Favre-Leuba

Favre-Leuba traces its origins to March 13, 1737, when Abraham Favre (1702–1790) was documented as a watchmaker with his own workshop in Le Locle, Switzerland. He was later appointed 'Maître horloger du Locle' (master watchmaker of Le Locle) around 1749. In 1792, his descendants founded A. Favre & Fils. The brand name Favre-Leuba was created in 1815 when Henry-Augustus Favre collaborated with Auguste Leuba, a member of a family of watchmakers and merchants. Fritz Favre expanded the business globally, notably establishing the first Swiss watch presence in India in 1865. The company pioneered numerous innovations: the first in-house manual-winding caliber FL101 in 1955, automatic calibers FL103 and FL104 in 1957, and the groundbreaking Bivouac in 1962—the world's first mechanical wristwatch with an altimeter and aneroid barometer. The Deep Blue dive watch (1964) and Bathy depth gauge watch (1968) further cemented their reputation for tool watches. The quartz crisis forced the family to sell the company in 1985, after which ownership passed through Benedom SA and LVMH. Titan Company (Tata Group) acquired the brand in 2011 and relaunched collections in 2016. In 2023, Silvercity Brands AG acquired Favre-Leuba and reintroduced five new collections at Geneva Watch Days 2024.