5 Movado Watches

Movado Watches - The Motion Begins

The journey of Movado started 140 years ago in 1881 at the small town of  La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. Founded by a 19-year-old watch enthusiast and businessman, Achilles Ditesheim, the company had only six watchmakers during its inception. Mr Ditesheim’s family was renowned as watchmakers in the area and successful owners of many small businesses in the region.

Soon, under the stewardship of Achilles, the company bloomed, and this brought the attention of his other brothers:  Leopold and Isidore. This collaboration between the three brothers led to the creation of a new company called ‘L.A. & I. Ditesheim, Fabricants’ in the year 1892. Over the next two decades or so, this company became famous all around the world. It took significant strides in producing new watch models and wristwatches, along with having as many as 150 employees on their books.

Yet, the name Movado didn’t come into existence until the middle of the first decade of the 20th century. Derived from the then-recently formulated artificial language of Esperanto, the word ‘movado’ can be translated to mean ‘always in motion’. Inspired by this, Achilles Ditesheim renamed and expanded the company as Movado, and there has been no looking back since.

Movado Watches - Always In Motion

While Movado kept producing watches over the first half of the 20th century with award-winning pieces such as the Movado Ermeto pocket watch, it wasn’t until the end of the Second World War that Movado and designer Nathan George Horwitt revolutionised the design of wristwatches. This innovation came about in 1947 when Nathan George Horwitt designed the Museum Watch. Sporting a minimalistic dial with no number and just a dot on the 12-hour mark signifying the noon sun, this design has gone on to become the signature Movado style. Such was the impact of this breathtaking design that in 1960 the Museum Watch became the first wristwatch to be inducted into the Permanent Art Collection section of the famed Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Unfortunately, like many Swiss companies, the 1970s Quartz Crisis affected Movado as well. However, the damage was minimal due to the intervention of the modern founder of the Movado Group, Gedalio ‘Gerry’ Grinberg. This Cuban-origin watch entrepreneur fled his native country in the 1960s to set up shop in the United States of America, and it was his company, the North American Watch Corp, that acquired Movado in 1983.

This move led to the establishment of the Movado Group, with the next decade seeing the company having many licensed brands under its wings. The likes of these companies include Hugo Boss, Scuderia Ferrari, La Coste, Tommy Hilfiger, and Coach. Of course, the intelligent decision from Gedalio of heavily promoting the Museum Watch collection led to millions of dollars in revenue, helping the group purchase firms like Concord, Ebel, Olivia Burton, and the millennial watch start-up MVMT.

Now, between their manufacturing factory in Switzerland, corporate offices in the USA and Switzerland, distribution occurring throughout the world and over 1300 employees, the Movado Group is a force to be reckoned with in the horological world.

Movado Watches - The Future Of Motion

Since their very inception, Movado has strictly adhered to the principle behind their name: staying in motion. With over 200 horological awards won worldwide and over 100 patents held, the company has always strived towards newer changes in design and watchmaking. Collections such as the Museum Classic, Vizio, Esperanza, Strato, and the Heritage Series only testify to these facts. The Modern 47 collection is a great expression of pop colours and contemporary art. Movado also has watches designed exclusively for women in the form of their Bangles collection. Steel case offerings like Series 800 diversify the collections of Movado even further.

The company’s quest to continuously move forward with innovation, technology, and design has made them the forerunners of change in the horological world. Thus, we can safely conclude that the future of Movado will always stay in motion!