Cuervo y Sobrinos

The story begins in 1862 when Spanish immigrant Don Ramón Cuervo opened a jewelry and watch repair shop in Havana. Twenty years later in 1882, the business expanded with the incorporation of his nephews (sobrinos in Spanish) to become Cuervo y Sobrinos. The family opened their prestigious 'La Casa' boutique on Havana's Avenida Quinta. By the early 20th century, the boutique became a must-see destination for the world's elite - Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Enrico Caruso, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, and Pablo Neruda were among its distinguished clientele. During the 1890s, the company expanded internationally, establishing offices in Paris, Pforzheim (Germany), and La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) where the watches were manufactured from 1928. The brand's prestige was so significant that leading manufacturers including Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Longines produced co-branded double-signed watches with Cuervo y Sobrinos. The 1950s marked the brand's peak, with watches representing not just timepieces but a lifestyle and way of thinking. However, the Cuban Revolution of 1959 ended this golden era. The boutique was nationalized in 1965, the Cuervo family fled to Europe, and the brand fell into dormancy, producing only military watches for the Cuban army. After 40 years of obscurity, Italian watch specialists Luca Musumeci and Marzio Villa revived the brand in 1997, relocating production to Switzerland near Lake Lugano. In 2002, they exhibited at Baselworld with a collection named after Cuban cigars. In 2018, the company was acquired by a new group of investors led by CEO Massimo Rossi, who relocated production facilities to Le Noirmont in the Swiss Jura.