Ebel was founded in 1911 by husband and wife team Eugène Blum and Alice Lévy in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The brand was amed after the first letters of their names, “Eugène Blum et Lévy”. Their son Charles helped expand the brand internationally, while grandson Pierre-Alain further raised the company’s profile and became a producer of watches for Cartier.
The brand was briefly owned by LVMH, and sold to Movado Group in 2003.
Formula 1 Appearances
Ebel was a high profile brand in the sport luxury sector during the 1970s and 1980s. While the exact context is not well-documented, Ebel branding has appeared in photographs and archive footage of the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.
McLaren
Ebel was a sponsor of McLaren in 1982 and 1983. The Ebel logo appeared on the driving suits for both McLaren drivers during those seasons, Niki Lauda and John Watson. Ebel branding also appeared on the helmets of both drivers, as well as on the engine cover of both the McLaren MP4/1C and MP4/1E in 1983. The MP4/1C was also tested by Ayrton Senna in October of that year.
The Ebel logo also appears on a portrait of Watson on the 1983 Dutch Grand Prix program.
Keke Rosberg
1982 Formula 1 world champion Keke Rosberg, father of Nico Rosberg, was also known to have been sponsored by Ebel at some point.
Alain Prost
Ebel has also worked with Alain Prost, with the French driver appearing in an ad from 1992. Prost was also known for wearing Ebel watches in the late 1980s, including years driving for a TAG Heuer-sponsored McLaren team.
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