Unitas
- See Also: A. Reymond
Unitas was a Swiss ebauche movement manufacturer established in 1898, joining Ebauches SA in 1932, and currently part of the Swatch Group's ETA division.
History
Auguste Reymond established his namesake watch company in 1898 in Tramelan. Like most watchmakers at the time, he used movements from a variety of producers before beginning ebauche production on his own around 1906. Movement production began in Les Bioux (home of Valjoux) but was moved to Tramelan soon after. Reymond purchased the existing Unitas Watch Company in 1926 and used that name on his ebauches, movements, and some complete watches.
Reymond built a landmark factory at Rue du Midi 13 in Tramelan-Dessus in 1903. This building, located on the railroad line, remained the home of the company through the 20th century and retains the names, ARSA, UNITAS, and A. Reymond SA to this day.
In 1932, Reymond and Unitas came under the ASUAG umbrella, with the Unitas ebauche operation falling under Ebauches SA. The Unitas trademark stamp, a letter "T" inside a letter "U" was established at this time.
In the 1950's, Unitas released two famous pocket watch movements, calibres 6497 and 6498. These large (19 ligne) hand-wound movements would continue in production until the present under the ETA banner.
Weblinks
- Otto Frei: Unitas watch movements, Oakland