 "Vacheron & Constantin, Fabricants, Geneve" became the official name of the company. In 1880, Vacheron & Constantin started using its symbol, which is kept till nowadays, the Maltese cross. The latter was inspired by a component of the barrel. The part had a cross-shape and it was used for limiting the tension within the mainspring.

Advertising from 1896 promoting their observatory trial results

In 1887, was reorganized into a stock company. For the remarkable achievements of the company it was awarded with a gold medal at Swiss National Exhibition. The event took place in Geneva in 1887.

The first boutique in Geneva was opened by Vacheron Constantin in 1906. This store can be seen today on Quai de l’Ile. During the Great Depression Vacheron & Constantin found itself in a difficult situation and the only one to bring hope was Charles Constantin. He became the head of the company in 1936 and it was the first time since 1850s that a representative of the Constantin family received the position of Vacheron & Constantin's president.

During World War II the company's sales decreased considerably. However, Vacheron & Constantin was able to come back on the watch market due to Georges Ketter.

To outline the beginning of the 3rd century of its watchmaking the company created Patrimony—the world's thinnest mechanical watch at that time which was only 5.25 mm thick.

In 1970 the "&" was dropped from Vacheron & Constantin.

In 1979 Vacheron Constantin made Kallista, one of the most expensive wristwatches. Its initial price was $5 million, but today the watch is valued at about $11 million. Kallista had 118 emerald-cut diamonds. It took about 6,000 hours for the watch masters to make this watch and about 20 months for jewelers to enrich the watch.

When Jacques Ketterer died in 1987, Vacheron Constantin changed hands. However its sales increased and today the company produces about 20,000 timepieces per year. Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, former Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia, Harvard MBA, and avid watch collector, became majority shareholder, who then folded VC into his personal portfolio of holdings. There are those that would argue that VC stagnated during this phase. As with any subjective generalization, this may not be entirely fair or accurate. In 1996 the entire share capital of the company was bought by Richemont Group.

In 2003 Vacheron Constantin introduced a new sports line called Overseas, and a collection called Egérie, the first to include watches for women.

In 2004 Vacheron Constantin opened its new headquarters and manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva.

The Richemont Group named Juan Carlos Torres as the Chief Executive Officer of the company in October 2005. Vacheron Constantin is considered to be company that was able to create one of the most complicated wristwatches in the world entitled "Tour de I'lle". It was created in 2005 to mark the anniversary of 250 years of Vacheron Constantin. The watch includes 834 parts and 16 horological complications. It was only available through the Vacheron Constantin shop in Geneva, Switzerland and sold for more than $1 million.

In 2007 Vacheron Constantin introduced the Metiers d'Art 'Les Masques' collection of timepieces featuring miniature reproductions of primitive art masks. The company selected twelve masks from a private museum collection and reproduced the masks on a small scale. The miniaturized masks are featured in the dial center of every watch from the 'Les Masques' collection.

MONTBLANC

Montblanc International GmbH is a German manufacturer of writing instruments, watches, jewellery and leather goods, often identified by their "White Star" logo.

Founded by the stationer Claus-Johannes Voss, the banker Alfred Nehemias and the engineer August Eberstein in 1906, the company began as the Simplo Filler Pen company producing up-market pens in the Schanzen district of Hamburg. Their first model was the Rouge et Noir in 1909 followed in 1910 by the pen that was later to give the company its new name, Montblanc. The Meisterstück name (English: "Masterpiece", the name used for export) was used for the first time in 1924, for the top lines of fountain pens. Today, the Montblanc brand is on other goods besides pens, including watches, jewellery, fragrances, leather goods and eyewear.

The company was acquired by Dunhill in 1977, following which lower price pens were dropped and the brand was used on a wide range of luxury goods other than pens.

Today Montblanc forms part of the Richemont group. Its sister companies include luxury brands Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chloé, and Baume et Mercier. Montblanc is owned, through Richemont, by the South African Rupert Family.

Nicolas Rieussec  (July 20, 1781 – June 18, 1866) was a French watchmaker.
The Rieussec family’s birthplace was the town of Lespinassière. Nicolas was the son of Joseph Rieussec, a merchant born in the 18th century in Lespinassière, in Languedoc, then one of the largest provinces in the kingdom of France.

He was named a Watchmaker to the King in a royal warrant dated January 31, 1817.

“On this thirty-first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventeen, the King at Paris, having been made fully aware of the good life and moral conduct of Sieur Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec, and of the distinguished reputation he has acquired in his profession of Watchmaker, desires to confer upon him a mark of his favour and of the protection with which he honours him; for this purpose, His Majesty has granted and does grant him the title of his Watchmaker so that said Sieur Rieussec can enjoy all the honours, prerogatives and other benefits thereunto appertaining; His Majesty desires and intends that he may use said Title at all gatherings and on all public documents […].”

The decade of the 1820s was one of the most prosperous in Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec’s life. It certainly did get off to an auspicious start. September 1, 1821, found Rieussec at the Champ-de-Mars in Paris - not as a race spectator come to watch the Arrondissement de la Seine race, but as a watchmaker testing a “chronometer intended to consistently measure the time horses take to travel the prescribed race distances - not only the winning horse, but also all those that cross the line after it.

In the minutes of its meeting held October 15, 1821, the French Academy of Sciences reports on Rieussec’s invention, which he had presented to them two weeks earlier and which was examined by two of its members, Breguet and Prony. As Rieussec later wrote to Comte Siméon, it was this prestigious company that was the first to call his invention the “Chronograph with Seconds Indicator.” The expression caught on to such a point that it replaced “chronometer” and “timer.” Then and for all time to come, the term became “Rieussec’s chronograph.” Having the Academy’s minutes is no small advantage. They provide a description of the chronograph and its operation that is among the most comprehensive in existence:

In summary, on October 14, 1821, Rieussec presented his invention to the Academy of Sciences, which christened it a chronograph. The term was particularly well chosen: chronograph comes from the Greek words chronos and graphin, which means “that which writes time”. This system works as follows: a nib places a black mark on the dial at the moment when the phenomenon being measured ends. So the user can read the duration of the phenomenon - a horse race or something else - on the dial thanks to the time written by the hand. The chronograph was born!

                                Improvements to Chronographs invented by Nicolas Rieussec - 1822

LONGINES

    Longines is a luxury watches house based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company is owned by the Swatch Group. Its winged hourglass logo is the oldest registered for a watchmaker.
Longines is known for its 'Aviators' watches. A company director was a friend of Charles Lindbergh; after his transatlantic flight, Lindbergh designed a pilot watch to help with air navigation. Built to his specifications, it is still produced today.
Longines provided timers used at the first modern day Olympics in 1892. In 1899, Longines went to the North Pole with Arctic explorer Louis Amédée de Savoie. It was the first to use automatic timekeeping for the Federal Gymnastics, at Basel in 1912. Today, Longines remains a widely recognized name in sport watches and chronographs.

 

A Longines self-winding watch with several horology complications - chronograph, moon phase, day, date and month display. 

      The Longines' story began in 1832, when Auguste Agassiz, brother of naturalist Louis Agassiz, found a job in the hamlet of Saint-Imier, joining Comptoir Horloger Raiguel Jeune (a trader of watch parts), in 1833 taking over the business when he and two of his associates set up a company named Comptoir Raiguel Jeue & Cie. The venture was run on the then-prevailing business model based on piecework by people making or processing watch parts in their own homes for the account of a jobber who delivered the blanks, or rough parts, and picked up and paid for the finished ones. The company soon found ways to market its timepieces.

Auguste Agassiz

        In 1866, Ernest Francillon purchased two adjoining plots of land at a place known as Les Longines (meaning "the long meadows" in the local dialect) on the right bank of the River Suze in the Saint-Imier valley. Here he built a factory, to gather the entire production under one roof.

        In 1880, on 19 July, the Longines brand and logo were registered at the Swiss Federal Office of Intellectual Property, now the World Intellectual Property Organisation. The company had by 1867 already adopted its Winged Hourglass symbol both as a mark of quality and as a defence against counterfeiting.

Albert Einstein and Longines were honorary guests at Antiquorum when the famous New York auction house sold a Longines watch that had belonged to the famous physicist Albert Einstein. The timepiece – an elegant gold model dating from 1929 – fetched for a total of USD 596,000, thus becoming the Longines watch that has fetched the highest price ever at auction. Watchmaking enthusiasts and the many admirers of Albert Einstein have been eagerly awaiting the sale of this historic timepiece. On 16 October 2008 in New York, Antiquorum auctioned a Longines gold watch dating from 1929 that had belonged to Albert Einstein and was probably given to the famous physicist in Los Angeles in 1931. Albert Einstein, whose discoveries revolutionised our perception of time, frequently wore this sober, elegant timepiece.

 Longines gradually built a special relationship with the world of sport. Present in Athens in 1896, the company has been closely associated with the worldwide development of sport, timing Olympic Games fourteen times, beginning with Oslo in 1952. Its partnership drove the company to devise a variety of inventions and developments enabling it to determine and display winning times.

                        Sabine Lisicki and Grigor Dimitrov, Longines Ambassadors

                               Longines, Roland Garros Official Timekeeper

                               Longines, Alpine World Cup Official Timekeeper


Longines Ambassadors

                     Indian Beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has superbly embodied the
                     Longines  slogan 'Elegance is an attitude' for more than ten years

              He is one of the most talented tennis player of his time and combines generosity 
              and elegance with his charity work through the Andre Agassi Foundation for
              Education

  The magnificent actress and Oscar-winner Kate Winslet joined the Longines family in 2010

                One of the most talented icons in women's tennis, Stefanie Graf shares
                with Longines the love of excellence, performance and elegance and
                devotes herself to her foundation 'Children for Tomorrow'

                  Simon Baker is a Longines Ambassador of Ellegance since 2012.
                  The Australian actor personifies the core values of Longines and
                  perfectly underlines the slogan 'Ellegance is an attitude'