Movado
Movado began as a Swiss watch manufacturer before moving to America and becoming a watch and lifestyle products group.
The foundation of the watch company Ditesheim
In 1881 Achille Ditesheim, together with six watchmakers, founded a workshop for the production of pocket watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1886 the brothers Léopold and Isidore Ditesheim joined the firm. The company was now called L.A.I. Ditesheim. L.A.I. Ditesheim began with the development of wristwatches at about 1900.
In 1905 a new production facility was built and "Movado" (Esperanto: always in motion) was registered as a company name. At this point Movado officially became a manufacture, producing its own watch movements in-house. In 1912 Movado brought the Polyplan to market; in 1926 followed the case watch Ermeto. In 1924 the first U.S. agency of Movado was opened in New York. Movado made a large number of different calendar watches, mostly with gold casing.
Movado entered the chronograph market in the 1930s with its own movement, produced with the assistance of Les Fils de Louis-Elysée Piguet in Le Brassus. These 12 ligne movements first appeared in 1938 as Cal. 90 M with 60 minute counter, with Cal. 95 M adding a 12 hour counter the following year. They are modular movements, with the chronograph plate mounted on a conventional watch movement. Movado launched a counter-less chronograph in 1941, based on their compact 10.25 ligne Cal. 470. It was part of a trend of stopwatch chronographs at that time, and the column wheel Cal. 478 was more advanced and well finished than most. It was used in higher-end watches, often with of a pulsometric scale for doctors and nurses.
In 1960, the Museum Watch debuted in limited production. It was a standard model in 1965 and soon became a lasting symbol of the company. Today, the distinctive dial of the Museum Watch is the symbol of the company.
Due to the cooperation with Zenith the head office was moved to Le Locle in 1971.
The Movado Group, Inc.
- See Also: Movado Group
In 1983 Movado came to the american Movado Group, Inc., with headquarters in Paramus, USA. End of 2003 it also took over the renowned manufacturers Ebel. The brand Concord became also part of this group.
Literature
- The Movado History; Author: Fritz von Osterhausen; ISBN 3766712098 or ISBN 978-3766712097