Bruce's World of Watches: Movado

By Bruce Shawkey

To most collectors, "Movado" is synonymous with the Museum Watch, the iconic watch designed by Nathan George Horwitt and introduced to the public in 1947. In 1960, Horwitt’s original dial design with the single dot became the first watch dial ever to be accepted by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, into its permanent design collection. Up to that point, the watch had no particular model name. Now it became known as the "Museum Watch" and the rest, as they say, is history. It became so popular, that the "Museum Watch," with all its various models (chronograph, multi-date, etc.) eventually became just about the only motif Movado currently offers and all bear the signature dat.

Despite this, Movado has a rich history of producing many other kinds of innovative watches through the decades, to which we will now turn our attention.

Movado's roots go all the way back to 1881, when Achille Ditesheim (left), then just 19 years old, opened a factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds with a work force of six watch makers. Joined by two brothers, Isadore and Leopold, the company was known as "LAI Ditesheim," based on the initials of their first names.

This family's name of Ditesheim should not be confused with another famous family of DITISHEIM watchmakers. Note the slight difference in spelling. The most famous of whom was Paul Ditisheim, who sold high-grade (often chronometer-certified) watches. The families were probably related and they were certainly aware of each others' presence. But the companies are distinct from one another.

In 1890, the Observatory at Neuchatel awarded LAI Ditesheim six First Class Certificates. LAI Ditisheim watches were well on their way to establishing a solid reputation in the watch world.

In 1905, the company changed its name to "Movado," capitalizing on the Esperanto movement, which had several active circles in La Chaux-de-Fonds at that time. Esperanto, invented in 1887 by Dr. Ludwig L. Zamenhof, was thought to become a universal world language. Of course, it never caught on, but the name "Movado," which translates to "always in motion," stuck.

In 1912, the company began going after the emerging wrist watch market in earnest by inventing the "Polyplan," (right) credited as the first movement built specifically for wrist watches. Prior to this, wrist watches were fitted with round pocket watch movements, which limited the case design. Building a slim, rectangular-shaped movement opened up possibilities for new shapes. This ingenious movement incorporated two end plates which slanted downward from the central plate, forming a sort of curved movement. Housed in a smooth curved case, the watch would then fit the curvature of the wrist. Some Polyplan watches are shown below.

The Polyplan was expensive to produce and not a commercial success. Its relative scarcity, along with being a technical achievement, puts it in great demand among serious Movado enthusiasts.

Movado's next wrist watch, which was also kind of eccentric, was produced as the specter of war loomed in Europe. Pocket watches were no longer practical in this new style of warfare. There was a need for a watch that was functional, sturdy, and reliable. In 1914, Movado came up with a wrist watch whose crystal and dial were protected by cut outs on the bezel that allowed the time to be read. The design was quickly imitated by several Swiss and American makers. It is interesting to note that Movado's design incorporates the cutouts into the case. It is not a separate piece of metal that rests on top of the bezel, secured by claws or a loop-through band.
The inventor of the cutout case has been disputed by military watch collectors and historians. But Movado is often cited because between 1914 and 1921, the company introduced many different case designs for ladies', and gents' wrist watches. Many of the dials of watches of this period were marked "Chronometre Movado," but the Chronometre is not literal, i.e., they were not certified as chronometers by an independent testing agency. It was simply a name chosen by Movado.

The 1920s would also usher in another of Movado's great triumphs -- the Ermeto, or purse watch, introduced in 1926. I am not going into great detail on the Ermeto because it is not a watch built for the wrist. But it was heralded as another innovation by Movado and was copied by several other manufactures, including Tavannes, Tissot, and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

In 1935, Movado introduced its first water resistant watch, the "Acvatic" (below, left). A chronograph version of the Acvatic would soon appear, the Cronacvatic (below).

Also in 1938, Movado introduced its first triple-calendar watch, the "Calendo-graf." The date was indicated with a hand that looked like a sweep-second hand, while the day and month appeared in two windows contained on the dial.

The "Cronoplan" (left) appeared in 1937, a watch with two independently rotating bezels (one each for minutes and hours) that could measure elapsed time. A year later, the company introduced its first chronograph with two pusher buttons and a 60-minute register. Movado made single pusher wrist chronographs as early as 1910. A later version of their two-button chronograph contained another register recording up to 12 hours of elapsed time.

The 1940s and beyond ushered in many other innovations in style and mechanical innovations, and it is these more modern specimens that tend to be more accessible to collectors. At this point, we’ll take a break and look at some of the ads and some of watches Movado produced during this time period. It’s interesting to note that Horwitt’s watch is not promoted during this time because the watch did not yet have a specific model name, nor did Movado realize how popular the watch would become.

Here are some Movado ads and watches through the decades:

Here's a Movado image from 1952:

Movado introduced the "Celestograf" in 1948 (left) which featured an auxiliary second hand at 6:00 and a moonphase indicator.

It is during this period that Movado developed its first self-winding watch, the "Tempomatic" (1945). This watch, equipped with the caliber 220M movement, has a sectional hammer rotor and a sweep second hand.

The "Calendomatic" was introduced in 1946. Equipped with the Caliber 225M movement, it was the first automatic wrist watch with a calendar.
Movado also supplied wrist watches to Cartier and Tiffany. Most were equipped with the venerable caliber 150MN (which had been around since 1917), but many of the watches had automatic movements as well.

During this same period, Movado produced complicated wrist watches with the rapid introduction of new calibers. Since Movado rarely purchased ebauches from other companies (but rather developed and produced them in house), Movado needed a further factory expansion. In 1944, Movado increased to 275 employees, and was one of the largest enterprises in the Canton of Neuchatel.

In 1948, the factory at Rue du Parc No. 117 in La Chaux-de Fonds was extended to house the production of the Tempomatic and Celestograf calibers, as well as the Astronic.

By this time (1944) Achille Ditesheim, the founder of the company and last surviving brother of the "founding fathers" passed away.

Incidentally, one of my major sources for this story is an article which originally appeared in a German trade magazine and was translated into English. The article makes no mention of Movado supplying military watches to the Axis powers during World War II. This seems to confirm what I suspected: That Movado made no (or at best very few) military-issue watches. It is certain that the company made none for the Germans (the Ditesheims were Jewish), and it appears they had no contracts with the Allies, either. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, let me know.

I mention this only as a caution to be wary of anyone selling "military" WWII Movado. While there may be many Movados out in the market that LOOK like Ordnance watches (i.e., stainless steel case, luminous dial and hands, and so forth), my best sources indicate that Movado made no military-issued WWII watches!

Post-War and the gaining popularity of the "Museum Watch”

One of the first post-war models Movado introduced was the "Astronic" (1950), with a 24-hour dial. A year later, the "Automatic 331" followed -- a remarkably thin caliber 115 self-winding movement with a height of just 4.45 mm. In cooperation with Peseux (an ebauche manufacturer), Movado redesigned Peseux's caliber 330 to increase the frequency of the balance wheel from 18,000 per hour to 21,600 beats per hour, thus improving the accuracy of this movement. This remarkable engineering feat of the Movado designers was an important step towards the development of Movado's 36,000 beat/hour calibers, which were introduced in the late 1960s and early '70s.

The turn of the decade to the 1960s was of course dominated by the Museum Watch, as mentioned earlier. We will now take a closer look since this is watch that, for better or worse, defines Movado today. Horwitt’s design (left) features a stark black dial with no markers, except for a round gold-tone dot at the 12 o'clock position, and straight gold-tone stick hands. All this is mounted in a simple classic round gold-tone case. The watch’s design, which focused on radical simplicity of form, was inspired by the Bauhaus movement, founded in Germany after the first World War, and led by Walter Gropius. In this genre, design is restricted to the essentials or, put another way, "less is more." In any event, Howitt retained ownership of the dial design until 1958.
Between 1947 and 1958, Horwitt offered the design to about 15 different watch companies and was turned down. Finally, Movado purchased the rights to the design, and soon began promoting the watches. Movado's gamble paid off, for the company soon realized it had a commercial success on its hands. As mentioned previously, the watch is still with us today despite changes in ownership of the brand (which we'll get to in a little while), redesign of the case, and the addition of a quartz movement.

Many versions of the Museum Watch have been produced over the years, including one where the date shows on a window inside the dot (right). This was certainly not in keeping with Horwitt's design, but was a concession to the public's wishes. There are also chronograph and multi-date watches that came later incorporating the Museum Watch design.

The El Primero

Watch companies had long been wanting to respond to the public’s demand for an automatic chronograph, but the expense held back development. By the 1960s, Zenith had partnered with Movado and began work on a prototype that they unveiled at a press conference in 1969. They called it the “El Primero,” to emphasize it was the first of its kind. It featured a central rotor and a date window between the 4:00 and 5:00 positions. The watch was a close tie with Heuer's "Autavia," which featured a micro-rotor instead of a central rotor. The El Primero dial featured a 30-minute register, a 12-hour register and constant seconds register. This 13-ligne size movement was designated the Caliber 3019PHC and has an overall height of just 6.5 mm, remarkably thin despite its complications and the central rotor. With a fast beat balance wheel of 36,000 beats/hour, 31 jewels, and the ball bearing rotor, it was the most advanced watch on the market at the time.

The name "El Primero" (the first), underscored the fact that it was the first watch of its kind. The El Primero was produced and marketed under both Zenith and Movado names, although I have not been able to find a Movado-branded example. It appears the company wanted Zenith to have the spotlight on the watch (left) hence, history tends to record Zenith as inventing the El Primero, but Movado was a principal developer (and bore part of the expense) as well.

A further refinement to the Caliber 3019PHF added a window each for the day of the week and the month, as well as a moonphase dial. Marketed in the 70s, cases with the 3019PHF and refined movements often had case designs traits which reflected the predominant taste of this period -- thick, heavy, barrel- and hexagon-shaped in steel or gold-plated which sometimes had twice the thickness they actually needed!

The El Primero would be Movado's last hurrah, at least as mechanical watches were concerned. It was during this time that electronic and quartz movements struck a crippling blow to the Swiss watch industry. Movado was not spared. The same year the El Primero was introduced (1969), Movado had formally affiliated with Zenith and Mondia. The descendants of the Ditesheim family relinquished its last partial control of the company. Two years later, in 1971, Movado moved to Le Locle where Zenith had been operating since its founding in 1865. The move demonstrated the strong position of Zenith within the partnership. A new factory was built which initially housed the production of the traditional mechanical movements, such as the caliber 3019PHC.

But the focus soon shifted to the production of quartz watches (chiefly the Museum Watch). In 1972, the company was purchased by the Chicago-based Zenith Radio Corporation and renamed "Zenith Time SA," an interesting acquisition since the only thing Zenith had in common with watches was the name! In 1978, a Swiss group of inventors bought the company back and named the company "Zenith Movado Le Locle SA."

But only five years later, in 1983, Zenith (the Watch brand, not the radio company) and Movado separated for good. The Movado brand was acquired by an American conglomerate, the North American Watch Corporation, based in Lyndhurst, N.J. From 1978 to 1983, we find many variations and combinations of names on the dials, cases and movements of the watches. I had one signed "Movado" on the dial, but "Zenith" on the both the case and the movement. The watch was made by Zenith, but signed Movado on the dial for greater sales appeal in the United States.

In 1983, Gedalio Grinberg bought Movado and made it the flagship brand of Movado Group, which designs, manufactures and distributes a number of brands, including Concord and Ebel. Some of Movado’s seemingly endless variations, all on the theme of Horwitt’s original creation back in 1947, are seen below. Grinberg, at just 15 years of age, sold his first clock in his native Cuba for $18. He came to the United States where he amassed an impressive fortune in the watch business. He died in November 2009 at age 77. Movado remains as part of Movado Group.

After images of the current watches Movado watch are some watches through the decades that show how Movado was much more than just the Museum Watch.