As we discussed last time, Porsche Design's innovative use of materials and coatings set their watches apart in a crowded industry. In this special episode, Serge Maillard and Stephen Foskett discuss the future of watch movement and case materials with Lucien Steinmann of Positive Coating, the company driving an explosion of colorful PVD and ALD coatings. Watches like the rainbow-coated Zenith Defy 21 Felipe Pantone Edition leverage these techniques to startling effect, and this materials science will enable a world of color, from heritage to modern models. The Watch Files turns from history t ..read more

On April 25, 1981, attendees at the European Watch, Clock, and Jewellery Fair in Basel got their hands on something completely new. IWC introduced the Porsche Design Titan chronograph, the first titanium watch available for sale. The revolutionary material caught the watchmaking world off guard, and the Titan helped IWC and their partner Jaeger-LeCoultre survive the quartz crisis. This is the story of the watches created by legendary designer Ferdinand Alexander Porsche and the radical utilitarian watch designs he created with IWC. It's also a story of how materials and design can spark custom ..read more

On June 9, 1931, watchmaker Eugène Meylan registered a new company, Automatic EMSA, to exploit his latest innovation, a central-rotor automatic winding mechanism that could be paired with nearly any small round movement. This would catapult Glycine, the company Meylan founded as a young man, to prominence with the first mass-market automatic watch. But the story of Meylan's life is much more compelling and tragic, and reveals a great deal about the history of watchmaking in the first half of the 20th century. Today we are celebrating the accomplishments of Eugène Meylan and considering his lif ..read more

In this special "extra" episode of The Watch Files, Stephen Foskett tells the story of the Breitling Montbrillant Watch Manufactory in La Chaux-de-Fonds. If you're a Breitling fan, you're probably aware of the name, Montbrillant, which has been used on historic models and featured in advertising for a century. But you might be surprised to learn what the name really refers to, and the complicated history of the Montbrillant Watch Manufactory Breitling operated in La Chaux-de-Fonds for 85 years. This is the audio of a special Watch Files video, which can be seen on YouTube: "What Does “Montbril ..read more

On April 4, 1960, 70 independent Swiss watchmakers joined forces to form a remarkable new cooperative. Intent on standing their ground against the consolidation of watchmakers into corporations, the Coopérative de Fabricants Suisses d'Horlogerie would launch a shared watch brand three years later, using the name of famous watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz. The Coopérative grew rapidly, accounting for over 15% of Swiss watchmaking exports in 1968 and boasting a catalog of over 2,000 different models. Yet this unique experiment, and the famous brand they used, is entirely forgotten. Join Serge Maill ..read more

On October 25, 1960, American company Bulova introduced the most advanced watch ever made. The Accutron used a tuning fork oscillating 60 times faster than a normal watch thanks to electronic components and a battery. This space-age watch shifted the balance of watchmaking power to America, but it was the brainchild of a Swiss engineer who soon returned home. Max Hetzel's work disrupted the entire industry and kicked off the race to build a quartz watch. Join Serge Maillard, Publisher & CEO of Europa Star, and Stephen Foskett, Publisher of Grail Watch, as we tell the stories of the events ..read more

On July 8, 1992, it was announced that watchmaking giant SMH (today known as the Swatch Group) was purchasing upstart watch brand Blancpain and their movement producer, Frédéric Piguet. This was a recognition of the contrarian company's decade-long effort to re-establish mechanical watchmaking in the face of the quartz crisis. Declaring that Blancpain would never produce a quartz watch despite the fact that this was all consumers seemed to buy at the time, Biver directed his company to produce six masterpieces of mechanical watchmaking as a "living museum of the past." This was the template fo ..read more

On January 10, 1969, Zenith and Movado announced the world's most advanced watch movement. Called El Primero, it was the world's first automatic chronograph and represented the best in mechanical watchmaking. But Zenith was sold to an unrelated American company of the same name just two years later, and was forced to cease production of mechanical watches and focus on quartz. This is the story of the watchmaker who saved the El Primero movement, the Swiss industrialist who saved Zenith, and the rising star that re-ignited watchmaking in Le Locle and beyond. Join Serge Maillard, Publisher & ..read more

On January 12, 1979, the Swiss watch industry announced the thinnest watch ever made: The Delirium, developed and produced by Ebauches SA for Concord, Eterna, and Longines. It was just 1.98 mm thick and wasn’t a big seller, but it accomplished something more important: The Delirium proved that the Swiss were innovating like the Japanese and would stand their ground in the quartz market. And the novel design of the Delirium, which embedded the movement into the case back, laid the foundation for another critical announcement four years later, the Swatch. Join Serge Maillard, Publisher & CEO ..read more

On November 7, 1984, the watch industry was stunned as famed jewellery designer Gerald Genta unveiled a line of fine watches styled with Mickey Mouse, the Pink Panther, and Popeye. The industry had never before mixed pop culture with haute horology, and the outcry forced Genta to abandon Montres et Bijoux. Was it really so bad? Shouldn't they have known this would happen? Join Serge Maillard, Publisher & CEO of Europa Star, and Stephen Foskett, Publisher of Grail Watch, as we tell the stories of the events that changed the horology industry. More Information: The Watch Show That Should In ..read more