Most luxury watch producers are really old. That’s part of the prestige. There are four brands specifically, though, that are so old, they’re older than the country I’m currently writing this in. Gallet, Blancpain, Favre-Leuba, and Vacheron Constantin are four watch brands older than the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this one is kind of a technicality. The Gallet name wasn’t officially registered<\/a> until 1826, but the company can trace its roots all the way back to clock-maker Humbertus Gallet – way back in 1466. That makes it the world’s oldest watch and clock making house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gallet family was originally located in Geneva, but relocated in 1826 to La Chaux-de-Fonds. When it made the move, and also officially registered as The Gallet & Cie, it was already operating for 350 years! It wouldn’t open its first US location in Chicago until 1864, however. It soon opened another location in New York as well. Lucien Gallet, with additional help<\/a> from a cousin by the name of Jules Racine, oversaw expansion into the US markets. Jules Racine was living in the US at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gallet has military provenance as well, developing the first wristwatch that displayed a full-sized, constant seconds hand that originates from the center of the dial. It’s also mass-produced and were issued to military nurses and medics during World War 1. It also supplied wrist-worn timers to the British armed forces during WW1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company also produced a lot of watches for the Allies in WW2. Production surpassed 100,000 watches just at the start of WW2 in 1935.<\/p>\n\n\n