Oscar Herzog

Oscar Herzog-Christian (1885?-1982 was the manager of Oris, taking over from his brother in law Georges Christian in 1927 and continuing through his retirement in the 1970s. He was unrelated to Ulrich Herzog, who took over the firm in 1982.

Oscar Herzog was born about 1885. He lived most of his life in Hölstein, marrying Sophie Christian (1887?-1973). He went to work for the watchmaking firm of his brother in law Georges Christian in 1918. Following the sudden death of Georges Christian in 1927, Oscar was selected to lead the company under the direction of a board made up of Georges' widow Emilie along with friends of the family, including famed watchmaker Jacques-David LeCoultre.

Herzog lead the firm, known as Oris, through the watchmaking crisis of the 1930s and World War II. In the 1950s he resisted the control of the Swiss cartel, hiring young lawyer Rolf Portmann in 1956 to break the monopoly on Swiss lever movements. Oris was ultimately successful and was able to produce lever movements by the time of their rise to be one of the top-10 Swiss watchmaking companies in the 1970s.

Oris was a leading producer of Roskopf watches in the 20th century and Herzog was very involved in the Association Suisse des Industriels de la Montre Roskopf. He represented Oris on the committee along with Max Huber, Adolphe Schild of Ebauches Bettlach, Arnold Bader of Bader et Hafner, Paul Glocker of Ebosa, Robert Haas of Sindaco, Adolphe Thommen of Basis Watch, and Ernest Triebold of Amida.

The elder Herzog turned the company over to ASUAG in 1970, retiring soon after. His wife Sophie Herzog-Christian died in 1973. But Rolf Portmann and Ulrich Herzog took over Oris from ASUAG in 1982, leading a renaissance in mechanical watchmaking.

Oscar Herzog died in 1992 at the age of 98. He was survived by many children and grandchildren.