Aristo (company)
| Aristo Vollmer
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1907 (Aristo), 1922 (Vollmer), merger 2005 |
| Seat | Pforzheim |
| management | Hansjörg Vollmer |
| Number of employees | 17th |
| Branch | Watch manufacturer |
| Website | www.aristo-vollmer.de |
The Aristo Vollmer GmbH is a German watch and metal bracelet manufacturer based in the jewelery and watch city Pforzheim . The company's history goes back to 1907, the Aristo brand has been used since the 1920s. During the Second World War , the company produced military watches for the German Air Force .
After three generations in the ownership of the founding family Epple, the watch manufacturer Aristo Watch was sold in 1998 to Hansjörg Vollmer, a member of the founding family of the bracelet manufacturer Vollmer, which has been doing business with Aristo since 1927. He merged the two companies in 2005 to form today's Aristo Vollmer GmbH.
In 2004, Aristo presented the world's first watch that was manufactured using carbon fiber reinforced plastic ("carbon"). In another company division, traditional and modern watch straps are manufactured. The products are mainly sold under the name Aristo, as well as the former aircraft brand Messerschmitt and others. The Aristo brand is registered in more than 20 countries, including China, Russia, Japan, USA, Canada and Switzerland. The company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of classic pilot's watches and replica observation watches . Mechanical chronographs are also offered.
history
In 1907 the watchmaker Julius Epple I (born 1865) founded Julius Epple KG in Pforzheim . The company manufactured watches and watch cases . In 1934 Epple took over the Rohwerkefabrik Maurer & Reiling and since then has also manufactured its own hand-wound caliber ( clockwork ) called JE Urofa 56. The Aristo brand had been in use since the mid-1920s and was registered with the then Reich Patent Office on January 31, 1936 . From June 1936 the company was called Julius Epple, Aristo Uhren- und Uhrgehäusefabrik .
Julius Wilhelm Epple II (born 1887) took over the business in the second generation. His successor Helmut Julius Epple III (born 1930) also manufactured private label watches as an original equipment manufacturer or OEM manufacturer ( Original Equipment Manufacturer or Without Own Brand ) , for example for the German watch brand and retail chain Dugena . Because there was no suitable successor, in 1993 he sold significant parts of the company to the trust company Uhrentechnik Weimar (UTW). In 1995 essential means of production and the brand name Aristo went back to him.
In 1998 Helmut Julius Epple sold the company shell and the Aristo brand to watchmaker Hansjörg Vollmer, who has been running the company since then. Vollmer is a grandson of the founder of the metal band manufacturer Vollmer, which was founded in 1922 and had maintained business relationships with Aristo since 1927. After the Second World War, the manufacture of metal watch straps began at the factory in Erbprinzenstrasse. At the turn of the millennium, Aristo Watch GmbH delivered its watch products to 42 countries.
In 2005, merged the traditional companies Aristo and the metal band manufacturer Vollmer to today's Aristo Vollmer GmbH clocks and metal band manufacturer . The company specializes in the development and production of watches and the design and manufacture of traditional and modern watch straps. As one of the few remaining producers, it makes Milanese and link bracelets from stainless steel . At the same time, modern materials such as carbon-reinforced plastic (CFRP) are combined with various metals, especially for sports and pilot's watches. The watch manufacturer has received several prizes for excellent design , including the 2006 “Form” design award from the Federal Association of Arts and Crafts as the only wristwatch . All watches and metal watch straps are now manufactured at the Erbprinzenstrasse site in Pforzheim.
The company exhibits regularly at the world's largest watch fair, Baselworld , as well as at Inhorgenta europe .
Model history and brand names
Julius Epple KG has registered a large number of brand names, some of which now form the basis of retro watch models, i.e. H. Replicas of historical clocks such as the Aristocrat and Aristomatic models. In 2008, a retro model from the Aristocrat series was presented, which is characterized by a specially developed Aristomatic SW 200 caliber . Even after the merger of the companies, the focus of watch production was on the manufacture of true-to-original replicas of classic pilot's watches, including so-called observation watches, which have their origin in military models from the 1940s, submarine watches and so-called day and night watches.
In 2003 Aristo named a pilot's watch model after the Messerschmitt Me 262 , which went down in aviation history as the first series aircraft with jet propulsion . Aristo was able to secure the Messerschmitt trademark rights , so that the watches can bear the type designations of well-known Messerschmitt products - for example " Me 109 " and " Kabinenroller ". The Messerschmitt model series also includes a Me 109 watch, limited to 500 pieces, which is equipped with the rarely used manual wind movement of the type FE 233.68 cal. 10 ½. For some models, the manufactory also offers left-handed models with the winding crown on the left. In addition to sports and aviator watches, watches from the “Hereditary Prince” model series, which were named after the residential cities of the Margraves of Baden, have also been offered for some years.
Carbon watches
In 2004, Aristo was the first sports watch manufacturer in the world to produce a watch with a dial made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, the model 3H45. In 2005 the company presented the watch model Carbon II at the World Watch and Jewelery Show in Basel. In 2006, the premiere of the chronograph series Formula Black followed in black housing made by physical vapor deposition (PVD from the English "physical vapor deposition") with carbon-coated, surface-treated stainless steel. As part of the economic stimulus package II , Aristo took part in a technology funding program of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Research from 2010 to 2012 . Since then, watch straps and jewelry straps made of composite structures with carbon and stainless steel or titanium links have been produced in series. Due to the resistance, the very low specific weight compared to steel and the allergy-neutral properties of this material, Aristo has extended the carbon coating on some watch models to include bracelets.
Aviator watches
Aristo was a supplier to the German Air Force as early as the 1940s and produced military watches for the Reich Ministry of Aviation , so-called RLM watches. This later became the Air Force B-watches (observation watches). Based on Hansjörg Vollmer's historical investigations into the B-clocks of the German Air Force, several small series and replicas were developed, which were mainly sold in the USA and Japan.
The mirror-inverted dial design of the replica of the sextant model was designed by the German rocket technology pioneer Wernher von Braun during World War II . Aristo watches such as the Aristo Sextant or the Aristo Vintage 1940 were nominated several times for the “Watch of the Year” vote by the watch magazine “Armbanduhren” and the Welt am Sonntag .
Submarine clocks
In the maritime watch model division, Aristo makes a replica of the unusual submarine watch . In contrast to other clocks, it is not the digits and / or hands that glow in the dark, but the entire dial over a large area . The numerals and hands therefore appear dark by day and night. Black dials, which were once designed for large on-board clocks, are often difficult to read in reduced versions. With their large-area lights, Aristo submarine clocks provide design options that would hardly be possible with a non-glowing background.
gallery
Model 3H76 - Design Award of the Federal Association of Arts and Crafts 2006
Aristo Sextant, design Wernher von Braun
New edition of the RLM military watch from the 1940s shown above
Aristomatic SW 200 caliber
literature
- Hans-Heinrich Schmidt: Lexicon of the German watch industry 1850–1980 , Förderkreis Lebendiges Uhrenindustriemuseum eV, Villingen-Schwenningen 2005, ISBN 3-927987-91-3 . (New edition: German Society for Chronometry , Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941539-99-0 )
- Konrad Knirim: Military Timepieces. Peter Pomp, Bottrop 2002, ISBN 3-89355-232-4 .
- Michael Brückner : Fascination with wristwatches: from creative tinkerers and successful niche brands. Pro Business, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86386-013-4 , pp. 98-106.
Web links
- www.aristo-vollmer.de
- ManuFaktUhr - Inhorgenta 2012: CARBON - the watch and jewelry material of the 21st century
- Watch Wiki - Aristo
- Aristo in the picture gallery "Uhrmacherkunst"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Brückner: Fascination wristwatches , Berlin 2011, p. 104 f.
- ^ Der Spiegel: Teure Marken, December 15, 1975 , accessed on February 21, 2014.
- ^ Gero von Braunfels: Watch industry in Germany: location advantages . In: Armbanduhren , 2012, Issue 4, ISSN 1431-3677 , p. 41.
- ↑ Inhorgenta: Inside Vollmer - outside design ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 21, 2014.
- ↑ Baselworld 2014: Aristo Vollmer GmbH ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 20, 2014.
- ↑ Inhorgenta: Aristo Carbon Watches ( Memento of the original from November 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 21, 2014.
- ↑ Watchmaking trademark database , accessed February 20, 2014.
- ↑ Welt.de: Prices for pilot's watches are retrieved on February 21, 2014.
- ↑ Goldschmiede Zeitung - European jeweler, Volume 104, Rühle-Diebener-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, p. 50 f.
- ^ German watch portal: Company portrait Aristo , accessed on February 20, 2014.
- ↑ trustedwatch.de: Aristo LH Rote 13 - The clock for left-handers , accessed on February 21, 2014.
- ↑ ARISTO: New flagship enters the race , manufacturer's website, accessed on February 21, 2014.
- ↑ ARISTO Formula Black: Exterior design - interior classic , manufacturer's website, accessed on February 21, 2014, no longer available. archived version
- ^ Deutsche-uhrmacher.de: Carbon - the watch and jewelry material of the 21st century , accessed on February 20, 2014.
- ↑ Prospectus Carbon Watches ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Website of the manufacturer, July 2012.
- ↑ Aristo Fliegeruhr B-Uhr Sextant , accessed on February 21, 2014.
