Founded: 1737 (as Favre-Leuba in 1815)
Founding place: Le Locle, Switzerland
Founded by: Abraham Favre
Current headquarters: Grenchen, Switzerland
Owned by: Ethos Ltd.
Official name: Favre-Leuba GmbH, now written as Favre Leuba
Table of contents
Abraham Favre starts a workshop
The history of Favre-Leuba as the brnad was named until 2024, starts in the 18th century. On the 13th of March 1737 Abraham Favre (1702-1790) started a workshop in Le Locle, Switzerland. There are archival documents stating that Abraham Favre was a watchmaker with his own workshop at that time, according to Wikipedia. So the ‘brand name’, if there was any, probably was Favre.
Favre-Leuba’s website reports that Abraham began his watchmaker apprenticeship in 1718 and around 1749 he was appointed ‘Maître horloger du Locle’ (master watchmaker of Le Locle). On the 1st of October 1792, Abraham Favre II (1740-1823), the son of the founder, founds the company ‘A. Favre & Fils’ with his sons Frédéric and Henry-Louis.
A Favre and a Leuba start working together
In 1815 Henry-Augustus Favre, the son of Frédéric Favre collaborated with Auguste Leuba, a member of a family of watchmakers & merchants, to create the brand name Favre-Leuba. In 1908 Henry-A. Favre (1865-1961) becomes head of the family business. He remained president of the board of directors until his death in 1961. His son, who’s name is Henry-A. Favre as well, becomes the new chairman and owner, together with his wife Barbara. Known models from that era are the Bivouac, a watch with an altimeter, and the Bathy, a diving watch
The company stayed in the Favre family for eight generations but in 1969, when the quartz watch came on the scene, it had difficulties to run their business. The family finally sold the brand in 1985. It went into different hands with connections with Jaeger-LeCoultre and Bovet we have read in the Hindustan Times and later Benedom SA.
Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) becomes the owner
In 1995 Benedom SA is sold to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH). But this conglomerate of luxury brands worldwide, decides to sell the brand in 2003 to the Spanish company Valentin SA (or Valentin Group).
This is part of the Spanish company Valfamily SL owned by Roberto Lopez Haba, and Clément Brunet-Moret becomes the new CEO. They relaunch the brand in 2006 and in 2007 a new collection named Mercury is launched. However, it isn’t a succes.
More restarts of the brand
In 2011 the brand has been revived again, as on November 16th 2011 Titan Company Limited aquired the brand. Which is the watch manufacturing company of the Tata group. They pay around € 2.000.000 / CHF 2’500’000 (Le Temps, December 2011) for the name. During 2016 and 2017 the brand is launched again, this time in collaboration with Ethos Ltd., an Indian watch retailer. Not a succes as in 2020 Titan officially scales down operations for Favre-Leuba AG (FLAG).
In 2023 the brand is acquired by a group of investors bundled in Silvercity Brands AG. This company is now owned by the aforementioned Ethos Ltd who becomes 100% owner in 2023. Ethos Ltd. is owned by the Indian company KDDL Ltd. Patrik Hoffman (ex Ulysse Nardin and Watchbox / De Bethune) becomes the CEO of Favre-Leuba. And on the 29th of August 2024, another relaunch takes place with a serious line-up of new models, now with the brand name Favre Leuba, without the hyphen.
The history of Favre-Leuba in a timeline
1702 – Birth of Abraham Favre
1718 – Abraham Favre starts his apprenticeship
1737 – (13th of March) Abraham Favre starts a workshop in Le Locle
1740 – Birth of Abraham Favre II
1749 – Abraham Favre is appointed ‘Maître horloger du Locle’
1792 – Abraham Favre II founds A. Favre & Fils with his sons Frédéric and Henry-Louis
1815 – Henry-Augustes Favre starts a partnership with Auguste Leuba
1815 – Founding of the brand Favre-Leuba
1896 – The company headquarters were relocated from Le Locle to Geneva
1908 – Henri-A. Favre-Leuba (1865-1961) becomes head of the family business
1948 – Favre-Leuba buys Bovet and start producing Favre-Leuba Bovet watches
1961 – A new Henry-A. Favre (1908-1972) becomes chairman of the board after his father Henry-A. Favre dies
1963 – Officially registered (again) as Manufacture d’Horlogerie Favre-Leuba S.A.
1968 – Last model of the ‘old’ Favre-Leuba (Harpoon) introduced
1969 – Henry-A. and Barbara Favre buy a majority stake in SAPHIR, the former SAPIC Group (Société Anonyme de Produits Industriels et Commerciaux), which owns parts of Jaeger-LeCoultre
1978 – 65% of Jaeger-LeCoultre from SAPHIR is sold to VDO Automotive
1985 – Favre family sells the brand Favre-Leuba to Benedom SA (later SAPHIR will be partly bought by Audemars Piguet and has ended as a part of the Richemont)
1995 – (July) Benedom SA is sold to LVMH
2003 – (March) LVMH sells the brand to the Spanish company Valentin SA (or Valentin Group), Clément Brunet-Moret becomes CEO
2006 – Relaunch with the Mercury collection (2007)
2011 – (16th of November) Titan Company Limited (or Titan Industries) buys the brand and relaunches it
2016 – Brand is revived again by Titan working with Ethos Ltd.
2020 – Titan scales down operations for Favre-Leuba AG (FLAG)
2023 – Silvercity Brands AG is founded and buys the brand, Patrik Hoffmann becomes CEO
2023 – (31th of March) – Ethos Ltd. buys Silvercity Brands AG for CHF 50’000
2024 – (29th of August) Relaunch of the brand, name changes in Favre Leuba
The full list of oldest watch brands in the world might interest you…
Watches from Favre Leuba
Watches from this brand can be found in the Favre Leuba section of this website.