The year marks the beginning of a close collaboration between Abraham Favre and Jacques-Frederic Horiet, the father of Swiss chronometry. Around the same time, Abraham Favre also worked with Abraham Louis Breguet on different innovative timepieces.

After the Second World War, Favre Leuba was able to count on a stable position in India thanks to their own office in Bombay. Gradually, the family company won back its standing and relevance in other watch markets – first in Switzerland, then Europe, and later in America and Africa. Among others, branches in Hamburg, London, Rangoon, Karachi, Singapore, and New York secured well-functioning distribution as well as first-class customer service.

Favre Leuba developed the legendary Bivouac, the world’s first mechanical wristwatch with an aneroid barometer for altimetry and air pressure measurement. It soon ranked among the indispensable equipment of those who overcame seemingly defined limits. The Bivouac completed one of its first missions on the wrists of the Swiss national parachuting team during the 1962 World Cup in the United States. The Italian mountaineer Walter Bonatti wore a Bivouac in 1964 when he and the Genevan Michel Vaucher successfully ascended the north face of Pointe Whymper (4,196 m) in the Grandes Jorasses for the first time and when he conquered the north face of the Matterhorn on the most direct route. The young Valais native Michel Darbelley undertook his first solo ascent of the Eiger in 1963 with his watch from the workshops of Favre Leuba, which reliably showed him what altitude he had already scaled and whether a change in weather was imminent. The famous French polar explorer Paul-Emile Victor relied on his Bivouac on numerous expeditions to the endless ice.

FL251 CALIBRE The patented FL251 calibre of 1962, with 11.5‴ and a height of only 2.95 mm, revolutionised thanks to the use of two barrels, series production of extra flat movements with centered second hand.

Three years after the presentation of the first diver’s watch from the in-house atelier, the brand launched the Deep Blue, waterproof up to 200 metres.

New Headquarters Favre Leuba reincorporated production of their own ébauches in the newly established company, headquartered in Petit-Lancy near Geneva. The company was consequently named at the end of the 19th century as Manufacture d’Horlogerie Favre-Leuba S.A.

Favre Leuba and Jaeger-LeCoultre became sister companies in 1969 when Georges Favre purchased the SAPIC Group, which owned Jaeger-LeCoultre at the time. The association saw the development of some now-popular Jaeger-LeCoultre watches like Reverso and Memovox with Favre Leuba branding.

Several models marked the transition into the 1970s, perfectly matching the zeitgeist with their distinctive pillowy design. Inside the Sea Raider, with day and calendar indication, ticked the automatic calibre FL1164 with 36,000 vph, while the Memo Raider delighted the global clientele with an automatic alarm. The Sea Sky and Sea Sky GMT models, introduced at the same time, combined the functionality of a diver’s watch with that of a chronograph and a 24-hour hand.

The introduction of quartz movements plunged the Swiss watch industry into a severe crisis that did not stop at the gates of Favre Leuba’s workshops. The family was subsequently compelled to sell the brand in the 1980s. After that, the company changed ownership multiple times.

Favre Leuba launched its ultimate diving watch, the Raider Harpoon, which features a unique way of reading the time. Through its innovative functionality and by simplifying the complexity, Raider Harpoon fits perfectly into a long line of legendary timepieces this watch brand has always designed.

280th anniversary of the Maison was celebrated at Baselworld with the launch of the Bivouac 9000, the ultimate instrument for all altitudes.

BRAND AMBASSADORS The brand supports many athletes and expeditions that express our claim of Conquering Frontiers. Pen Hadow, who led a mission to the Arctic, Satyarup Siddhanta, who embarked on a journey to the Mt. Vinson Massif, and Sayuri Kinoshita, who undertook a world-record dive, are some of the ambassadors representing Favre Leuba and their tool watches.

Within less than a year of its launch, the Raider Bivouac 9000 wins the Watchstars award in the category New Stars for being the best new watch.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATHY Favre Leuba celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1968 superstar Bathy with the Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth, which measures and records depth to 120 m.

BIVOUAC 9000 SUMMITS EVEREST A great year for Favre Leuba as its pioneering instrument watch, the Raider Bivouac 9000, reaches the summit of Mount Everest. The Bivouac 9000 is the only mechanical altimeter watch in the world to have successfully reached an altitude of 8,848m.