EBERHARD - 125 Years of Elegant Sports
#wtbasel Eberhard has become a synonym for elegant sports. Commemorating its 125th birthday in 2012, we take a look at its most recent models presented at Baselworld.
WORLDTEMPUS - 26 March 2012
Carlos Torres
Georges-Emile Eberhard had an immense visionary spirit and real talent. He was a naturally gifted man who – at the tender age of 22 – decided to found the Manufacture d´Horlogerie Eberhard & Co in the Swiss town of La-Chaux-de-Fonds. The year was 1887. Only two decades later, in 1907, the company was already one of the largest Swiss watch producers, which allowed Eberhard to build a beautiful Parisian-like five-storey building designed in the distinctive “Beaux Arts” style with a round tower topped by an imposing eagle sculpture. The headquarters of the company became one of the city's well-known landmarks and its highest building until the 1960s.
Georges-Emile Eberhard’s choices at this early stage of development of his company shone through in almost every creative area: good taste and intrinsic elegance were added to every watch produced. Sportsmen, pilots, businessmen and connoisseurs were among the first to buy Eberhard´s creations at a time when sports had become fashionable and elegance was among the top criteria in evaluating a true gentleman. If one looks carefully at the succession of wristwatches launched by Eberhard over the decades, particularly the chronographs, it’s easy to see that sporty elegance is a characteristic clearly identifiable in almost all of them.
Eberhard´s first wrist chronograph dates back to 1919, after which the first chronograph with a counter appeared in 1938, followed at the end of the 1950s by the Extra-fort chronograph. In 1984, the Chronomaster made its debut, followed by the Navymaster in 1987. The iconic and collectible “Tazio Nuvolari” appeared in 1992, and the Traverstolo line with its larger case was released to the market in 1996. With the arrival of the new millennium, the Chrono 4 made quite an impression in the market by introducing a first: a set of four chronograph counters in a row across the dial, which improved the overall readability of the chronograph. The Scafodat was launched in 2006, followed in 2011 by the Champion V.
As 2012 dawns, this company reaches its 125th birthday, and unlike other watchmaking brands out there, after more than a century of creativity it is difficult to find any examples of watches (particularly chronographs) that do not relate to its original DNA. The Extra-fort Roue à Colonnes Grande Date 125ème Anniversaire, presented this year at Baselworld, is a good example of creative consistency that should be more common in the rest of the industry. Produced in a limited edition of 500 pieces for the steel version and 125 for the gold edition, this column wheel chronograph based on the classic Valjoux 7750 caliber displays a dial with Arabic numerals at 1, 2 and 5 o’clock that symbolizes the 125 years of the company. The 41 mm case of this watch is yet another example of sobriety, perfectly matching the overall aesthetic refinement of the model.
The reinterpretation of the Champion collection, originally launched at the beginning of the 1990s, is another example of this creative philosophy. Both the new Champion V and the Champion V Grande Date presented this year at Baselworld remain loyal to their conceptual roots, thus acquiring a certain vintage look so in tune with todays watchmaking trends. If Georges-Emile Eberhard were here today to see the watches that bear his name, he would certainly recognize the sporty elegance that he originally set out to create 125 years ago.
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