Favre-Leuba

Most people have probably never heard of Favre-Leuba but they have a claim to fame; as the world's second oldest watch brand, dating back to 1737 when Abraham Favre established a workshop in Le Locle, Switzerland. The Leube name was added in 1815 when the 19 year old grandson of Abraham, Henry-Augustus teamed up with another watchmaker, Auguste Leuba.

The company remained in family hands until the damage done by the Quartz criss forced the sale to other parties. Currently the brand is owned by Titan, a watch group owned by Tata.

Why are they special?

India

In the 19th century, Fritz Favre went on a mission to expand the company's reach globally. The company found particular success in India and was the first Swiss watch company to really establish itself in that market and it continues to be a big name under it's Tata ownership.

Pioneering

FL have had their fair share of innovations. In 1908 they had a patent for a chronometer watch. In 1962 they launched the first mechanical watch to have an altimeter, aimed at mountaineers, and 1968 a dive watch that has a depth guage built in.

Why do we like them?

The designs of the mid 20th century FLs are really cool, though they'd be totally unsuitable for painting (very little space on a dial when there's a pressure guage on the dial), and they're sought after and rare so are expensive.

The Sea Chief is a good quality and readily available watch with a nice clean dial, perfect for restoration and a very affordable way to obtain a great swiss watch from a brand that isn't as famous as it should be.