Rodania was founded in 1930 by Hans Baumgartner in Berne, Switzerland. Company highlights include creating the official watch for the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1937, designing a chronograph for the Royal Canadian Navy and Air Force in the late 1950s, and developing the shock-absorbing Hydrolastic technology in 1967. As of 2022, the brand is …
The J. Bulova Company was founded in 1875 by Joseph Bulova as a small jewelry shop in New York City. Bulova began making watches in 1912, and after reincorporating as Bulova Watch Company in 1923 had full lines of watches for both men and women by the following year. Bulova is perhaps best known for …
Cartier International SNC was founded in 1847 by French businessman, jeweler, and watchmaker Louis-François Cartier in Paris. The founder’s grandson, Louis Cartier, designed the now-famous Cartier Tank in 1919 that was inspired by thanks used in World War I. Movements and Change of Ownership Shortly after, Cartier formed a joint-stock company with Edward Jaeger of …
Zeon is a British subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Herald Group. Established in 1979 as an importer of LED watches, Zeon initially specialized in bringing the first kids’ character watches to the UK. Featured characters from this era included Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., James Bond, Rambo, and Mr. T. Zeon watches were a staple …
Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A. was founded in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz, and is based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Originally named Raiguel Jeune & Cie, the Longines name was adopted in 1867 after the company established its first factory in Les Longines (“long meadows”). Longines’ flying hourglass logo is the oldest unchanged active trademark registered …
Citizen Watch Co., Ltd is an electronics company based in Nishitokyo, Japan and mainly known for their watches. As of 2008, they also serve as the parent company of Bulova. Citizen was founded in 1930 by Japanese and Swiss investors. The name Citizen was first registered in Switzerland by Swiss watchmaker Rodolphe Schmid in 1918 …
Seiko was founded in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori as a watch and jewelry shop called K. Hattori in Tokyo. Hattori started producing clocks under the company name Seikosha in 1892, and officially changed its trade mark to Seiko in 1924. In addition to being a household name today even amongst non-watch enthusiasts, Seiko has the …
TAG Heuer was originally founded in 1860 as Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG (Heuer Watchmaking Inc.) by Edouard Heuer in St-Imier, Switzerland. Heuer notably patented his first chronograph in 1882, and by 1911 also had a patent for the first dashboard chronograph for use in aircraft and automobiles. His first wrist chronograph was introduced in 1914. Project …
Casio Computer Co., Ltd. was founded in April of 1946 as Kashio Seisakujo by fabrication technology engineer Tadao Kashio. The Japanese company initially enjoyed early success with a cigarette-holding finger ring called the yubiwa pipe. The profits from this obscure non-electronic device allowed the Kashio brothers to develop calculators, and the Casio name first came …