Jorg Gray was founded in 1998 by Logomark, Inc. in Tustin, California. Initially manufactured as corporate promotional items, the California-based company became a retail brand in 2009 and gained widespread exposure when Barack Obama was photographed wearing a custom Secret Service-branded JG6500. Ben Spies Several motorsport athletes have worked with Jorg Gray, including former MotoGP …
Armin Strom AG was founded in 2006 by master watchmaker Armin Strom and his son and former Omega director Daniel Strom. The elder Strom’s watchmaking career began much earlier in 1967 when he first opened a workshop in Burgdorf, Switzerland. Strom specialized in skeleton watches, which he first exhibited in the 1980s. By 2001, the …
TW Steel was founded in 2005 by the father and son team of Ton and Jordy Cobelens in the Netherlands. Ton has previously worked as a distributor for Maurice Lacroix and Raymond Weil starting in 1980, as well as a designer of private label watches. The elder Cobelens has also worked with the Swatch Group …
Oris SA was founded by Paul Cattin and Georges Christia in 1904 in the Swiss town of Hölstein, where the company is still based. The company name was named after a nearby brook, and started life as a manufacturer of pocket watches. In response to the growing wristwatch market, Oris began producing leather straps in …
CVSTOS is a Meyrin-based Swiss watch manufacturer founded by Sassoun Sirmakes and Antonio Terranova in 2005. The brand name “Custos” is Latin for “guardian”. If the names of the two founders don’t immediately ring a bell, their pedigree certainly will. Sirmakes is the son of Vartan Sirmakes, co-owner of the Franck Muller Watchland Group, and …
Certina was founded in 1888 by Adolf and Alfred Kurth in Grenchen, Switzerland. Originally a movement and supplies factory, Certina did not start producing complete watches until several years later. Their first brand name was Grana, named after the Latin name of Grenchen. The name Certina first came into use in the 1930s, and was …
Audemars Piguet Holding SA was founded in 1875 by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux. The name Audemars Piguet & Cie was acquired in 1881, and today the company is based in Le Brassus, Switzerland and still owned by the family. Before being known as the company that makes …
Bell & Ross was founded in 1992 as a university project by Bruno Belamich and Carlos A. Rosillo. Early Bell & Ross watches were produced by Sinn, with the partnership ending in 2002 after Chanel became a minority shareholder. The company is currently based in Paris, and manufacturing done in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Bell & …
IWC Schaffhausen is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer that was founded by American watchmaker and entrepreneur Florentine Ariosto Jones in 1868. Originally known as the International Watch Company, the company was transferred to the Rauschenbach family in 1880. Since 2000, IWC has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group which also owns other high …
The Richard Mille brand was first developed in 1999 by Richard Mille in a partnership with Montres Valgine and Audemars Piguet, with the RM 001 Tourbillon introduced to the world at Baselworld in 2001. In addition to their distinctive design, lightweight construction, and shock resistance, the Swiss brand is well known for their nontraditional marketing. …