Aureole

 By Bruce Shawkey

Ran across this interesting ad in the March/April 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for Aureole watches. A lot of vintage watch collectors haven't even heard of Aureole. But they have a long history going back to 1868 when the company was founded as Aureole Watch Co M. Choffat & Cie., in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

This particular ad shows a very attractive model with sweep second hand and leather band. You just never know what treasures you will find at a watch show. You could very well find an Aureole watch in a dealer's "junk box" for $50 (or even less). The lesson for today: Keep your eyes open!

Here's another watch from the mid-1950s:

Here's another ad for a slender no-frills manual-wind model, when other manufacturers were promoting models with all sorts of bells and whistles ... alarms, chronographs, etc.

 

Phenix

 By Bruce Shawkey

Phenix, a rather obscure watch company to begin with, introduced a model in 1954 called the Rollamatic. It was nothing special ... a round automatic with sweep seconds hands. The movement was an ebauche supplied by a watch manufacturer. The ad contained so many superlatives, you'd think it was something brand new! Phenix did this to excite jewelers into thinking this was something new to drum up business to compete with other watch manufacturers caused by the post-WWII-boom when consumer goods were difficult to get.

The origins of Phenix watch go all the way back to 1873, when Jules Dubail, Jean-Baptiste Monnin. and Joseph Frossard founded a firm named after them: “Dubail, Monnin, Frossard & Cie.” Here is the image for the ad from the March/April 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal.

Olma

By Bruce Shawkey

Olma was a brand name of Numa Jeanin S.A. Fleurier, a small company in the canton of Neuchatel, founded circa 1917. They originally made keyless wind pocket watches, gravitating toward wristwatches with several brand names, including Allmaster, Manu, and Sonya. The brand name "Olma" eventually came up. An ad in the March/April 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal shows an automatic model with 17 jewels and an Incabloc shock-protected balance. Their trademark pictured an anchor, a plumed helmut and ornate leaves over a shield with "Jeannin" and a small figure on a flower.

The brand name was picked up in 1952 by the Dean Company, Daytona Beach, Fla., and the brand name survived as late as 1963. Here is the ad for the Olma watch in the 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal.

Suter

By Bruce Shawkey

In the post-WWII-boom, watch manufactures practically tripped over one another to keep up with pent-up demand for wristwatches. Manufacturers would come up with various sub-brands to try and get a piece of the pie. One of the sub-brands was Suter, created by Buren. It enjoyed a brief existence in the 1950s, even appearing in an ad in the March/April 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal. It was an automatic watch with a power-reserve indicator, gold-filled bezel with a stainless steel back. It even had a model name, the "Stratomatic." Suter was named for Fritz Sutter, whose company was taken over by the Williamson Ltd. company in 1898. Williamson Ltd., in turn, was founded in 1865 in London by Henry Williamson. 

Now here's something that blew my mind: There are MULTIPLE Suter-branded watches out there, at least three. The one that I can find documented was manufactured by Hafis, a well-known company. 

Here is an image of the ad:

Wyler

 By Bruce Shawkey

Ran across this ad for a Wyler watch in the March/April 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal. Most all watch collectors have heard of Wyler. They made sturdy reliable watches. They are no longer in business, but are certainly remembered by collectors. 

The watch company was founded by Paul Wyler in 1896. Wyler watches were known for their rugged and shockproof movements and models. Paul Wyler gained seven patents for his innovations, the most important being in 1927 when he invented the “Incaflex balance spring”, which was resistant to impact.

Here are addition articles on Wyler watches I've written recently:

 It always tickles me to see an ad for a watch with a large number of jewels. A watch only needs 17 jewels, and anything above that is superfluous. Heck, many Patek Phillipe watches have only 17 jewels, and they are arguably the finest watches in the world.

Wyler was founded by Paul Wyler in 1896. Wyler watches were known for their rugged and shockproof movements and models. Paul Wyler gained seven patents for his innovations, the most important being in 1927 when he invented the “Incaflex balance spring”, which was resistant to impact.

Here are addition articles on Wyler watches I've written recently:

Revue-Thommen

By Bruce Shawkey

Ever heard of the Revue-Thommen  watch company? It is one of more complicated stories in watch history. Their roots go all the way back to 1853 when Societe de Horlogerie d' Waldenburg was founded as a Swiss watch manufacturing company near the community of Waldenburg, Switzerland. It was created to provide jobs in the Waldenburg valley lost due to a relocation of the rail lines.

In 1859 Gedeon Thommen and Louis Tschopp acquired the company and privately restructured it. In 1869, Louis Tschopp withdrew from the company, and Gedeon Thommen became the sole owner and renamed the company "Gedeon Thommen - Uhrenfabrikation." We don't know exactly when the name "Revue" was added to the company name, but I suspect they did it because the name had a more snappy sound to it. To make things even more complicated, Revue is pronounced like REV- y rather than like re VIEW. All the ads of this time simply read "Revue." 

By the 1960s, they were probably one of the most prolific watch movement manufacturers in Switzerland. They had developed more than 100 unique Calibers, the most famous was probably the RT80 alarm movement, which powered the Vulcain “Cricket.” 

Revue-Thomman was was a fairly regular exhibitors at the annual Basel Exposition during the 1940s and '50s. By the 1980s, the brand all but disappeared. I remember there were a fairly large quantity of Revue-Thommen close-out watches on the market when the company went out of business. The company was resurrected, and today can be found at www.revuethommenusa.com. But their watches are not like those of the original company. The alarm watch is not offered.

The brand is all but forgotten. Most collectors don’t give them the credit they deserve.

Here are some ads for Revue-Thomman watches through the years.

Cortebert

 By Bruce Shawkey

Most collectors are familiar with Certina watches, but have you ever heard of Kurth Freres? Freres is Swiss for "brothers" of course, with the two brothers being Adolf and Alfred who opened a movement and supplies factory in Grenchen, Switzerland, in 1906. They came out with the brand name, Certina, in the 1940s. Certina is from the Latin certus, meaning assured, or certain. Kurth Freres were quite innovative and produced many inhouse Calibers over the decades. As a budding watch collector, I myself thought Certina was the company name until I called a supply house one time and requested a part for a Certina watch. "You mean a Kurth Freres part," replied the materials man. 

Anyway, here are some advertisemenrs and images culled from issues of Europa Star from the '50s;

ean 

In 1954, Cortebert introduced what was probably their craziest ever name for a watch, the "Spirofix." It was advertised as the watch that had everything one would want in watch ... waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, luminous raised figures, waterproof crown, and so forth. They forgot to mention that the watch didn't have a date calendar. They also didn't mention that the watch was not automatic, nor did the dial have the word "automatic" printed or applied onto the dial. Pretty major oversight if you ask me. And what about that name ... the "Spirofix." Watch companies were simply running out of names to call their watches. Nevertheless, the watch was heralded as a breakthrough at a time when it was difficult to stick out in the crowded field of watches. This was a time when watch companies were coming out of the woodwork to satisfy pent-up demand caused by war-time shortages.

Cortebert, as most know, was one of the oldest watch firms in the world, having been founded in 1790 by Abraham-Louis Juillard in the village of Cortebert. The brand is virtually unknown today, save for a few enthusiast collectors who are familiar with the brand. At one time, Cortebert was very popular in Europe and was highly regarded as a premium brand. They manufactured their own movements which they supplied to other highly regarded brands. They even produced a jump-hour movement later adopted by IWC. They were one of many companies that fell victim to the the quartz crisis in the '70s, and are all but forgotten today.

here are some additional Cortebert watches and advertisements through the decades:

Cortebert was found in the village of La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, in 1790 by Abraham-Louis Juillard in the village of Cortebert. The brand name was apparently not registered until 1855, according to “Swiss Timepiece Makers, 1775-1975” two-volume encyclopedia by Kathleen H. Prtichard, Phoenix Publishing, 1997. It became a well known and respected brand because they made many, if not most, of their own movement calibers, including railroad watches used in Switzerland and Europe, especially Italy. They were a regular exhibitor at annual watch exhibition in Basel, Switzerland, in the 1940s and ‘50s. The brand continued into the 1970s, but fell victim to the quartz revolution and as far as I am aware, the brand is not currently marketed. There is not a lot of information about the company or its watches because a 1959 fire consumed the entire town archives. Vintage Cortebert watches draw a small by loyal following. For more information on Cortebert, see https://www.justcollecting.com/miscellania/cortebert-watches.

Ref. 1659148. 18kt gold case and bracelet, circa 1950s

Swiss Watch & Jewelry Journal March/April 1953

Jan/Feb 1954 Swiss Watch & Jewelry Journal


Jan/Feb 1954 Swiss Watch & Jewelry Journal

Here's an article from a 1960s issue of Europa Star magazine announcing the 170th anniversary of Cortebert:

Heuer

 By Bruce Shawkey

I ran across an interesting article in the March/April 1954 issue of Swiss Horological Journal about Heuer opening a new factory in Bienne Switzerland. The article stated the new building was built with many improved features, including a new reception area for visitors, improved lighting of the workshops, and new workbenches which reduced worker fatigue. Heuer built the building to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the company's founding. Photos from the article are pictured below.

Here are photos of the then-company executives:

Hubert Heuer, manager   Charles E. Heuer, manager

and here is a photo of the new building:

Here is a picture of the reception area:

The company was founded in 1860 by Eduoard Heuer. The company started out making both chronograph and time-only wristwatches. By the time this article appeared in 1954, it had devoted itself to producing high quality chronographs, including several self-winding calibers. 

Here is an image of a mid-1950s Heuer Datemaster:

More Heuer waches: