Names like Rolex, Patek, Audemars Piguet and Omega dominate the headspace of vintage watch collectors not only due to their exceptional quality but also because of their historical significance. These brands that have been around for decades, and in some cases, for centuries; they’ve come to help define what the watch industry is today.
But these legacy brands aren’t the exclusive purveyors of significant, lust-worthy vintage watches. Before the quartz crisis of the 1970s and ’80s, there were many other watchmakers out there producing exceptional timepieces. Though most of them were victims of a seismic shift in timekeeping technology, their vintage watches are worth collecting.
Before the quartz crisis of the 1970s and ’80s, there were many other watchmakers out there producing exceptional timepieces.
Some of these brands we’re calling “forgotten” indeed disappeared completely and are barely known today, even to many collectors. Others might have survived quietly or in name only — perhaps acquired by a corporate group and relegated to producing low-quality watches that don’t do their historic names justice and which watch enthusiasts ignore completely. The popularity of vintage watches has even seen some brands return from obscurity, from Nivada and Airain to Ollech & Wajs and others.
Vintage watches from each of the following brands present opportunities for discovery and, at times, great values.
1. Cortébert
Cortébert’s roots go back all the way to 1790, when watchmaker Abraham-Louis Juillard opened up his watch store in Cortébert, Switzerland. However, the name wasn’t used until the mid-19th century.
Not much is known about Cortébert (its records were lost in a fire in the ’50s), but it was considered a high-end brand in its day. It is perhaps best known today for accurate railway watches supplied to the Turkish and Italian railway systems (the latter of which were sold under the Perseo brand name).