====== Eska ======

{{wst>author|[[Foskett, Stephen|Stephen Foskett]] ([[https://grail-watch.com/|Grail Watch]])}}

**Eska** and **Royce** were Swiss watch brands of '''S. Kocher & Co SA, founded in [[1918]].

===== History =====
S. Kocher was founded in [[Granges]] in [[1918]]. By the 1970s, they sold mass-market and upscale watches with the **Eska** and **Royce** brands. Although originally differentiated, these brands came together as "sisters" in the 1970s and 1980s. Royce became a sporting brand while Eska focused on the high end.

Kocher was slow to adopt quartz movements and struggled through the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company abandoned manufacturing at this time in order to focus on licensing and design. The last appearance of these brands at a major show was [[1986]].

===== Eska =====
The **Eska** brand was the styling and technology leader for S. Kocher.

Kocher set up Eska Relogios Ltd. in Brazil in [[1949]]. Thus, the brand remained successful there for decades, and included local manufacturing.

In the 1960s, Eska focused on [[ultra-thin]] and jewelry watches. This effort strongly differentiated the brand from the sister Royce watches.

By the 1970s, the two brands were closer together in the market and were sold as sister offerings. It was not until [[1976]] that Eska added [[quartz]] movements to the lineup.

In [[1980]], Eska unveiled their own quartz [[Reverso]] model, the Eska Sesame, with styling nearly identical to the [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]] offering then experiencing a renaissance. The company adopted a stylish gold and black color scheme in [[1983]].

===== Royce =====
The **Royce** brand was sold independently of the Eska brand. Royce simply advertised as "Royce Switzerland Grenchen" or "Royce Swiss" and the dial featured just the "Royce" name. The company's logo was a stylized crown. Royce was a mass-market brand, emphasizing styling and value as much as performance, but did offer fully-jeweled movements.

The brand added automatic movements in [[1960]] and this, along with waterproof cases, became their key selling point in the 1960s. By [[1965]] the firm was offering dive watches, and in [[1967]] added a novel twin-movement side-by-side travel watch. The company also produced a day-date model strongly resembling the famous [[Rolex]] offering. The brand moved to a winged "R" logo this decade as well.

By [[1970]], Royce had entered the [[coin watch]] craze with a "ten dollar watch." Another unique offering was the Royce Amphibian, a waterproof sports watch with interchangeable rotating bezels. Royce added the "Mexico" line of watches with a colorful synthetic case for [[1973]]. In [[1975]] Royce expanded their sports [[chronograph]] line with the new [[Valjoux 7750]] automatic movement.

The Royce brand fell out of favor and was discontinued in the 1980s.


{{tag>Watch_brands Watch_brands_Switzerland Grenchen}}