EBERHARD
Like father, like son… and like his father, Georges-Emile Eberhard, born in St-Imier in 1865, was a watchmaker by conviction. After his apprenticeship, and aged only 22, he left for la Chaux-de-Fonds, where he set up his own watchmaking workshop in 1887. His timepieces did extremely well, so much so that he left his workbench to go in person to neighboring countries to extol and sell his wares, which included pocket-chronographs. The travelling paid off. Business steadily increased. In 1906 Eberhard was able to occupy new, much larger premises in the Jura watchmaking capital. It was there that the founder decided to concentrate on precision timekeepers. These beginnings were marked by a new pocket-chronograph. His sons, Georges and Maurice, took over the helm in 1919. recognizing that the future belonged to wristwatches. They accordingly introduced that year their first chronograph for the wrist. This single-button developed throughout the roaring twenties as the flagship model of the aspiring brand. In 1930, Eberhard and Co. launched its first wristwatch with automatic winding. The 30' saw Eberhard and Co. as suppliers to the royal Italian navy. In 1935, the brand introduced its first two-button chronograph that enabled repeated stops and starts, and in 1938 chronographs with 30-minute and 12-hour elapsed-time counters, were available. The ultimate in chronographs followed in 1939 as a split-seconds version with 12-hour counter. In the 40' the 16-ligne Eberhard 1600 movement - based on a Valjoux caliber - enjoyed wide popularity. The distinctive feature of watches equipped with this movement is a small slide at 4 o'clock that blocks or frees the chronograph button. The construction is also available with mechanisms for progressive indication. Maurice Eberhard became sole owner of the business in 1942. The company launched several famous chronographs in the 50', and in 1960 the EXTRA-FORT chronograph became the flagship model of Eberhard (it is produced again). In 1962, Maurice Eberhard retired from active business after the accidental death of his daughter. EBERHARD and Co. found new owners from outside the family. In 2000 the company has launched the famous Tazio Nuvolari series, in 2002 the revolutionary Chrono4 chronograph with 4 horizontal counters, in 2003 the new Chrono4 Bellissimo as well as the Vanderbilt Cup Tazio Nuvolari, probably the nicest chronograph in the world…
Wristwatches, by Gisbert L.Brunner & Christian Pfeiffer-Belli - Konemann
LINK
- Our Eberhard page