Pierre Jaquet-Droz was born in 1721 on a small farm (La Ferme de Sur le Pont) in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He began to take a serious interest in clockmaking and precision mechanics under the tutelage of older relatives from the Brandt-dit-Grieurin, Sandoz and Robert families. It proved to be a true revelation for him. From 1738 […]
How much does an exclusive watch cost, only 18 grams, that Pep Guardiola wore at Real Madrid – Manchester City? The watch worn by Pep Guardiola in Madrid is worth 1.3 million euros! In Madrid, coach Pep Guardiola (53 years old) wore an exclusive, limited-edition watch. The Manchester City technician was seen wearing a Richard […]
Founded in 1851, Smiths were once the largest clock manufacturer in Europe. From their head office in Cricklewood, North London, they produced clocks for the home, workplace, aircraft and the motor industry. Smiths clocks could be found everywhere from railway stations to schools, from Bentley’s to Mini’s and even Spitfire aircraft. Please note that this […]
Danuvia, fully known as Danuvia Engineering Industries Rt. (Hungarian: Danuvia Gépgyár – Danuvia Machinery Factory) was a Hungarian manufacturer founded in 1920 that produced firearms, ammunition, machine tools and motorcycles for the armies and markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Danuvia was founded on 4 June 1920, by the Hungarian government, as an alternative to […]
Metamec was a watch manufacturer in the second half of the 20th century and was based in Dereham, Norfolk, England. The name “Metamec” is derived from “metallurgy and mechanics”. In 1947, a small factory in East Dereham, Norfolk, began producing watches under the Metamec name. The Metamec factory was a branch of Jenkins Productions which […]
Gustav Becker (1819-1885) was one of the best German watchmakers, he being the founder of the Gustav Becker brand. He trained as a watchmaker in Germany and Austria, so in 1850 he opened a watchmaking workshop in Freiburg. He soon became recognized as a watchmaker for the excellent quality and design of his watches, being […]
It all started on a holiday at my grandparents’, many years ago. Summer days, the freedom and curiosity of boundless exploration, without wasting that precious time from the big vacation on TV, the Internet or social media. Why? Because they didn’t exist at the time. It was better, it was worse… who knows? On one […]
The spring clock is a classic mechanical clock consisting of many cogwheels driven by the energy given by a spring. The spring, in turn, is energized by the manual twisting of the key which produces tension on the spring. The disadvantage of this mechanism is that every 7 days it must be turned. The movement […]
Around 1500, in France, Italy and Germany, the weights needed to run clocks were replaced by springs. The invention was attributed to Peter Henlein, a German locksmith. He was the one who started making smaller watches, which, in addition to the practical component, also had another component that had not been encountered before, that of […]
Please note that this brief history focuses on the Smiths as house watchmakers. The parent society had enormous ramifications (summarized to some extent in the origins chapter), but this history is concerned only with watches. In 1931 Smith, then called S Smith and Sons (Car Accessories) Ltd., decided to enter the domestic and watch market […]
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