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.

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 (...)

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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 (...)

Launch of The Watch Library Foundation

Launch of The Watch Library Foundation

HERITAGE

The mission of The Watch Library Foundation is to digitise and make accessible hundreds of thousands of pages and documents of watchmaking heritage, in (...)

The second life of Zenith's legendary 135-O calibre

The second life of Zenith’s legendary 135-O calibre

INTERVIEW

On June 2, Zenith launched ten chronometers powered by the famous Calibre 135-O produced between 1949 and 1962, the most garlanded movement in observatory (...)

Watchmaking in 1927: major structural changes

Watchmaking in 1927: major structural changes

95th ANNIVERSARY

During the ‘Roaring Twenties’ the global watch industry was growing rapidly. Nearly one in two watches produced around the world came from a Swiss factory. (...)

When watchmakers face political risk: selling watches in the USSR

When watchmakers face political risk: selling watches in the USSR

HISTORY

Political risk has always been an issue for multinational companies in certain countries, as the recent closure of luxury stores in Russia shows. This is (...)

“Improving confidence in buying vintage Heuer”

“Improving confidence in buying vintage Heuer”

INTERVIEW

Nicholas Biebuyck is the new Heritage Director at TAG Heuer, a brand that is working on leveraging its long history, a key priority since its partnership (...)

UNESCO: a new starting point for watchmaking

UNESCO: a new starting point for watchmaking

OPINION

In December 2020, UNESCO added the “craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics” to its representative list of the intangible cultural heritage (...)

New watch archives online (1936-2021)

New watch archives online (1936-2021)

EUROPA STAR

If you have a subscription to our digital archives, you may have noticed that we have now uploaded new sets of issues going back as far as the 1930s: more (...)

Watchmaking now on UNESCO's world heritage list

Watchmaking now on UNESCO’s world heritage list

HERITAGE

UNESCO has registered the craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of (...)

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 (...)

A book on the most beautiful watch dials

A book on the most beautiful watch dials

LIBRARY

There are innumerable books devoted to watchmaking, but as astonishing as it may seem, until now there was no work, no comprehensive survey focused (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Secret Gérald Genta designs soon to be revealed

Secret Gérald Genta designs soon to be revealed

EXCLUSIVE

From the Nautilus to the Royal Oak, the most celebrated designer left behind not only a long list of iconic watches, but some 3400 unseen designs. We find (...)

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 (...)