Armitron

Last updated
Armitron
Company type Family business
Industry Watch manufacturing
Founded1975;50 years ago (1975)
Headquarters Little Neck, New York
Key people
Eugen Gluck, Founder
OwnerBarbara Weichselbaum
Website www.armitron.com
An automatic Armitron watch. Automatic skeleton watch.jpg
An automatic Armitron watch.

Armitron is a watch brand manufactured by E. Gluck Corporation, headquartered in Little Neck, New York. [1] It was founded in 1975 by Eugen Gluck. As of 1999, Armitron had the fifth largest share of all watch purchasers, by brand, in the United States. [2]

Contents

History

At the time of Armitron's founding, E. Gluck Corporation (then E. Gluck Trading Company) was a subsidiary of Armin Corporation. It specialized in LED-powered, five-function (hour, minutes, second, day and date) digital watches. The Armitron brand name is a combination of “Armin” and “electronics”. Often using cases from Switzerland and bracelets from Hong Kong, Armitron originally used LED watch modules produced by Computed Time Corp. a subsidiary of Armin Corporation [3] in Arlington, Texas. [4] These watches were also sold under other Armin Corporation brands such as Quasar and Saturn Time Corp [4] . Computed Time Corp. later was spun off into Texas Time, Inc which was briefly used by Armitron for LCD watch modules from 1978 to 1979 before switching primarily to foreign manufacturers. [4]

In the late 1970s, E. Gluck Trading Company and Armin Corporation severed ties. E. Gluck Corporation became a privately held company and retained the Armitron brand. As watch technology evolved and LED technology became less practical, LCD (liquid crystal display) displays were integrated into Armitron watches. Combined with Japanese quartz movements, these LCD watches were extremely accurate and durable. Advanced functionality, such as alarms and chronographs were later incorporated to enhance the benefits of this precise timekeeper.

Through the 1980s, Armitron was widely identified by its connection with various professional sports teams and professional athletes. Jerry Rice, Boomer Esiason, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Larry Bird and others were endorsers of the brand. Armitron remains an Official Sponsor of the New York Yankees.

Today, Armitron continues to produce a range of quartz and automatic movement timepieces for men and women.

As of the 2021 season, Armitron is a clock sponsor at Yankee Stadium, [5] and for the original run of American Gladiators.

References

  1. ↑ Barmash, Isadore (November 17, 1991). "All About Watches". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  2. ↑ David W. Conklin, ed. (2006). Cases in the Environment of Business. Ivey Casebook Series. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. pp.  63. ISBN   1412914361.
  3. ↑ "N.L.R.B. v. Computed Time Corp". vLex. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
  4. 1 2 3 Burckhardt, Fred S. (Dec 1977). "FROM THE BEGINNING" (PDF). Horological Times. 1 (12): 47 – via American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute.
  5. ↑ Mike Vaccaro (2006). Emperors and Idiots. New York: Random House, Inc. p. 1. ISBN   0767919106.
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