Short reads on the makers, watches and brands that shaped horology, in three groups.
Technical Pioneers
The inventions: Breguet, Favre-Leuba, Blancpain and Cartier.
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Breguet: the watchmaker who never stopped inventing
From the self-winding Perpétuelle to the 1801 tourbillon, how Abraham-Louis Breguet set the agenda for two centuries of watchmaking.
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Favre-Leuba: the house that put an altimeter on the wrist
From Le Locle in 1737 to the Bivouac and the Bathy, how Favre-Leuba turned the wristwatch into a measuring instrument.
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Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms and the birth of the modern dive watch
A French combat divers’ wish list, a Blancpain boss who dived, and the 1953 watch that set the template.
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Cartier and the first great wristwatch shapes
A pilot’s problem in 1904, a square case and a rectangle: how Cartier designed the wristwatch before most people wore one.
Market Movers
The reach: Timex, Titan and Rolex.
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Timex: from the dollar watch to a billion watches sold
How a Connecticut clockmaker made the dependable watch cheap, then proved it on live television.
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Titan: how a Tata venture rewired the Indian watch market
From 17 watches on its first day in Bengaluru to its own Vetra movement in 2026, four decades of Titan.
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Rolex: how the Oyster, and a lot of advertising, built a giant
A waterproof case, a self-winding rotor and a Channel swimmer: the proof-first strategy behind the world’s best-known watch brand.
Microbrands
The new voices: Christopher Ward, Bangalore, Jaipur and Delhi Watch Companies, and Spinnaker.
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Microbrands: how small watch brands won the conversation
From Christopher Ward’s global online model to Spinnaker, then the Indian brands carrying it further: Delhi, Jaipur and Bangalore.
