Movado History

Movado, a company whose name means "always in motion" in Esperanto, began its life in 1881 in a small workshop in La Chaux-de-faunds, Switzerland. Founded by talented watchmaker Achille Ditisheim and his team of six employees, all watches were manufactured and assembled by hand.

By 1899, their hard work and determination had paid off. They were awarded six first-class Official Rating Certificates in their class, and in the following year, they were awarded the Silver Medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.

By 1905, the company had settled on its now famous name, Movado, and began in earnest its now famous pursuit of excellence in design and function. They won the 1910 Grand Prix Exhibitions in Paris, Rome, Brussels and Rio de Janeiro for their introduction of 8 ligne wristwatch movements. The introduction of the Polyplan watch in 1912 took the watch community by storm, and these watches are highly sought after at auction today.

Movado Amorosa Women's Two Tone Watch

In 1947, American designer Nathan George Horwitt created the first Museum Watch. It featured an uncluttered dial no markings on it for minutes or hours (although some of Movado's other designs now do), and a simple gold dot marker at the 12:00 position. He likened the design to that of a sun-dial, like recognizing the sun at its zenith at high noon. Many refer to this design as the "boss's watch" because the boss doesn't have to be on time (hence the vague display of time). Movado later teamed up with designers and artists such as Andy Warhol to create one-of-a-kind limited edition watches, which reside in museums, galleries, and collections today.

In addition to its fabulous design, Movado watches are light weight while still retaining high quality. Most Movado styles include the use of sapphire crystal, which is highly scratch resistant.

Movado also supported construction of a public clock located outside Lincoln Center in New York, designed by architect Philip Johnson. In 2006 Movado celebrated its 125th year of watchmaking. With its watches set in museum collections around the world, the Movado Company has made its mark of success on the world.

Movado is returning to its roots today. It has re-introduced the KingMatic series, which was originally introduced in the 1950's, and featured the first automatic movement and sweeping second hand, both driven from a central rotor. Today, the KingMatic features an all stainless steel case, stainless steel or leather bracelet, sapphire crystal, automatic movement, and is water resistant to 50 meters.

Currently, Movado watches utilize both quartz and automatic movements in their timepieces.

The Movado Group also markets other watch brands, such as: Concord, Ebel, ESQ Swiss, Coach Watches, Hugo Boss Watches, Tommy Hilfiger, Juicy Couture, and Lacoste Watches.