Let's Talk About Favre-Leuba!
Favre-Leuba - the story of Switzerland's second oldest watch brand begins with Abraham Favre opening his watch shop in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1737. In 1792, Abraham Favre jr, the son, opens A. Favre & Fils with his two sons. In 1815, Henry Auguste Favre, grandson of the founder, joins with Auguste Leuba to form Favre-Leuba whose pocket watches receive numerous awards and international recognition. In the years 1865-1867, Fritz Favre travels to India successfully launching the brand in the subcontinent and creating a very important market for the brand (ultimately it is this popularity of the brand in India that results in its acquisition and revival by the Indian multinational Tata in 2011). In 1896, the brand relocates its headquarters to Geneva and continues to grow its brand internationally. In 1925, Favre-Leuba created its first monopusher chronographs. It would continue producing chronographs using Valjoux and Landeron movements into the 1970s. In 1968, Favre-Leuba creates the first mechanical wristwatch to show both the dive time and the dive depth calling the watch the Bathy. Its cushion cased Raider watches became popular dive watches in the 1970s with the Sea Raider, Sea Sky, Sea Sky GMT, and other models. It is the Raider model that was recently revived to great success by the brand with an array of colorways available. Of course, the brand suffered in the 1970s with the quartz crisis like all Swiss watchmakers and was acquired by LVMH in the late 1970s. The company moved its headquarters to Zug, Switzerland in 2011 when it was acquired from LVMH by Tata.
Here are some vintage examples from my collection:
Favre-Leuba Sandow (1940s) Ref. 3273 8902 Movement: Manual ETA? Case size: 28mm
Favre-Leuba Chronograph (1950) ref. 137 Movement: Manual Landeron Caliber 48 Case size: 35mm 18k Rose Gold
Favre-Leuba Deep Blue (1972) ref. 59863 Movement: Automatic Favre-Leuba caliber FL 1153 Case size: 40mm NOS - all original including vintage tropic rubber strap
Favre-Leuba Sea Bird (1970s) ref. 53032 Movement: Manual w/Alarm AS 1475 Case size: 35mm NOS - all original including original signed bracelet
Favre-Leuba Triple Calendar (1990s) ref. 1737 Movement: Automatic ETA 2892-2 Case size: 37mm
Favre-Leuba Raider Sea Sky Chronograph (2020) ref. 00.10103.08.15.20 Movement: Automatic ETA Valjoux 7753 Case size: 44mm
I really like chronographs especially vintage ones.
Beautiful👌The 50s Chrono and the Deep Blue are my favourites from your lineup. You also appreciate Watches83 I notice👍
Beautiful👌The 50s Chrono and the Deep Blue are my favourites from your lineup. You also appreciate Watches83 I notice👍
Thanks! Yes - Silvia and Sigfrid are excellent. Anyone who wants good quality vintage watches would do well to visit Watches83. Sounds like you have done business with them as well.
Interestingly, two of these are no longer in my collection - I've gifted that gorgeous Sea Bird to a friend - it was too small for my 7.5 inch wrist and I could not imagine removing it from its original bracelet. And my daughter claimed the triple calendar - fortunately I was able to adjust the bracelet to fit her rather tiny wrist.
Thanks again for the appreciation.
These are some extremely fine watches! Thanks for the historic writeup. Would buy a 35mm re-edition of the Sandow in a heartbeat...
These are some extremely fine watches! Thanks for the historic writeup. Would buy a 35mm re-edition of the Sandow in a heartbeat...
Thanks! I know - I had to purchase the Sandow even though it's quite petite and looks almost ridiculous on my large wrist. A 35mm or 36mm reissue with a thin manual movement would be brilliant.
What a fantastic collection you have there for the brand. Congrats!
Love the chrono and the Deep Blue. Beautiful balance of condition and patina.
Love the chrono and the Deep Blue. Beautiful balance of condition and patina.
Thanks! The Deep Blue was a real find - it's in NOS condition on what looks like its' original vintage tropic rubber strap. This one came from the great folks at Watch Pool 24. Here's what Tony from Rescapement had to say about the Deep Blue: "In 1960, Favre-Leuba introduced the Water Deep, the brand’s first dive watch. It had large, luminous indices, a rotating bezel that sat under glass and rotated using only a rotator at 2 o’clock. It was a true tool watch for its time. The brand improved upon this watch in 1964, with the release of the Deep Blue, which had water resistance up to 200m."