Dreffa

Last updated
Montres Dreffa SA
Type Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry Watchmaking
Founded1874
Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
Key people
Armand Dreyfus(founder)
Jacques Maguin (CEO)
Mark Haus (President)
Yehuda Fulda (Chairman)
Products Wristwatches
Parent TGX Holdings
Website Dreffa.com

Dreffa makes Swiss watches. The name is a trademark owned by TGX Holdings. [1]

Contents

History

In 1874 Armand Dreyffus established Dreffa in Genève, Switzerland as Montres Dreffa, SA. Montres meaning watches in French and Dreffa which was derived from his name DREyFFus A. [2] In 1924, Dreyffus sought to expand the market outside of Switzerland and the name was changed to Dreffa Watch Co, SA.

In 1946 Montres Dreffa, SA registered the name Dreffa Watch [3] in the United States and started selling its luxury watches in the USA under the Dreffa name. The logo was changed to include the word Genève. However, In 1975 during the quartz crisis Montres Dreffa, SA suffered along with hundreds of other Swiss watch companies and reduced production of its fine watches as the market for mechanical watches declined in favor of quartz movements. The factory was based at 30 Rue du Stand, Genève

In 1985 Jacques Maguin acquired the Dreffa brand and updated the logo to include a D with clock-hands inside at 10:10.

Collections

Watches include the triple-date moonphase chronograph, diamond- and jewel-embedded feminine watches, Dreffa Swiss 200 meter professional diver's ATM Watch, Dreffa Genève Swiss gold-plated classic men's watch, Dreffa 17-jewel 10-karat gold-plated bezel ladies' wristwatch and VTG 1950's Dreffa Genève YGF.

A Dreffa watch from the 60's-70's Dreffa-orologio.jpg
A Dreffa watch from the 60's-70's

Present Day

In 2014 TGX Holdings acquired the Dreffa brand trademark. Yehuda Fulda, Chairman of the Board of TGX Holdings, brought in Mark Haus to oversee operations. Besides manufacturing in Genève watches will be manufactured in Glashütte as well.

Related Research Articles

The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Swiss watchmaking industry.

Rolex Swiss luxury watch designer and manufacturer

Rolex SA is a luxury watch manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Originally founded as Wilsdorf and Davis by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, England in 1905, the company registered Rolex as the brand name of its watches in 1908, and became Rolex Watch Co. Ltd. in 1915. After World War I, the company moved its base of operations to Geneva due to the unfavorable economic situation in the post-war United Kingdom, and in 1920, Hans Wilsdorf registered Montres Rolex SA in Geneva as the new company name, which eventually became Rolex SA in later years. Since 1960, the company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a private family trust.

Seiko Japanese holding company

Seiko Holdings Corporation, commonly known as Seiko, is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelries, and optical products. Founded in 1881, it is known for introducing one of the world's first quartz wrist watches as well as the world's first quartz watch with a chronograph complication.

Bulova is an American watch brand founded in 1875, owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. It manufactures watches and clocks and is based in New York City.

Mace is the brand name of an early type of aerosol self-defense spray invented by Alan Lee Litman in the 1960s. The first commercial product of its type, Litman's design packaged phenacyl chloride (CN) tear gas dissolved in hydrocarbon solvents into a small aerosol spray can, usable in many environments and strong enough to act as a deterrent and incapacitant when sprayed in the face. Its popularity led to the name "mace" being used commonly for other defense sprays regardless of their composition, and for the term "maced" to be used to reference being pepper sprayed. It is unrelated to the spice mace.

Patek Philippe SA Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer

Patek Philippe SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded in 1839, located in Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. Since 1932, it has been owned by the Stern family in Switzerland. Patek Philippe is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted watchmaking history since its founding. It designs and manufactures timepieces as well as movements, including some of the most complicated mechanical watches. The company maintains over 400 retail locations globally and over a dozen distribution centers across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. In 2001, it opened the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.

Piaget SA

Piaget SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller. Founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget in the village of La Côte-aux-Fées, Piaget is currently a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont group.

Hamilton Watch Company Swiss watch manufacturer

The Hamilton Watch Company is a Swiss manufacturer of wristwatches based in Bienne, Switzerland. Founded in 1892 as an American company, Hamilton Watch Company ended American manufacture in 1969. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the Hamilton Watch Company eventually became integrated into the Swatch Group, the world's largest watch manufacturing and marketing conglomerate.

Frédérique Constant

Frédérique Constant SA is a Swiss manufacture of luxury wristwatches based in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. It was acquired in 2016 by Citizen Holdings of Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1988 by Peter Stas and Aletta Stas-Bax.

Counterfeit watch

A counterfeit watch is an unauthorised copy of an authentic watch. High-end luxury watches such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Richard Mille are frequently counterfeited and sold on city streets and online. With technological advancements, many non-luxury and inexpensive quartz watches are also commonly counterfeited.

Geneva Seal

The Geneva Seal (English), Poinçon de Genève (French), or Genfer Siegel (German) is the official seal of the City and Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. When a variation of the official seal is applied to wristwatch movements, the Geneva Seal is the quality seal of the Watchmaking School of Geneva and it has an official purpose as defined by the law.

Bovet Fleurier

Bovet Fleurier SA is a Swiss brand of luxury watchmakers chartered May 1, 1822 in London, U.K. by Édouard Bovet. It is most noted for its pocket watches manufactured for the Chinese market in the 19th century. Today it produces high-end artistic watches with a style that references its history. The company is known for its high-quality dials, engraving, and its seven-day tourbillon. The original Bovet watches were also among the first to emphasize the beauty of their movements with skeletonized views and highly decorative movements. Bovet watches were also among the first to include a second hand while the company has a tradition of employing women artisans, which is rare for traditional watch making companies in Europe. Pascal Raffy is the current owner.

Universal Genève SA is a Swiss luxury watch company, founded in 1894 as Universal Watch. Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements, and throughout the 20th century, distributed many notable and important timepieces. Along with neighboring Geneva companies Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, Patek Philippe and Rolex, Universal is internationally regarded for its style of craftsmanship and manufacture. In addition, the brand also makes historical claim for creating the first-ever chronographic wristwatch in 1917.

Glider, also known as WoWGlider or MMOGlider, was a bot created by MDY Industries, which interoperated with World of Warcraft. Glider automated and simplified actions by the user through the use of scripting to perform repetitive tasks while the user was away from the computer. This allowed the user to acquire in-game currency and level-ups of the character without being present to perform the required actions. As of 2008, it had sold approximately 100,000 copies. Glider was ultimately discontinued after a lawsuit was filed against MDY Industries by Blizzard Entertainment.

Era Watch Company

Montres Edox et Vista SA (EDOX) is a Swiss manufacture of luxury wristwatches that operates under the Era Watch Company. Christian Ruefli-Flury, a watchmaker originating from Grenchen, Switzerland, founded the company in 1884 in Biel/Bienne. Edox has remained in continuous production since their foundation.

Mathey-Tissot

Mathey-Tissot is a Swiss watch maker of prestige watches, originally established in the late 19th century by Edmond Mathey-Tissot at Les Ponts-de-Martel in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

Squale Watches

Squale is a small Swiss watch brand founded in 1946 by von Büren S.A./Montres, specializing in professional diving watches. Today, Squale is owned by the Maggi Family, who had previously been distributors of von Büren/Squale watches in Italy.

Wacoal A manufacturer of womens lingerie and underwear

Wacoal is a manufacturer of women's lingerie and underwear, founded in 1949 in Japan by Koichi Tsukamoto. The company has divisions in North America and Europe, and manufactures the brands Wacoal, b.tempt'd, Elomi, Eveden, Fantasie, Freya, Lively, and Goddess.

Montres CIMIER SA is an independent Swiss watch manufacturer whose headquarters is in Biel, Switzerland. CIMIER produces mechanical watches as well as quartz watches.

Tudor Watches Swiss luxury wristwatch manufacturer

Montres TUDOR SA is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury wristwatches based in Geneva. Registered in 1926 by Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex SA, the brand remains a sister company to Rolex, both companies being owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation. Over time Tudor became especially well known for its tool watches, producing watches for professional divers and the military. Between the 1960s and 1980s several navies issued Tudor Submariners to their divers, including the US Navy SEALs, and the French Marine Nationale.

References

  1. "Trademark Status & Document Retrieval". tsdr.uspto.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  2. "The smaller watch brands: Dreffa · Watch Blog". Vintage Watches by SomeTimeAgo. 2016-01-20. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  3. "Trademark Status & Document Retrieval". tsdr.uspto.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-16.

(Resourced from NAWCC Message Board [ permanent dead link ])