Movado

 

HISTORY of MOVADO

1881 OUR FOUNDING Achilles Ditesheim, a 19-year-old entrepreneur, hires six watchmakers and opens a small workshop in the village of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

1905 MOVADO FINDS ITS NAME Ditesheim renames his young company Movado – a word meaning “always in motion”, in the artificial, international language of Esperanto.

1912 THE POLYPLAN The breakthrough design of the Polyplan that turns heads, captured attention in the Swiss watch industry and earned Movado its 20th patent in 1912. Its Revolutionary movement was built on three planes that were angled to fit a case curved to follow the natural contours.

1926 THE ERMETO A true masterpiece of Art Deco style, the revolutionary Ermeto boasted a clever design which allowed the sliding motion of the case as it was opened and closed to automatically wound the movement.

1945 AUTOMATIC MOVEMENTS Movado introduces the Tempomatic, our first timepiece with an automatic movement. This self-winding design launched a proud heritage of which we continue today.

1947 ICONIC MUSEUM DIAL Nathan George Horwitt designed the iconic Museum Dial as an exploration of the concept of time. An adherent of modernist principals, Horwitt took his inspiration from a sundial, with the signature dot representing the sun at high noon.

1960 MOMA Horwitt’s design becomes the first watch dial to be accepted by Museum of Modern Art, New York, into its permanent design collection, solidifying its place in the cannon of modern design.

1987 ANDY WARHOL Movado debuts its first Artist Watch in partnership with the irrepressible Andy Warhol, a close friend of Movado Chairman Gedalio Grinberg. Designed by Warhol, the timepiece reflects his fascination with multiple photographic images and everyday objects. Produced posthumously, Times 5 was comprised of five separate watches in rectangular cases linked to form a bracelet. Each features a series of black-and-white photos of New York on the dial.

1989 YAACOV AGAM Movado partners with Yaacov Agam, famed Isreali Kinetic artist, to create quartet of collections: Rainbow, Multidimension, Galaxy, and Lovestar. Each collection consisted of four pieces-a pocket watch, a clock and two wristwatches-that reflected Agam’s in color and motion.

1990 ARMAN ""THE COLOUR OF TIME"" Movado commissions Arman, a French American artist and founder of Nouveau Réalisme Movement to create The Color of Time, a limited-edition Artist Watch. This timepiece explores his recurring theme, “time as the enemy of man.” On the dial, each hour is represented by colored brushstrokes, while the hours and minutes are indicated by two brushes pained on rotating disks of wafer-thin glass.

1991 JAMES ROSENQUIST 'ELAPSE,ECLIPSE,ELLIPSE' Abstract Impressionist James Rosenquist partnered with Movado to create Elapse, Eclipse, Ellipse, a truly unique take on a world-time watches with three separate mechanical movements. The free-form case consists of three dials that appear to melt together yet each retains its individuality due to painted dials the Rosenquist called “floating pictures.

1993 MAX BILL ""BILL-TIME"" Swiss artist and designer Max Bill is perhaps best known as the founder of the Concrete Art movement. His collaboration with Movado captured his integration of geometry and color into his art practice. His Design, Bill-Time, is defined by a graceful gradient of rainbow hues which achieve a harmony of color and form. The octagonal case and link bracelets are cast in silver, reflecting Bill’s background as a silversmith.

1994 ROMERO BRITTO 'CHILDREAN OF THE WORLD' Brazilian Pop Artist Romero Britto is known for using his art to draw attention to important social and political issues, as he did with his Movado Artist Series, which helped raise funds to benefit children around the world. Reflecting his belief that, “we should fill our lives with color and hope,” the dial of Britto’s watch depicts two human faces in vivid red and orange. The strap continues this exuberant design in vibrant silk-screened vinyl.

1999 PHILIP JOHNSON 'TIMESCULPTURE' Designed by influential American architect Philip Johnson, the Movado TimeSculpture sits outside the entrance to Lincoln Center in Dante Park. This stunning piece was made possible by a gift from Movado’s late Chairman Gedalio Grinberg and his wife Yaffe.

2000 MOVADO SE A classic style takes futuristic form with the debut of the Movado SE, an elevation of the original Sports Edition design with a new, sleekly sculptured silhouette.

2005 PROENZO SCHOULER SPECIAL EDITION MUSEUM WATCH Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of renown fashion house Proenza Schouler brought their unmistakably chic sensibility to the legendary Movado Museum Watch, creating an inspired new interpretation of the iconic design.

2006 SERIES 800 Launch of Series 800, the art of performance – fine Swiss quartz and automatic sport timepieces marked by sculpted contours and signature details that pay homage to the design legacy of Movado.

2009 KENNY SCHARF ARTIST SERIES Movado collaborated with American Pop Surrealist Kenny Scharf to create an eye-catching collection of seven watches-Movado Time, Burple Time, Universal Time, Ontime, Starring the Star and Time Flies. Each dial is a colorful, captivating work of art, housed in a clean round stainless steel case with a custom-engraved band and finished with two interchangeable leather straps.

2010 BOLD Movado introduces the Movado BOLD collection. These ultra-contemporary watches feature innovative materials, unexpected design and new takes on our iconic Museum Dial.

2011 CHRIS BENZ ARTIST SERIES In collaboration with acclaimed American fashion designer Chris Benz, Movado launched a dynamic limited edition of BOLD watches. Benz offered a fresh, fashion-forward interpretation of the iconic Museum Dial in his five Drip Dot Dials.

2014 PARLEE The Movado Parlee takes its name and design inspiration from the company that engineers the world’s most advanced performance racing bikes – Parlee Cycles.

2020 ALEXI LUBOMIRSKI ARTIST SERIES Movado partnered with British celebrity photographer Alexi Lubomirski to create two limited-edition collections. The first, the Photographic Dials collection is Lubomirski’s interpretation of time through the lens light, water, illumination and city scenes. The second, the Four Doorways collection, features vegan straps and represents Lubomirski’s four doorways into veganism: a love of animals, the earth, pursuit of health, and spirituality.

2021 CARMEN HERRERA ARTIST SERIES Movado debuts its next Artist Series in collaboration with Cuban American artist Carmen Herrera. This limited-edition collection of five watches captures Herrera’s style of bold colors, strong lines and dynamic geometric forms-a perfect complement to Movado’s iconic Museum Dial.