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All about the “Iconic Watches of Hollywood” auction

All about the “Iconic Watches of Hollywood” auction

VINTAGEMANIA

Pre-owned specialist Bob’s Watches presents its most notable vintage watch auction to date: “Fresh Finds – Iconic Watches of Hollywood”, which takes place (...)

A new edition of the best-selling “Guide To Complicated Watches”

A new edition of the best-selling “Guide To Complicated Watches”

BOOKS

Watchmakers all over the world agree that François Lecoultre’s reference book, first published in 1949, still helps them solve the problems they meet on an (...)

Andersen Genève: 40 years of creative independence

Andersen Genève: 40 years of creative independence

RETROSPECTIVE

In 2020, Andersen Genève launches a new jumping hours watch to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Thanks to our archives, we dive into the extraordinary career (...)

Can watchmaking avoid another tragic loss of heritage?

Can watchmaking avoid another tragic loss of heritage?

KNOW-HOW

Forty years ago, the quartz crisis caused havoc in the Swiss watch industry, leading to the destruction of many valuable documents in the ensuing economic (...)

Longines: the forgotten “first commercial quartz crystal watch”

Longines: the forgotten “first commercial quartz crystal watch”

HISTORY / GUEST COLUMN

On August 20, 1969, Longines convened the press in Geneva to announce the world’s first commercial quartz wristwatch. Known as the Ultra-Quartz, it was more (...)

WOLF: a family business story - in five chapters

WOLF: a family business story - in five chapters

RETROSPECTIVE

A family company that moves its headquarters to a different country with each new heir, for five generations? That’s WOLF! Founded in 1834 in Germany, the (...)

Walter von Känel and François Thiébaud: two “rocks” of Swiss watchmaking

Walter von Känel and François Thiébaud: two “rocks” of Swiss watchmaking

CROSSING PATHS

Who could have imagined, in early 2020, that we’d be where we are today? The pandemic crisis is accelerating change everywhere. Two “rocks” of the Swiss watch (...)

IWC's Da Vinci through the Europa Star archive

IWC’s Da Vinci through the Europa Star archive

GUEST COLUMN

A watch enthusiast and tech professional based in the US, Stephen Foskett has been one of our most avid readers since we’ve started publicising our (...)

A tribute to Peter Baumberger (1939-2010)

A tribute to Peter Baumberger (1939-2010)

HOMAGE

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of Peter Baumberger (Koppingen, 1939-Bienne, 2010), a brilliant watchmaker who invested his passion in (...)

Europa Star: a century of watch journalism

Europa Star: a century of watch journalism

A HISTORY OF RESILIENCE

We are entering the anniversary of the decade that saw the birth of the Europa Star publishing house, one century ago. It was during the Roaring Twenties, (...)

Cartier, jeweller of kings to luxury watchmaker

Cartier, jeweller of kings to luxury watchmaker

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Today, Cartier is one of the leading Swiss watch brands. Along with Rolex and Omega, it occupies the highly coveted segment of “accessible luxury”, i.e. (...)

The watch show that should inspire the future Geneva show

The watch show that should inspire the future Geneva show

RETROSPECTIVE

The project of a new world watch show in Geneva next April has been launched. Behind-the-scenes discussions are taking place to decide on its structure. (...)

1984: When Gerald Genta challenged the watchmaking establishment

1984: When Gerald Genta challenged the watchmaking establishment

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

The opening up of luxury watchmaking to contemporary creative horizons may have begun when Gerald Genta made a splash at the “Montres et Bijoux” exhibition (...)

Pandemics and horology

Pandemics and horology

ARCHIVES

In 1918, at the end of World War One, the Spanish flu pandemic strikes. It will go on to cause 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide. To save Swiss (...)

From Bulova to Omega: 50 years of lunar adventures

From Bulova to Omega: 50 years of lunar adventures

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Today, we tend to associate the conquest of space with the Omega Speedmaster – the only watch worn on the moon, as the Swatch Group manufacture emphasises (...)

2003: Horology hit by SARS (from our archives)

2003: Horology hit by SARS (from our archives)

CORONAVIRUS

The comparison is not 100% accurate, obviously. But we wanted to find in our archives the impact that the first pandemic of the 21st century, SARS, had on (...)

Time to reflect on the fate of the watch industry

Time to reflect on the fate of the watch industry

EUROPA STAR CLUB

Europa Star provides a unique resource to help you gain perspective on what is happening to the watch industry today, by looking through the lens of (...)

Treasures from Enicar's golden age

Treasures from Enicar’s golden age

The legendary Swiss watch company founded in 1913 comes to life again in a beautiful book by Dutchman Martijn van der Ven. The author used illustrations (...)

1950-2020: The voices of my ancestors... and mine

1950-2020: The voices of my ancestors... and mine

EDITORIAL

As wishes are in order for 2020, I succumbed to the temptation to look at what my predecessors had written as Europa Star entered each new decade since (...)

The saga of the Bivouac by Favre-Leuba

The saga of the Bivouac by Favre-Leuba

THROUGH THE LENS OF THE EUROPA STAR ARCHIVES

In August 1964, the great mountaineering pioneers Walter Bonatti and Michel Vaucher took four days to conquer the arduous, virgin North face of Whymper (...)