Zeno watch

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Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1868
Seat Basel , Switzerland
management Felix W. Huber
Number of employees 26th
Branch Watch manufacturer
Website www.zeno-watch.ch (English)

Zeno watch Nostalgia Chronograph 1868

Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA is a Swiss watch manufacturer.

history

1868-1920

The foundation stone for Zeno watch manufacture can be traced back to the year 1868, when the watchmaker Jules Godat founded the company Godat & Co. in La Chaux-de-Fonds . Silver pocket watches were among his specialties .

After he left the company, production was switched to watches for railway workers. In 1900 the watchmaker's atelier was set up to drive the machines electrically.

1820-1965

In 1920 Ebosa SA (André-Charles Eigeldinger) took over the watch production. Eigeldinger specialized in the manufacture of observation watches for military purposes, slide rules and pocket watches.

In 1922, Eigeldinger had the Zeno watch brand protected by copyright. The name (short for Zenodopolus) goes back to the two Greek philosophers Zeno and means “gift of Zeus” or “divine gift”.

After the First World War , production was expanded to include the manufacture of wristwatches . Among other things also observation watches for military purposes. In 1937 the first watches with an integrated stop function and sound telemeter were produced.

In 1949 Zeno first took part in the Swiss watch fair in Basel (today Baselworld ). In the following years, the engineers developed Zeno various mechanical digital watches with "jumping hours", sister watches (for nurses) and watches for "boys".

For a long time, Zeno-Watch concentrated on the manufacture of private label production (advertising watches and watches for other brands) and in 1960 moved production to the Ateslander & Enggist studios in Biel , where the first mechanical pilot's watches were developed.

1965-1990

In 1965 Felix W. Huber took over the management of Zeno-Watch and relocated the watch assembly and service department to the Rhine city of Basel . Huber is a descendant of the Basel astronomer and developer Johann Jakob Huber and took over the family tradition of the Huber family from Basel, some of whom were goldsmiths and merchants, as head of watch manufacture.

One of the creations from Basel in 1969 was the first vacuum diving watch, the “Compressor”. With the launch of the futuristic "Spaceman Collection" in the 1970s, the first major sales success was achieved, around one million watches were produced.

Since it was not easy to find enough watchmakers in Basel , cooperation with other watch workshops was soon sought. With the takeover of various Swiss watch manufacturers such as Josmar, Corona, Empire, Le Clip, Helveco and Imhof, the studios and the customer base were expanded. Pocket watch manufacture and dial printing were relocated to Ticino in 1975 . Quartz watches have largely been assembled in Neuchâtel since 1988 .

1990 until today

On November 2, 1990 the company was registered as a stock corporation.

Since 1993 the head office and the studios for mechanical clocks have been located in the Lysbüchel area in Basel.

In 2015, the company was one of the small watch manufacturers with a production of around 42,000 watches per year, but was able to assert itself as one of the few watch manufacturers that remained independent. Although the company was present in over 40 countries, the watchmakers still made a large part of the production by hand like traditional watch manufacturers .

Brands and products

The brands BUSER FRERES (02.12.2010), PILOT-INSTRUMENTS (05.07.2018), PILOT-INSTRUMENTS PROFFESIONAL WATCHES (10.07.2018), Rendex (2001 - 2011 ( ) belong to the company "Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA". ?), 04/13/2015), Rosemont (08/24/2011), Swiss Golfer (10/27/2011), ZENO (10/24/1979), ZENO-WATCH BASEL (12/23/2004) and on "Zeno-Watch F. Huber" is the trademark FHB (16.10.1985) registered. The date of the entry on the company is given in brackets.

  • ZENO-WATCH BASEL and ZENO have specialized in the production of mechanical pilot's watches and oversized wristwatches. The product range mainly includes women's and men's wristwatches as well as pocket watches and special pendant watches for nurses. The watches are available from specialist retailers in a price range from 300 to 60,000 euros.

FHB, Rendex and Rosemont watches are produced for the Asian market.

  • Zeno-Watch has been manufacturing trend watches under the Rendex label since 2001 . Rendex was also founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1966 . The company headquarters were relocated to the Waldenburger Uhrental in Baselland a few years later .
  • Rosemont watch production began in Geneva in 1951 , moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1985, and in 1995 production was taken over by Zeno-Watch. The Rosemont watch collection is designed by Masumi Kimura in Japan today and produced in Basel.
  • FHB is an abbreviation for Felix Huber Basel. The first watches with pin lever movements were produced around 1962, but were not registered as a trademark until 1985. Today, trendy wristwatches with a retro look from the 1970s are produced under FHB.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Internet excerpt: Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA . In: powernet.ch . Commercial register of the canton of Basel-Stadt. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b c The history of ZENO-WATCH BASEL - independent watch manufacture since 1922 - profile . In: zeno-watch.ch . Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ Kathleen H. Pritchard : Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775-1975, Phoenix Publishing, West Kennebunk, Maine 1997, ISBN 0-914659-79-0
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m company presentation, history (PDF; 443 kB) In: zeno-watch.ch . Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA. August 15, 2012. Archived from the original on December 24, 2012.
  5. ^ Chronicle of the Huber family from Basel . In: datacomm.ch .
  6. ↑ The Huber family of jewelers . In: aubijoubasel.ch . Au Bijou. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011.
  7. ^ Commercial register: Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA . In: easymonitoring.ch . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  8. ↑ Brands> Search criteria: Owner = Zeno-Watch Patrik-Philipp Huber SA . In: swissreg.ch . Federal Institute for Intellectual Property . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  9. ↑ Brands> Search criteria: Owner = Zeno-Watch F. Huber . In: swissreg.ch . Federal Institute for Intellectual Property . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  10. ↑ Fashionable watches - unusual watches for an extraordinary world . In: aubijoubasel.ch . Au Bijou. Retrieved May 15, 2020.