Based in the Swiss watchmaking village of Arogno, Bühlmann was founded in 2020 to honour the scientific legacy of Dr. Albert A. Bühlmann, the Swiss pioneer of depth and dive safety whose work transformed modern diving. For decades Dr. Bühlmann conducted groundbreaking research at the University Hospital of Zürich, developing the ZH-L decompression algorithms that became the foundation of modern dive tables and, later, of the dive computers used by divers across the world. His science met its greatest test in the depths of the ocean through Swiss deep-sea diver Hannes Keller, who relied on decompression models derived from Bühlmann's research to survive descents to depths never reached before — including the June 1961 dive to 220 metres in Lake Maggiore near Brissago that set a world record for open water. One of the company's founders is Thomas Bühlmann, the son of Dr. Albert A. Bühlmann, ensuring a direct link to the scientist's legacy and vision.

The brand's stated mission is to manufacture watches united by a single principle: apply science to mechanical horology. Its watches are conceived as instruments inspired by scientific thinking — precise, functional and purposeful in design — and are Swiss made in limited quantities. Development runs through a research programme structured around three pillars: scientific research, pursued in collaboration with Divers Alert Network Europe using large datasets of real diving profiles to further study decompression physiology; diver experience, through work with CMAS Switzerland on usability evaluation and field testing to refine legibility, functionality and ergonomics; and mechanical translation, expressing the visual language of decompression tables in a robust Swiss mechanical instrument. The Decompression 01 established the brand and has since sold out, and the Decompression 02 continues the concept.