Wittnauer

A. Wittnauer Company
Type	Currently a brand of Bulova
Industry	Watch and clockmaking
Predecessor	E. Robert & Co
Founded	NY, U.S. (1885)
Founder	Albert Wittnauer
Headquarters	New Rochelle, New York, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Martha Wittnauer, CEO
Products	Wittnauer, Wittnauer AllProof, watches, clocks
Website	Wittnauer.com

Last updated August 26, 2023

Wittnauer is a watch and clock company, founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1885 by Swiss immigrant Albert Wittnauer, that is now a brand of the Bulova company, which is owned by Japanese conglomerate Citizen Watch Co.

History

Albert Wittnauer was a Swiss immigrant who arrived in New York City in 1872 at the age of 16, and was employed by his brother-in-law, Eugene Robert, an importer of Swiss watches. He began working for his brother-in-law, Eugene Robert. Albert Wittnauer felt there was a market in America for a lower priced Swiss made watch.^[1]

Importing Swiss watches got expensive due to the heavy taxes placed on them so Wittnauer came up with an idea for reducing the expense without losing the quality. The watches could be produced by a subsidiary of their own in Switzerland or they could assemble the watches domestically.^[2]

The first Wittnauer's watch line was crafted starting from 1880, but the Wittnauer brand was formally established 1888 when Wittnauer took over Eugene Robert’s company and renamed it the "A. Wittnauer Company".^[3] Wittnauer movements were at the beginning generally made for them by Swiss firms (Revue Thommen and others), while in later years Wittnauer used a number of different sources for their movements. The company began as a small family business, catering to the ever-growing world of both scientific and private exploration, which gained them a reputation for use by those who needed reliability: navigators, explorers, and astronomers.^[1]

The A. Wittnauer Co. became further involved with the United States Navy for early tests in the budding fields of aviation and navigation. Of the Wittnauer Company and products, horologist Marvin E. Whitney wrote: "No one company has been more involved in the design and production of so many different types of navigational timepieces and been involved in so many history making expeditions...".^[4]

In the following years, Wittnauer Co. steadily grew and moved to the New York center. During the 20th century, it also bought a production plant in Puerto Rico.^[5] When the last Wittnauer brother died in 1916, their sister Martha Wittnauer, became the first woman watchmaker CEO.^{[ citation needed ]}

During World War I Wittnauer produced instruments and watches for the early aviation units.^[1] The most famous model was probably the Wittnauer AllProof, produced for the first time in 1918, and one of the first all proof models ever used by daredevil Jimmie Mattern in his 1933 attempt to fly around the world in his Vega 5B, "Old Cromwell", and by Neil Armstrong during the Gemini 8 mission.^[6]^[7] In 1926, the NBC selected Wittnauer Company to provide the official timing for its radio broadcasting.^[1]

On May 20–21, 1932 Amelia Earhart made the first solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic with her Lockheed Vega-5B equipped with Wittnauer instruments.^[1] Wittnauer products were widely used in scientific expeditions and exploration,^[1] and was - with Longines movements - one of three contenders for the first mission on the moon along with Omega Speedmaster and Rolex Daytona.^{[ citation needed ]}

During World War 2, Wittnauer started its major production line of compasses, used by soldiers and aviators during combat. These compasses were produced on a large scale and often had the letters US imprinted on the front of their case. To show their brand name, the name Wittnauer was usually placed on the face of the compass, in line with the large "S" (South) on the face. Wittnauer's long history with watch manufacturing and case manufacturing expedited their speed and precision with which their compasses were made. Furthermore, Wittnauer had previously attained a good relationship with the U.S. military, and was permitted to produce such compasses. These compasses vary in value, but trend at around 30-300 USD, or more with additional pieces such as original boxes or paperwork.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1950 the Swiss company Longines bought Wittnauer, and marketed some very similar lines of watches under both brand names, maintaining separate factories.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1957, Wittnauer announced a line of 14 cameras with lenses and accessories. These included the CineTwin, a combination 8mm movie camera and projector, as well as many still cameras with Wittnauer branding. Most of them were manufactured in Germany by Braun, while the Wittnauer Festival model was made by Bolsey. Wittnauer sold cameras until about 1963.^{[ citation needed ]}

Recent history

In 1995 Swatch broke the 125-year collaboration between Longines and Wittnauer and took over the Longines distribution.^[5] The Wittnauer Company retained its reputation for most of the 20th century. After some budget problems, it was eventually bought by Bulova for $11.6 million in September 2001.^[5]

Bulova launched a new 'Nightlife' range of fashion watches under the Wittnauer brand.^{[ citation needed ]}

Related Research Articles

A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or other type of bracelet, including metal bands, leather straps, or any other kind of bracelet. A pocket watch is designed for a person to carry in a pocket, often attached to a chain.

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.

Timex Group USA, Inc. is an American global watch manufacturing company founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company became insolvent but was reformed into Timex Corporation. In 2008, the company was acquired by Timex Group B.V. and was renamed Timex Group USA.

Seiko Group Corporation, commonly known as Seiko, is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969.

Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York City.

Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1903, the company formerly operated as La Generale Watch Co. until incorporating the name Omega in 1903, becoming Louis Brandt et Frère-Omega Watch & Co. In 1984, the company officially changed its name to Omega SA and opened its museum in Biel/Bienne to the public. Omega is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group.

Maurice Lacroix is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in the Canton of Jura and headquartered in Zürich.

The Hamilton Watch Company is a Swiss manufacturer of wristwatches based in Bienne, Switzerland. Founded in 1892 as an American firm, the 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.

Poljot, is a brand of Soviet/Russian wristwatches, produced since 1964 by the First Moscow Watch Factory. The flagship brand of the USSR's watch industry, Poljot produced numerous historical watches used in many important space missions, including the world's first space watch worn by Yuri Gagarin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizen Watch</span> Core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Tokyo, Japan

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.

The quartz crisis was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world. It caused a significant decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of the world's watch production shifted to Japanese companies such as Seiko, Citizen, and Casio which embraced the new electronic technology.

Miyota is a brand of mechanical and quartz watch movements manufactured by Citizen Watch Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (CWMJ), a subsidiary of Citizen Watch.

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. 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.

Antiquorum is an auctioneer of modern and vintage timepieces. Established in Geneva in 1974, Antiquorum was the first auction house to auction fine watches over the Internet in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrington Griffiths Watch Company</span>

The Barrington Griffiths Watch Company, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a designer and manufacturer of limited edition wristwatches using recycled Swiss movements. The design of their Modern Classic watch was inspired by the 1940s mechanical movement used in its construction. The Barrington Griffiths Watch Company is one of only a few companies making wristwatches in Canada. Although they use movements of Swiss origin, the components of the case are made in Canada, and the watch itself is assembled in Canada, satisfying the Canadian Competition Bureau's requirements for a "Made in Canada" product.

Favre-Leuba is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury wristwatches headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, and formerly a pioneer in watch design, manufacturing and distribution. The foundation of the brand was laid in 1737 when Abraham Favre was registered as a watchmaker, so it has been reported as the second-oldest watch brand in Switzerland, after Blancpain (1735).

Arcadia Watches is a Swiss brand of luxury watches established in 1858. In 1968 the brand ceased following a decline caused by the introduction of quartz movements. It was relaunched in 2007 by Claude Sanz, owner and President of Maison Bunter based in Geneva, and the first new Arcadia watch, the AC01, entered the market in 2010.

US military watches are watches that are issued to US military personnel.

The Omega Electroquartz was introduced in 1969 as the first production Swiss quartz watch. It was the collaboration of 20 Swiss watch companies and the movement was utilised by Rolex, Patek Phillipe and Omega amongst others. The Beta 21 movement used in the Electroquartz was accurate to 5 seconds per month, far better than any automatic or manual wind movement of the day.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 board (21 December 2009). "The History of Wittnauer". sonartist.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013.
↑ "Wittnauer Vintage Watches: History & Iconic Models | Vintage Watch Inc". vintagewatchinc.com. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
↑ "Wittnauer Vintage Watches: History & Iconic Models | Vintage Watch Inc". vintagewatchinc.com. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
↑ Reyne Haines, Vintage Wristwatches, Krause Publications, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4402-0409-8, page 237
1 2 3 William George Shuster, Wittnauer Bought by Bulova; Sector Group Sold, Restructured , JCK, 2001
↑ Norma Buchanan, The Watch Buff's Book of Trivia, Watch Buff Books, 2005, ISBN 978-0977251209
↑ Life Magazine, 8 April 1966, page 87, ("Neil wore the watch that a wonderful guy called Jimmy Mattern [...] had worn when he attempted the first solo around-the-world flight in 1933. Jimmy's Lockheed Vega 5B, "Old Cromwell" had a frozen oil line and cracked up in Siberia, so we decided to make sure the watch went all the way round the world this time" [...] "It was almost 11 hours since liftoff, and Jimmy Mattern's old wristwatch was still keeping good time")

External links

William George Shuster, Wittnauer Bought by Bulova; Sector Group Sold, Restructured , JCK, 2001