10 Watch Brands That Lost Their Original Meaning

Once upon a time, names like Omega, Zénith, and Invicta meant something. No, I don’t mean that they have lost their value or connection to the past, just that they used to refer to a specific thing and that connection no longer exists! There are plenty of brands named for founding families that are no longer involved (most of them, in fact), and I’ve often explored these connections in my articles. But this is something different: Let’s explore the lost meaning of some familiar brand names!

Update: I received some feedback from a few readers that my arguments here were a little bit difficult to follow, so I thought I would sum up the whole article right here at the beginning.

• Most of this list is made up of brand names that used to apply only to a specific watch movement or watch model, but now apply to the entire company. Accutron, Omega, Zénith, Doxa, and Oris were brands applied only to watches built around specific movements that are no longer produced.
• Others are brands that applied to specific market categories and are now used generally across a range of models. Octo was used for 8-day clocks, Invicta for high end complicated models, and Hublot for the specific porthole design.
• I am aware that Acutron and Seiko 5 are model lines not company names, but model names are brands too. Just ask any car company!
• Seiko’s use of the number 5 applied to a specific set of attributes, two of which have been changed.
• Hautlence was an anagram for Neuchâtel, the city, but now refers generally to the canton after the brand moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Accutron

Perhaps no misused brand expresses the purpose of this post better than Accutron. This was the name given in 1960 to an entirely new type of watch movement, keeping time with a vibrating tuning fork. Accutron timers were accurate and high-tech, with one used in a satellite. This made Accutron the hottest brand in watches, and Bulova dominated the electronic watch category for over a decade until the dawn of quartz. Today this technology is abandoned and the Accutron name has returned on a line of retro-modern quartz watches with no connection to the past. Bulova pours salt on the wound with a tuning fork logo on the dial, a reference to the Y-shaped oscillator that defined the original. On the other hand, the Accutron Spaceview uses a novel electro-static movement that deserves a second look and shares the original’s openworked look.

Omega

Omega was a watch movement before it became one of today’s leading brands. Following the death of their father, a traditional watchmaker in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the two younger Brandt brothers moved to Bienne in 1880 to try to apply industrial principles to the manufacture of watches. They purchased the Gurzelen factory in the meadows known as La Champagne, and these names became two of the watch brands produced by the brothers. They also produced a cheaper watch, branded La Générale and Helvetia. In 1894 Louis Brandt & Frère introduced the Omega, a 19 ligne watch with incredible design, quality, and performance. Seeing the potential for this watch, the brothers divested from their other products, which was made the official name of the company in 1903 as the third generation formed SA Louis Brandt & Frère, Omega Watch Co. The modern Omega is true to the original vision, “none better made”, even though that original pocket watch movement is long out of production.

Zénith

Zénith was Georges Favre-Jacot’s white whale, a watch movement that he pursued until it cost him control of his company. He was a remarkably gifted watchmaker and businessman, starting his own factory in 1865 at just 22 years of age. He built one of the first modern watch factories in Le Locle, the birthplace of traditional home watchmaking, and endeared himself to his workers by building housing for them. Just after 1900, perhaps inspired by the Omega, Favre-Jacot designed a modern movement that could be produced using the latest industrial methods. But the board refused to abandon their traditional products, worried that the company would lose its investment in machinery and infrastructure. A fight ensued, with the company introducing a line of Zénith movements and the company’s distributors refusing to promote them. In 1911 Georges Favre-Jacot was deposed by the board and lost everything, including his office desk and his personal Zénith watch! Ironically, his nephew and now son-in-law Jämes Favre leveraged the Zénith name and movement in re-building the company, which remains a leading luxury brand today, albeit without the acute over the letter “e”. Like Omega, the modern Zenith reflects the spirit of the original, even though the groundbreaking movement is long gone.

Doxa

DOXA was an anti-magnetic watch produced by Georges Ducommun. He bult a watch factory in Le Locle next to Georges Favre-Jacot to produce this novel movement with an interchangeable escapement. Charles-Edouard Guillaume’s Nobel Prize-winning alloys promised watches that were resistant to magnetism, temperature changes, and rust. The words “invariable” and “inoxydable” were adopted across the industry in various forms and abbreviations to capitalize on this new metal. Ducommun Inox became DOXA, which he registered in 1902. Over the following decades, Doxa became synonymous with shock-proof and waterproof watches as well. Jacques Nardin and Edouard Jenny expanded the company into a full-line watchmaker in the 1940s and the company became leader in the 1950s with stylish watches like the 1956 Doxa Grafic. After a quiet few decades, Doxa returned in the 2000s, still owned by the Jenny family. Today’s Doxa produces some excellent watches with an emphasis on retro-modern styling and bold colors. The modern company says Doxa comes from “glory” in Greek, but the Ducommun Inoxydable watch movement was what the name originally referred to.

Invicta

Although the claims that he founded his watchmaking company in 1837 are highly exaggerated, Raphaël Picard did establish a watch workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds by 1864. His sons took over in 1882, with Fils de R. Picard becoming a leading producer of watches for export in the 1890s. They built a hydro-powered ebauche factory in Delémont and a modern assembly shop in La Chaux-de-Fonds. As discussed in my previous article, they used the Invicta name starting in 1900 as a brand for their popular chiming watches. They later adopted this name for the factory itself, and Fabrique Invicta became world-famous for high-quality complicated watches. It became a mid-priced brand in the 1970s, joining Eska, Avia, Silvana, and Camy as part of a holding company called Sagiter. Avia and Invicta purchased Waltham and Elgin at this time, and this American connection reversed in modern times: Today, Invicta Watch Group is based in America, making value-priced fashionable watches. Modern buyers would probably be surprised to learn that “Invicta” once signified a complicated Swiss chiming watch.

Oris

The history of Oris is one of my favorites, a bastion of independence in Hölstein from 1902 to the present. When Paul Cattin and Georges Christian took over two years later they focused on the mass-market with their patented ORIS Roskopf Interchangeable System (yes, it was a recursive acronym). George Christian’s widow and daughters remained true to this vision, building Oris into a powerhouse that remained independent from industry consolidation efforts with some help from none other than Jacques-David LeCoultre! The company was not allowed to produce anchor watches, so it became the maker of the highest-quality Roskopf (pin lever) movements ever seen. Oris challenged the cartel in the 1950s, both in court and with the first pin lever movement to achieve chronometer certification. The modern Oris no longer produces the Roskopf watches that literally defined the name, but it still offers excellent watches priced within reach of enthusiasts looking for something a little different.

Hublot

“Hublot” means “porthole”, and the term was used in the 1970s to describe the groundbreaking bezel-centric steel sports watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Vacheron Constantin 222, and IWC Ingenieur. Carlo Crocco took this to the next level in 1980, launching a watch called the Hublot that sported a black rubber strap that contrasted with its gold case. The design was reminiscent of a porthole, with a hinged cover held down by 12 screws through the bezel. This concept remains central to the brand even today, though the number of screws has been reduced by half. Today’s Hublot is all about exotic materials and complications, competing with the Royal Oak Offshore and other beefy sports watches. Even though most models still feature visible bezel screws, it’s easy to forget the obvious meaning of Hublot!

Hautlence

Lots of watch brands used the location of their factory as a brand name: Tavannes, Cortébert, Langendorf, and Büren, to name a few. Most faded when the factory closed, but a few moved and adopted a new brand name (e.g. Tavannes became Cyma). I’m not going to bother listing every brand that moved, but I bet you didn’t know that Hautlence falls into this category: It’s not immediately obvious, but Hautlence is an anagram of Neuchâtel! The company was founded in 2005 and was acquired by MELB Holding (parent of H. Moser & Cie.) in 2009. Hautlence is being revitalized this year, with exciting multi-layer dials and incredible designs, but is no longer located in Neuchâtel: Hautlence moved up the mountain to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 2013. But they can still claim a connection: The watch city is in Canton Neuchâtel after all!

Seiko 5

In 1963, Seiko introduced the Sportsmatic 5, combining five key elements: Automatic winding, water resistance, a day and date calendar, masculine charm, and 21 jewels. That was the original meaning, at least. But this list has changed over the years, with Seiko now claiming that the last two refer to a recessed crown at 4 and a durable case and bracelet. The masculine charm is still there, but the modern 4R movement family has more jewels. Regardless of which list you accept, Seiko 5 is now a brand, signifying an entry-level mechanical watch. And this brand has remained a key offering for over 60 years, even if the meaning of that number is often a mystery to buyers and enthusiasts alike!

Octo

You may not have heard of Octo, but it was a popular brand throughout the 20th century. As you might guess, the brand originated with 8-day clocks produced by the storied Couleru-Meuri family of La Chaux-de-Fonds along with Marc Dubois and Ernest Tolck of Bienne. After World War II, Octo became a full-line watch brand with an octagonal logo, producing the terrifyingly-named Missilemaster in the 1950s. It’s a good brand, even if the 8-day clock is long gone. Today’s Octo is kind of cool too!

The Grail Watch Perspective

With literally thousands of watch brands passing through multiple hands over the last century and a half, it’s inevitable that the original meaning would be lost. I’m not too bothered that the world has forgotten the Omega, the Zénith, the Doxa, and the Oris since these companies remain true to their heritage. In fact, it’s fair to say that their modern products reflect the concept of the brand even though the original product is long lost. And brands can evolve, as Hublot, Hautlence, Seiko 5, and Octo have done. But it’s sad to see the loss of Accutron and the fall of Invicta.

There are many more brands that have lost their lustre, forgotten their founders, or abandoned their home. These are the stories I tell at Grail Watch, though I prefer to focus on those that have returned or even exceeded their history. Leave me a comment and let me know if you knew all 10 of these brands or have another to add to the list!

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