Watch archives & heritage

Archives & heritage

THE WATCH FILES

Archives & heritage

In watchmaking, it’s difficult to talk about the present or even the future without bringing up the past. Our selection of articles on archives and heritage.

Will the real Haute Horlogerie please stand up (again)?

Will the real Haute Horlogerie please stand up (again)?

FEATURE

In the 1990s, the respected journalist and watch expert Pascal Brandt was a regular contributor to Europa Star. Three decades later, he’s back to review (...)

1933: The origins of Nivarox and Incabloc

1933: The origins of Nivarox and Incabloc

Two revolutionary technologies emerged nearly simultaneously in 1933. Nivarox and Incabloc addressed the key shortcomings of watches in daily use: accuracy (...)

Hunting Treasures: Zenith's Heritage Department

Hunting Treasures: Zenith’s Heritage Department

Zenith’s Manufacture in Le Locle holds many treasures: its staff, for one, its buildings, which have stood on the same ground since 1865, its collections, (...)

Olivier Laesser: the great escapement

Olivier Laesser: the great escapement

At the end of an unprecedented investigation, this doctor in horology has drawn a “family tree” of the escapement through the centuries, introducing some (...)

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1900-2000: A history of watch advertising

1900-2000: A history of watch advertising

A history of watch advertising: 1990-2000

A history of watch advertising: 1990-2000

A history of watch advertising: 1980-1989

A history of watch advertising: 1980-1989

A history of watch advertising: 1970-1979

A history of watch advertising: 1970-1979

A history of watch advertising: 1960-1969

A history of watch advertising: 1960-1969

A history of watch advertising: 1950-1959

A history of watch advertising: 1950-1959

A history of watch advertising: 1930-1939

A history of watch advertising: 1930-1939

A history of watch advertising: 1920-1929

A history of watch advertising: 1920-1929

A history of watch advertising: 1900-1919

A history of watch advertising: 1900-1919

The story of the Tissot Ping-Han Railway Watch

The story of the Tissot Ping-Han Railway Watch

Swiss watches for Chinese trains: the story of the Ping-Han Railway is fascinating in more ways than one. Its construction between the end of the 19th (...)

Becoming Chopard

Becoming Chopard

EUROPA STAR ARCHIVES

Chopard is one of the many “sleeping beauties” in the watch industry to have been stirred back to life, as illustrated by the Europa Star archives. This was (...)

Anarchists and watchmakers

Anarchists and watchmakers

Two recent events - Florian Eitel’s extensively researched publication, Le Vallon horloger et ses anarchistes, and Cyril Schäublin’s film Unrueh (Unrest) - (...)

From the archives: our first look at the Swatch

From the archives: our first look at the Swatch

ANNIVERSARY SERIES

It has often been said that the Swatch saved the Swiss watch industry, and March 1, 2023 marks 40 years since its introduction. Although this view is (...)

Louis Cottier's archives to be digitised

Louis Cottier’s archives to be digitised

The Watch Library Foundation (TWL) and the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Genève (MAH) have joined forces to digitise the watchmaking archives of Louis Cottier, (...)

A brief history of watch designers (which remains to be written)

A brief history of watch designers (which remains to be written)

CHRONICLE

The anniversary of the Royal Oak was the opportunity to celebrate Gérald Genta, not only for the creations he developed for numerous watchmakers but also (...)

Lang 1943: several decades in a single watch

Lang 1943: several decades in a single watch

Honouring the legacy of 1940s-born watchmaker Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, who founded the Chronoswiss brand in the 1980s, this new project relying on 1960s Marvin (...)

Reviving a watch brand: a risky venture

Before the 1970s, Switzerland was home to a record number of watch brands, many of which collapsed during the quartz crisis. Over the past twenty years, (...)

The second life of watch archives

The second life of watch archives

EDITORIAL

Just imagine: a new, horological Library of Alexandria, accessible at the click of a button to journalists, collectors, designers, historians and (...)

Looking back, to move forward

Looking back, to move forward

EDITORIAL

The act of digitising archives not only dusts them off and freshens them up; by cataloguing them digitally, with the help of artificial intelligence, it (...)

Debunking the Quartz Crisis

Debunking the Quartz Crisis

The distinction between vintage and modern is often drawn at the beginning of the 1980s, when nearly every Swiss watchmaking company failed. Although (...)