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Lemania, named after Lake Geneva (Lac Leman in French), was founded in 1884 by Alfred Lugrin.
Long before it was owned by Breguet, as it is today, it was the movement-maker behind the Iconic Caliber 321 that powered the Omega Speedmasters that went to the moon. The recently discontinued Omega Speedmaster’s Caliber 1861 (or 1863 if you own a “Sapphire Sandwich” model) was based off of a Lemania movement as well. These are arguably some of the most celebrated and iconic movements of all time.
Lemania later merged with Omega and Tissot in 1932 to form SSIH – which later became what we know today as Swatch Group. Swatch Group was technically formed in 1983 when SSIH merged with the world’s largest producer of watch movements and parts, ASUAG.
Interestingly, when SSIH was restructuring, and in the course of a management buyout in 1981, Lemania was actually separated from SSIH group and changed its name to Nouvelle Lemania. It was then purchased by Breguet in 1992, and Breguet, like Omega and Tissot, is now part of Swatch group. Swatch acquired Breguet (and thus Lemania) in 1999. Talk about things coming full circle.
Lemania played a major part in the Swiss watch industry’s recovery from the quartz crisis, as it was really the only game in town for manual wound, column wheel chronograph movements in ébauche form, supplying upper echelon brands such as Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. In its heyday, Lemania was primarily a manufacturer of movements, but also produced entire watches as well, including rugged military watches.
As a celebrated chronograph producer, it supplied every chronograph wristwatch issued to the British armed forces (Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm and RAF) not only in the 1950s, but through the 1960s as well. It was also a member of the “Dirty Dozen” during WW2.
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