Darwil's story began with its founder Darko Wilfan and dates back as far as 1910. After travelling to Chiasso in Switzerland he set up his first business in collaboration with a Swiss manufacturer well respected for its precise calibres, and together they brought out his first watch — the first of many to carry his initials in the brand's name: Dar-Wil. Wilfan saw the opportunity to create accessible Swiss-quality watches for much of Europe, with the help of the then-famous Tanis Watch Company.

The headquarters have been in the Grenchen valley from the outset, close enough to monitor every aspect of production from design through sourcing to manufacturing. The brand's most prominent address, though, became Italian: the Darwil Palace in Trieste drew customers from across Europe and, during its time of operation, sold over two million watches on its own.

Two technical pushes built the brand's reputation. Concerned by how fragile wristwatches were perceived to be, Darwil developed and patented Darblock, a shock protection designed to keep the components safe through drops from height. Around the same time it launched dive watches among the first able to withstand pressure of up to 100 ATM, at depths to 1,000 metres. Both were central to the brand's rise through the 1970s, when a television host called Darwil the most accurate state-of-the-art watch on the market and the name even became the title of a rock song.