vend Andersen, 83, is among those who, even in watchmaking’s darkest hours, remained faithful to their craft and, in doing so, helped pave the way for the success now enjoyed by independent watchmaking around the world.

After training in his native Denmark, homeland of the Jürgensen watchmaking dynasty, at the age of 21, Svend Andersen moved to Switzerland, where he worked for various retailers (read more of his story here). He found fame in 1969 when he showed his ingenious Bottle Clock — which is exactly that: a clock assembled inside a bottle that defies the laws of physics — at the Montres et Bijoux fair in Geneva. It earned him a reputation as a man capable of the impossible and brought him to the attention of Patek Philippe, who hired him for its Grandes Complications workshop.

He stayed there for nine years, at the best school, before striking out and opening Andersen Genève in 1980 (the company, now helmed by Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann, turns 45 this year). His modus operandi was that of the great masters and artisanal luxury, crafting complication watches, almost all custom-made, which he delivered directly to their owner. This bespoke method meant that Andersen’s watches were rarely in the public eye, until the 1990s and the launch of the series for which he became known.

The worldtimer put Svend Andersen on the horological map in the early 1990s. Shown here, in Europa Star in 1992, the Christopher Columbus.

©Archives Europa Star 1992

Svend Andersen follows in the footsteps of watchmaking’s “founding fathers”, adapting their inventions to wristwatches: an à tact watch descended from that of Abraham-Louis Breguet, worldtimers based on the system developed by Louis Cottier, and a mechanical secular perpetual calendar that adjusts for secular leap years for 400 years. Restraint, efficiency and elegance (not to mention a dash of humour) over showiness and elaborate designs: there is still a good amount of Danish philosophy in Andersen’s mechanical tales.

©Archives Europa Star 1992

©Archives Europa Star 1995

Features on Svend Andersen from Europa Star in the 1990s. Top to bottom: the Perpetual 2000 in platinum, the extra-thin Mundus worldtimer and the secular perpetual calendar.

©Archives Europa Star 1996

Many of the next generations of watchmakers would pass through his workshop. The likes of Franck Muller (who worked alongside him for seven years), Nicolas Commergnat, Felix Baumgartner, Sébastien Billières, Roland Gloor and Philippe Cantin. He was the first to order cases from Jean-Pierre Hagmann. He lent Osvaldo Patrizzi a hand at Antiquorum and, alongside Vincent Calabrese, co-founded the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI), which celebrates its 40^th anniversary in 2025. Always approachable, Svend Andersen stands as a mentor for the emerging independent watch scene.

©Archives Europa Star 2021

©Archives Europa Star 2021

Pierre Maillard’s profile of Svend Andersen as a guiding figure for the contemporary independent watch scene, published in Europa Star in 2021.

©Archives Europa Star 2021

A smooth handover

When in 2015 the time came for Svend Andersen to hand over the reins of his workshop (none of his children wished to take up the mantle), he commissioned Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann to help find a buyer. An EPFL engineering graduate and watch lover, Zurich-based Aeschlimann specialised in watch industry mergers and acquisitions. He would end up buying the company himself.

A special jumping hours model for Andersen Genève’s 40th anniversary in 2020.

©Archives Europa Star 2020

“We had a lot of investor interest and an offer was made but ultimately withdrawn,” Aeschlimann recalls. “Through talking with Svend, and as a watch lover myself, we struck up a friendship. That’s when I put in an offer to buy the company. It was the natural thing to do, continuing and respecting everything Svend had achieved.”

The Tempus Terrae 25th Anniversary, in Europa Star in 2018.

©Archives Europa Star 2018

Svend Andersen is still very much involved in the business, welcoming collectors and journalists from around the world, and carrying out some servicing. “Our first project, in 2015, was the Tempus Terrae for the 25^th anniversary of the emblematic worldtime model,” Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann says.

Three limited editions, three continents

Ten years on, for the brand’s 45^th anniversary and 35 years after that original worldtimer, Andersen Genève presents the Communication 45 — three ultra-limited anniversary editions of 15 pieces each, one showing Europe, another displaying the Americas and a third Asia. This is not a cut-and-paste version of the 1990 original (a small 32mm diameter). The thick bezel has disappeared to make way for a slimmer, more elegant profile, despite the larger 38mm size.

Andersen Genève marks its 45th anniversary with the Communication 45, a limited edition that celebrates the worldtimer’s importance for the brand (top, shown next to the original from 1990). Since its creation, the worldtime module has been constantly refined and now measures just 0.9mm thick. Like the dial, the oscillating weight is 21k BlueGold in a cognac shade. The contrast with the frosted texture of the bridges and plates highlights the chamfering.

“We went to a lot of trouble to find the ‘perfect’ shape for the lugs: a teardrop when viewed from the front but horned from the side,” emphasises Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann. “Dials are crafted in 21k BlueGold. After the tapisserie-style guilloché, the dial is heated to achieve the desired cognac shade. Creating the landmasses from liquid gold was another challenge. You can imagine the difficulty even an experienced artisan had in depicting Sardinia and Corsica!”

A case made entirely in-house

Scheduled for delivery in 2026, these models are the first whose case is made entirely at the brand’s workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds — its second address, since 2022, alongside its historic home in Geneva’s Seujet district. “Master casemaker Marco Poluzzi, who at 83 is the same age as Svend, helped us bring production in-house and train our watchmakers. We employ two watchmakers and an engineer in La Chaux-de-Fonds and three watchmakers in Geneva… plus Svend of course! We consult him on all projects. In fact he’s often the one who comes up with the best name for some of the models.”

The company, which now has workshops in Geneva and La Chaux-de-Fonds, recently brought casemaking in-house, under the supervision of a specialist with decades of experience.

Every one of the movement’s finishes and decorations is meticulously executed, from the chamfered bridges to the crown wheel’s polished teeth and the mirror-polished screws. “Watchmakers like to develop, make and case a piece themselves, which is what they do here. In 45 years, we have produced fewer than 1,500 watches and that includes over a hundred pièces uniques. We’ve made almost every complication there is, whether that’s automata, an alarm function, a secular perpetual calendar, a minute repeater or a split-seconds chronograph. Everything except the tourbillon, a principle of Svend’s. None of our watches are cased in steel and none are time-only. The simplest models in our collections, if we can call them that, are the worldtimer and the jumping hours. Then we’re straight into grandes complications.”

The brand works directly with collectors, rarely through retailers, with a handful of exceptions such as limited editions made for Asprey in London and Japan, and for Ole Mathiesen in Copenhagen. “I don’t sell a brand that makes watches. I sell a watch that has a brand,” insists Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann, tireless in his role as Andersen Genève’s number-one travelling salesman. “We show our watches on wrists, not in retailers’ windows.”

The number of watches leaving the Andersen Genève workshops remains low: in the region of 50 pieces a year. Prices start at around CHF 50,000 for a worldtimer or a jumping hour. “Producing around 50 watches per year poses challenges: waiting lists are long, and each custom order requires months of dialogue with customers,” explains Pierre-Alexandre Aeschlimann.

He adds: “Since 2018-2019, we’ve enjoyed strong and constant growth, to the point that we are having to work especially hard to meet delivery times, which are currently between nine and 12 months. We had to put the brand back on the radar by not limiting production to bespoke. This has paid off although deep down, I would love to make 100 watches a year, 99 of which would be pièces uniques!”