Ebel Wrist Watches

Ebel Watches and their Footsteps

Foundingof the Ebel factory by Eugene Blum and his wife Alice Levy on July 15 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. They create the Ebel name from their initials.

1912 - saw the launch of the first Ebel wristwatch.

1914 - won the gold medal at the Swiss National Exposition in Bern.

1925 - Grand Prize at the Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.

1929 - Charles-Eugene Blum, the founders' son, joins the company. Launch of baguette movements for jewelry watches.

1935 - Ebel is the first Swiss watchmaker to introduce Western Electric precision controls.

Eugene Blum, who was trained in the watch business by his father, founded Ebel in 1911 with his wife Alic Levy. The Blum couple symbolically uses their initials to name their new company: E(ugene) B(lum) E(t) L(evy). Eugene takes charge of sales and is particularly attentive to watch movements and their precision. Alice, a woman of character and taste, manages the personnel and suppliers, and particularly devotes herself to the aesthetics of the product.

It is the beginning of a long family tradition: for three generation the Blums are at the head of Ebel, making it one of the greatest houses in the famous Neuchatelois region of watchmaking.

The watchmaking house has continued innovation since its creation. At the Swiss National Exposition of 1914, Ebel watch-rings were cited not only for their beauty, but for their innovative hidden setting system. In 1925, Ebel won the Grand Prize at the Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris for its richly set watches. The Expo watch was an extremely original model and a unanimous winner at the Swiss National Exposition of 1964.

And in 1977, the launch of the Sport Classic became perhaps perhaps Ebel's greatest public success of all. Though square watches were the fashion at the time, the Sport Classic won devotees to its curving forms, and a new aesthetic was born. The Beluga, the 1911, the Beluga Manchette , the Classic Wave and the Beluga Tonneau continue in the same spirit.