Bell & Ross Watch
Bell & Ross was founded in 1992 with its sole aim to manufacture quality swiss made watches for professional use. Watches that can withstand extreme conditions experienced by astronauts, divers, pilots and bomb disposal experts.
Bell & Ross watches are designed to ensure optimal water resistance, the indicators used on the watch face are the same clear visuals found on airplane control instruments and all of this is brought together using high accuracy Swiss mechanical movements.
Each Bell & Ross chronograph watch is assembled using hundreds of components to produce a perfect mechanical instrument.
www.bellross.com/
Breitling Watch History
Breitling created its first chronograph wrist instruments for pilots in 1915. It wasn't until 1936 that Breitling became the official supplier to the Royal Air Force, this was then followed in 1942 by adding the American armed forces to its professional clientele. Finishing off an eventful year the Chronomat was developed.
Breitling then went on to supply major airlines with cockpit clocks and in 1942 the Navitimer was produced which was able to handle all calculations required by the flightplan. Unsurprisingly this became a firm favorite with pilots around the globe.
1962 sees Astronaut Scott Carpenter wearing the Breitling Cosmonaut Chronograph aboard the Aurora 7 space capsule.
In cooperation with the Frecce Tricolors elite fighter team in 1984, Breitling sees a return of the chronograph watch with the Chronomat. This becomes Breitlings best selling watch and remains so to this day..
1995 sees the introduction of the Emergency with built in transmitter broadcasting on the aircraft emergency frequency.
Fortis Watch History
1912 - Fortis was founded by Walter Vogt in the Swiss village of Grechen, it is still based there today.
1924 - Walter Vogt met John Harwood, this would prove to be a decisive year. Harwood had found in Vogt an industrial partner who believed in his 'automatic wristwatch' concept.
1926 - The 'Harewood Automatic' the first self winding wristwatch in production attracted massive interest at the Basle fair.
1930 - The legendary Fortis 'Rolls' automatic wristwatch was produced with a winding system created by Leon Hatot of Paris.
1931 - Fortis Produce the Autorist with a John Harewood invented mechanism. Movements of the strap and the way it was attached to the watch provided the power
1943 - The 'Fortissimo' watch becomes one of their most successful models being the first waterproof watch from Switzerland.
1962 - The 50th anniversary of Fortis sees the 'Stratoliner' and the 'Spacematic' watch with the latter a 25 atmospheres tested absolutely water resistant watch chosen by the American astronauts team that year.
1965 - For the American market: the "FORTIS-Cobra", a most striking design which was a real hit and enormous success in those swinging times.
1975 - FORTIS set the pace in watch fashion with the "Flipper quartz leader" model, a great success in more than 40 countries the following years.
1994 - After two years of testing and preparation the Yuri Gagarin Russian State Scientific-Research Test Center of Cosmonauts Training in Star City chose the FORTIS OFFICIAL COSMONAUTS CHRONOGRAPH to be part of their cosmonauts official equipment.
1996 -
After a successful
launch of the FORTIS Cosmonauts and Pilot's collection in Europe FORTIS started
its market approach with a spectacular debut in Asia
1998 - The Hungarian Air
Force uses the FORTIS Pilot Professional Chronograph Automatic to equip their
pilots. The 47th tactical fighter regiment fly with FORTIS.
The international awarded painter and sculptor Gerd Winner has created an individually numbered and a limited wristwatch collection, the WINNER EDITION.
Hamilton Watch History
1957 - Hamilton revealed the "World's First Electric Watch." This was an instant hit with consumers who were amazed by the idea of a watch that never needed winding.
1969 - Production ended for Hamiltons electric watch with advanced technology rendering the watch obsolete.
Today - Hamilton watches are avidly sought after by collectors who appreciate the unique character of this pioneering watch.
www.hamiltonwatch.com
IWC Watch History
1868 - Schaffhausen in Switzerland is the setting for American Florentine Ariosto Jones to base a factory supplying the USA with movements.
1874 - Hunter pocket watch with the motif of a Mississippi steamboat is produced.
1880 - Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel takes over the factory which would mark the beginning of the International Watch Company. The company was handed to his son after his death one year after purchase.
1899 - Man's wristwatch, one of the oldest from IWC is produced,
1942 - The Portuguese wristwatch is produced. This is the first IWC wristwatch that was produced with a man's pocket watch movement in a small edition of just 304 watches
1939 - IWC's first pilot watch "Special Pilot Watch" is made for civil aviation.
1940 - The 'Big Pilots Watch' is produced for the German Luftwaffe. This is the biggest watch made by IWC in an edition of 100 pieces.
1956 - IWC 'Ingenieur' watch is made which sets new standards in watch making.
1975 - The IWC Aquatimer, black dial, submersible to 200 meters is released due to the rising popularity in diving.
1980 - The German Navy's search for a professional divers watch for its services is found in IWC's Ocean 2000. This watch breaks the record by withstanding huge pressures upto 2000 meters.
1990 - IWC "Ingenieur 500,000 A/m" watch is produced. To date, it holds the world record for antimagnetic watches
1993 - Sees the release of the Portuguese anniversary watch in steel.
1994 - Pilot's chronograph with practically unbreakable ceramic case is made.
www.iwc.com/
Laco Watch History
1925 - Founded by Frieda Lacher and Ludwig Hummel.
1941 - Laco produce the large Beobachter Uhr (observer watch) used by the German Luftwaffe
2000 - Laco's 75th anniversary is marked by the re-release of vintage timepieces.
Luminox Watch History
1989 - Founded by Barry Cohen and Richard Timbo.
1994 -Luminox built a watch for the Navy Seals to be used in nightime operations.
1999 - Luminox release the steel band version of the Navy Seal watch.
2000 - This year sees the release of the extremely popular steel and titanium series
www.luminox.com/
Panerai Watch History
1936 - Panerai designed the Radiomir watch to withstand extreme conditions, this was specifically made for the Royal Italian Navy.
1943 - Panerai developed their first chronograph for Deck Officers, the Mare Nostrum. This, however, never got passed the prototype stage due to changing circumstances in the war.
1993 - Officine Panerai creates a numbered series in a limited edition of models aimed at the civilian market: Luminor, Luminor Marina and an edition of the Mare Nostrum chronograph.
1995 - Sylvester Stallone requests a special edition watch 'Submersable' to use in his film Daylight. Consequently Sly Tech special edition watch is created.
1998- The Luminor Submersible, Luminor GMT and the Luminor Power Reserve are the first of Panerai's automatic movements to be presented to an international public
2000 - Panerai creates the Luminor Submersible 1000 metres
2004 - The Radiomir collection is enhanced by the introduction of the 8 Days model
www.panerai.com/
Sinn Watch History
1961 - Sinn was founded by legendary pilot and flight instructor Helmut Sinn. Due to the dissatisfaction of aviation watches used by Helmut Sinn he began the design and production to produce quality pilots watches that could withstand extreme pressures and conditions.
1994 - Sinn watch company changes hands when Lothar Schmidt formerly of IWC assumes control. Due to continued high standards Sinn watches are supplied to the German armed and elite forces.
U-Boat Watch History
1942 - the "Officine Fontana" was poised to produce a professional watch for the distinguished officers of its navy’s U-Boats. Though the project was ultimately scrapped, the distinctive original drawings, color samples and innovative materials were lovingly preserved for more than 60 years.
2000 - Italo Fontana realises the original dream with the production of the U-Boat watch series.
2005 - Italo Fontana joins forces with Mounir Moufarrige, an acclaimed tastemaker known for breathing new life into Montblanc and Chloé. Together they are bringing U-Boat into the limelight of today’s watch industry.
www.uboatwatch.it/