Sandoz is a Swisswatchbrand, originally established in the late 19th century by Henri Sandoz near Tavannes, Switzerland. There are now many variations of the Sandoz name which are used by at least four different companies around the world.
A 1968 magazine ad of Sandoz watches in Persian, Zan-e Rooz.
Henri Frédéric Sandoz (sometimes Frédéric Henri Sandoz), born in 1851,[1] was a self-made man of Le Locle who in the 1870s founded Henri Sandoz & Cie., later producing complicated watches under the name of Cyma. In 1890, in partnership with two families named Schwob, Sandoz established a watchmaking firm at Malleray, near Tavannes, in the French-speaking Bernese Jura of Switzerland.[2] Their new business was known as Tavannes Watch Co.[3] By the time of the death of Sandoz on 18 March 1913, many watches were made under the name of Henri Sandoz & Fils. The enterprise occupied a 'model factory' employing one thousand workers and producing 2,500 watches a day.[4] Sandoz was reported to have a paternalistic policy towards his workforce, exercising a fierce social control.[5][6]
Other names used by the Tavannes company at various times include Tavannes-Cyma, Bijou Watch Co., Tacy Watch Co., and Lisca. After the death of Sandoz, the company he founded went on growing. By 1938, it was manufacturing four thousand items a day.[7]
Present day
Since 1971 the Sandoz brand name has been split into four main areas of production, due to its licences being leased or sold. This has led to four separate brands, Sandoz Singapore, Sandoz Hong Kong, Sandoz Swiss, and Sandoz Spain (Munreco). All of these produce watches under the Sandoz name, but each production company has its own line of products. Sandoz Swiss manufactures high quality watches, while Sandoz Hong Kong and Sandoz Singapore manufacture cheaper watches of lower quality. [citation needed] Sandoz Hong Kong products are assembled in Hong Kong using Swiss movements from ETA SA.[8]
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.
TissotSA is a Swiss watch brand owned by the Swatch Group. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853.
Wenger was a Swiss cutlery manufacturer that exists today as a brand of once-rival Victorinox, used for knives, watches and licensed products. Founded in 1893, it was best known as one of two companies to manufacture Swiss Army knives. Based in Delémont, Wenger was acquired in 2005 by Victorinox and partially absorbed. Since 2013 Wenger Swiss Army knives have been integrated in the Victorinox collection as the "Delémont collection".
In horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement to increase accuracy. Conceived by the British watchmaker and inventor John Arnold, it was developed by his friend the Swiss-French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet and patented by Breguet on 26 June 1801. In a tourbillon the escapement and balance wheel are mounted in a rotating cage, with the goal of eliminating errors of poise in the balance giving a uniform weight.
Baume & Mercier is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1830. It is a subsidiary of the Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont.
Ulysse NardinSA is a Swiss luxury watchmaking company founded in 1846 in Le Locle, Switzerland.
Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. is an electronics company primarily known for its watches and is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Nishitokyo, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Citizen brand watches, it is the parent of American watch company Bulova, and is also known for manufacturing small electronic devices such as calculators.
Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines, is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predecessors since 1983. Its winged hourglass logo, registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged active trademark registered with WIPO.
Swiss made is a label or marking used to indicate that a product was made on the territory of Switzerland. It is also a geographical indication protected under different Swiss and international laws and treaties. According to the Swiss Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source, a good or service may be designated "Swiss made" if:
Ernest Borel is a watch manufacturer founded in 1856 in Neuchatel, Switzerland. They have traditionally focused on export markets outside Europe and won several awards in the late 19th century, including first place in the 1866 Neuchatel observatory timing accuracy competition. This was viewed by the company as an important marketing strategy for increasing the brand's value, since the Neuchatel observatory was famed at the time for its timekeeping accuracy.
Georges Frederic Roskopf, the inventor of the pin-pallet escapement, was born in Germany and became a naturalized Swiss citizen.
Bovet Fleurier SA is a Swiss brand of luxury watchmakers chartered 1 May 1822 in London, UK 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. It is a subsidiary of Breitling SA. Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements. Along with neighboring Geneva companies Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, Patek Philippe and Rolex, Universal is internationally regarded for its style of craftsmanship as a manufacture d'horlogerie. Universal Genève is known for creating the first-ever chronograph in 1917.
Léon Louis Gallet (1832–1899), watchmaker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and past family patriarch of the Gallet Watch Company of Switzerland, is considered as one of the primary architects and founders of the 19th century industrialization of the Swiss watchmaking industry.
Gallet (ˈgæl.eɪ) is a historic Swiss manufacturer of high-end timepieces for professional, military, sports, racing, and aviation use. Gallet is the world's oldest clock making house with history dating back to Humbertus Gallet, a clock maker who became a citizen of Geneva in 1466. It is one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the World. The Gallet & Cie name was officially registered by Julien Gallet (1806–1849) in 1826, who moved the family business from Geneva to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Prior to this date, operations commenced under the name of each of the Gallet family patriarchs.
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.
Cyma SA is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury wristwatches, founded by brothers Joseph and Theodore Schwob in 1862. By 1908, Cyma was advertising the resilience of their timepieces when exposed to electricity, magnetism and varying temperatures. The company is currently owned by Stelux International, Ltd. a Hong Kong-based holdings firm which invests primarily in fine jewellery and watches, and is overseen by fellow Fédération de L'industrie Horlogère Suisse member Universal Genève.
Solvil et Titus is a formerly Swiss, now Hong-Kong watch company and brand, founded in 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Switzerland by Paul Ditisheim and developed by Paul Bernard Vogel.
Patria Watch Co or simply Patria, is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Bienne, Switzerland, founded in 1892 by Louis Brandt et Frère. Patria manufactured military trench watches which were used extensively in The First World War between 1914 and 1918 and manufactured premium watches to this day in Switzerland. Patria shares a common founder, Louis Brandt et Frère with Omega SA. Patria began making watches again in the last decade, these watches being manufactured and produced in Switzerland, Patria is considered a premium watch brand
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