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Hugo Buchser and the origins of Europa Star

RETROSPECTIVE

January 2017


Hugo Buchser and the origins of Europa Star
A

company finds its origins in the innovative ideas of its founder, even if they are at first considered illusory. It’s about going to places where nobody has had the time, the courage or simply the spirit to invest. It’s about facing up to the feeble and jealous adversity of one’s peers. But it’s also about building up a team, choosing the right people and appreciating their work.

Serge Maillard, Publisher Europa Star
Serge Maillard, Publisher Europa Star

Having followed international developments in the watchmaking, jewellery and machine industries for 90 years, Europa Star is no exception to this rule. Hugo Buchser, the founder of the group, developed the conviction, through his travels to the four corners of the Earth, that these industries needed to be opened up to the world’s markets by distributing information about them. From the 1930s his buyers’ and machine guides, and later his magazines published from South America to the Far East, opened up new global trade routes. A company’s longevity is the best proof of the success of its founder’s original ideas. Under the stewardship of the same family since 1927 and distributed today in more than 170 countries, Europa Star remains loyal to the spirit of Hugo Buchser, some fifty years after his death.

This article traces the origins of the Europa Star publications by writing the story of its founder. Knowing his past allows us to look to the future with confidence. Europa Star continues to innovate in 2017 with a brand new magazine’s layout and a brand new website, in order to pursue an idea that has already proved itself. That idea is to show the value of the expertise that places time and beauty at the centre of our world.