Arcadia Watches
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Watch manufacturing |
| Founded | Fleurier, Switzerland (1858) |
| Founder | Claude Sanz |
| Headquarters | Geneva , Switzerland |
Key people | Richard Baldwin (CEO) |
| Products | Wrist watches |
Arcadia Watches is a Swiss brand of luxury watches[1] established in 1858. In 1968, the brand ceased due to a decline caused by the introduction of quartz movements.[2] It was relaunched in 2007 by Claude Sanz, owner and President of Maison Bunter based in Geneva, and the first new Arcadia watch, the AC01, entered the market in 2010.[1]
History
[edit]The Arcadia brand originated in Fleurier, a small village in Val-de-Travers region of the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Watchmaker Jules-Samuel Jequier was born in 1835 in Fleurier and joined Bovet after training as a jewel-cutter and quickly climbed up the company ladder. In 1858, he founded Arcadia and positioned it as the top-of-the-line watchmaker among the five watchmaking brands of the Fleurier Watch Company, a manufacturer established in 1915.[citation needed] The company specialized in jewel cutting and designing watch calibers and had federated watchmaking farmers into working cooperatively with each other. Fleurier Watch Company supplied movements for over a century to many watch brands.[1]
While Arcadia had started off producing movements, it followed several years later with a watch line. Arcadia was in fact one of the earliest brands to sell its watches around the world, including China and South America, and it was an avant-garde brand [2] that became the flagship of the Fleurier Watch Company.[1]
The brand sold watches until 1968, when, like many other mechanical watch companies, the advent of inexpensive quartz models led to its demise.[3]
Rebirth
[edit]In 2007, Claude Sanz re-launched the brand. Sanz is the President and owner of the jewellery watch house [1] in Bunter SA, based just outside Geneva.[2] The relaunch of Arcadia has led to it restarting the Flourier Watch Company, which is temporarily based in Geneva with movements assembled there.[4]
Models
[edit]
Ring Watch circa 1930
Centenary Watch 1958
Arcadia Watch circa 1950
Arcadia Watch circa 1960
Arcadia Watch circa 1966
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "Arcadia Website" Archived January 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine arcadia-watches.com. Accessed January 07 2012
- 1 2 3 "International Wristwatch – The definitive source for watch enthusiasts". iwmagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
- ↑ Malcolmson, James D. (2011-05-01). "Watches: Vintage Victory". Robb Report. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
- ↑ "Arcadia Takes Over Fleurier Watch Co" World Tempus, March 2011. Accessed December 31, 2011