arlier this year, while browsing the e-commerce site of Bucherer, a major watch and jewellery retailer, we noticed one name kept coming back: Löbner. Curious to find out more about this brand and its watches, we sent an email and – lo and behold! – received a reply from a well-known figure in watch circles: the Franco-Swiss designer Emmanuel Dietrich, at the head of his own label since 2012, who has collaborated with numerous watch brands over the course of his career and, as we learned, is involved in Löbner’s relaunch. He told us more about its singular history.

Emmanuel Dietrich, designer of Löbner watches.

Löbner was founded in Berlin in 1862 and brought back to life, since 2023, by a German investor and entrepreneur, Matthias Düwel. “Through Jandorf, his company, his angle is to develop a portfolio of German luxury brands, mostly names from the past, by aligning them with today’s consumers,” Emmanuel Dietrich explains. “He was inspired by the modern-day success of firms such as Rimowa and Birkenstock. The majority of Germany’s luxury brands disappeared after the Second World War.”

High-end ambitions

Jandorf Holding has acquired the rights to some sixty German brands with a glorious past, including suppliers to the Imperial court such as glassmaker Josephinenhütte, one of the names to have already been revived alongside Löbner. The holding, whose portfolio includes the Gerstenberger watch brand, is named after Adolf Jandorf (1870–1932), a celebrated German businessman and founder of the A. Jandorf & Co. department stores in Berlin and, in 1907, the legendary Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe), now Germany’s largest department store.

The founder, Franz Louis Löbner.

Paul Weiß (right) designed Löbner clocks for car racing circuits.

“I met Matthias Düwel through mutual friends,” says Dietrich, who is originally from Besançon. “He commissioned me to design all the new lines as well as manage production. His ambition was to position the brand with a first German steel luxury sports watch. Back then, we’d managed to locate a few historic models but hadn’t yet been able to consult all Löbner’s archives. The first step was therefore to rediscover its history, in large part thanks to an important collector of the brand in Germany.”

Speed king

As from the nineteenth century, Löbner specialised in the measurement of very short intervals (hundredths and thousandths of a second). The company was making Tertienzähler (stopwatches) as of 1881, as well as racecourse clocks and starting pistols, and gained a reputation in military, scientific and sporting spheres. “Löbner became successful thanks to its chronometers with three small counters and which ran at a very high frequency,” notes Emmanuel Dietrich. “By 1892 Löbner could measure thousandths of a second by means of an experimental electrical clock measuring three metres in diameter. Everything was assembled in the workshops in Berlin, with an interesting combination of mechanical and electrical.”

Löbner’s chronoscope, an electro-mechanical clock accurate to one thousandth of a second.

Löbner single-pusher chronograph with pulsometer scale and Minerva 19.09 movement.

Löbner Berlin chronometer with Junghans J29b movement.

In the first half of the twentieth century, led by the second generation of the founding family, Löbner timed prestigious car races, speed records (including, in the 1920s, one set by Baron Fritz von Opel at 256 kph), and even timed events at the Olympic Games. However, the brand didn’t survive the Second World War and the family line was lost in the meanders of history. “The only surviving pieces were the Löbner clocks at racecourses. After that, we were able to trace numerous other models through collectors, when the brand was relaunched.”

One of the famous Löbner Tertienzähler, the inspiration for the contemporary Steelracer.

The 21st-century models

In 2023 the brand presented its first contemporary line, the Steelracer, to commemorate Rudolf Caracciola’s 1938 record, on the A5 Autobahn at the wheel of a Mercedes, when Löbner timed him at 437 kph. “The first thing that catches the eye is the three counters, with no central hour and minute hands, in a nod to the brand’s past,” Emmanuel Dietrich points out. “The chronograph function is the centre of attention. It’s a chronograph that also gives the time! Another key feature is the patented “sledge” crown guard, which prevents the start-stop function from being accidentally triggered while adjusting the time. Also, I’m a big fan of the clean, structured lines of Bauhaus, and this would be another inspiration. We even chose a typeface, the 1926 Futura, from the Bauhaus movement.”

Steelracer Ice Tube.

Steelracer Rocketman.

Next came the Steelracer Rocketman, in honour of Fritz von Opel, with its racing vibes and sleek design, plus the Sledge, Löbner’s three-hand model that also features the patented crown protection. Production is very limited and prices are at the high end of the luxury sports watch market for steel, which is a particularly competitive segment, ranging from €8,600 for the Sledge with a La Joux-Perret movement, with customised oscillating weight and module, up to €14,800 for the Steelracer with a proprietary movement that was developed in Glashütte.

“Our aim is for maximum German quality,” says Dietrich. “The cases are made in Pforzheim, dials are produced by a specialist in the Black Forest. They’re all high-end, which explains our chosen price segment. Assembly is also in Pforzheim and the group is headquartered in Munich, although we haven’t ruled out one day returning to Berlin, Löbner’s birthplace.”

A special relationship with Bucherer

Currently, the brand is sold exclusively by Bucherer, in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France and the United States. The relationship was set up by Matthias Düwel just when the retailer – since acquired by Rolex – was preparing its Masterworks selection of haute horlogerie timepieces, often by independent makers such as Löbner. A segment such as this implies time spent by specialist teams to inform and educate customers. This is particularly true for a brand in the process of relaunching, whose history and specificities must be re-explained.

Sledge Green.

“We’re prospecting to build up our international presence,” Emmanuel Dietrich continues. “We took part in this year’s Time to Watches fair and are exploring mature markets such as Japan and Saudi Arabia. We’ll also be at the Windup Watch Fair, where we’ll be able to meet potential customers face-to-face.”

After Löbner, a project to revive Gerstenberger, named after a Glashütte watchmaker, is in the pipeline. But everything in its own time. To quote an old adage that’s especially true in watchmaking: more haste, less speed!