====== Favre-Leuba ======
{{wst>menue|Favre-Leuba}}

{{wst>image_cr|Favre-Leuba|Bivouac 9000}}

**Favre-Leuba** is a Swiss watch manufacturer

===== Foundation of the brand =====
[[1737]] Abraham Favre (1702-1790) founds an own watch workshop in [[Le Locle]]. Around [[1749]], he is appointed ‘Maître horloger du Locle' (master watchmaker of Le Locle).

[[1792]] Abraham Favre jr. (1740-1823), the son of the company founder, together with his two sons Frédéric and Henry-Louis starts the company «A. Favre & Fils». 1815 Henry Auguste (1796-1865), Frédéric Favre's son and thereby the fourth generation of the watchmaker family, join forces with Auguste Leuba from Buttes in Val-de-Travers. Favre-Leuba pocket watches receive numerous awards at national and international exhibitions -- in London (1851), New York (1853), Paris (1855), Bern (1857), and Porto (1865), among others.

===== Expansion to India =====
Fritz Favre (1828-1877) successfully continues the expansion strategy of his father in Europe, America and Asia. In the years 1865 and 1867 he travels to India and launches his brand on the subcontinent, which quickly develops into an important market for Favre-Leuba.

1896 the company headquarters is relocated from Le Locle to [[Geneva]]. Henri Favre-Leuba (1865-1961) takes over the leadership of the family business in 1908 and continues to steadily grow the brand internationally.

Favre-Leuba was responsible for distributing Swiss brands such as [[Zenith]] in Asia through the 1960s. The company sold co-branded "Favre-Leuba Zenith" watches during this time.

===== Important models =====
[[1925]] the first monopusher [[chronograph]]s are produced. [[1955]] Favre-Leuba introduces the [[manufacture movement]] FL 101, which is used in the //Sea Chief//, //Sea King// and //Sea Raider//.

[[1957]] the calibre FL 102 with calendar function is presented, which is used in the //Datic// models. It is followed by the [[self-winding]] movements FL 103 and FL 104, which are equipped without or with a date display.

[[1960]] the //Water Deep// is the brand's first dive watch.

===== The successful model Bivouac =====
[[1962]] Favre-Leuba launches the [[Favre-Leuba Bivouac 9000|Bivouac]], the world's first mechanical wristwatch with aneroid barometer, for altimetry and air pressure measurement. The Bivouac achieves one of its first missions on the wrists of the Swiss national parachuting team during the 1962 World Cup in the United States. The Italian mountaineer Walter Bonatti wears a Bivouac in 1964 when he and the Genevan Michel Vaucher successfully ascend the north face of Pointe Whymper (4,196 m) in the Grandes Jorasses for the first time and when he conquers the north face of the Matterhorn on the most direct route. The young Michel Darbelley from Wallis undertakes his first solo ascent of the Eiger in 1963 with his watch from the workshops of Favre-Leuba, which reliably shows him what altitude he has already scaled and whether a change in weather is imminent. The well-known French polar explorer Paul-Emile Victor relies on his Bivouac on numerous expeditions to the endless ice.

[[1968]] the brand presents the //Bathy// -- the world's first mechanical wristwatch, which displays not only the dive time but also the current diving depth.

===== The 1970 years =====
The models of the 1970s show the pillowy design typical of the current fashion the automatic caliber FL 1164 of the //Sea Raider// ticks with 36'000 a/h, while the //Memo Raider// is equipped with an automatic [[alarm function]]. The //Sea Sky// and //Sea Sky GMT// models, which are introduced at the same time, combine the functionality of a diver's watch with that of a chronograph and a [[24-hours]] indication.

===== Rebirth after the quartz crisis =====
Favre-Leuba and [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]] were brought together in [[1969]] as the [[SAPHIR Group]]. During this time, it was positioned below Jaeger-LeCoultre, though today it is more of a [[luxury]] brand. Like the majority of Swiss watch manufacturers, Favre-Leuba was hit by the [[quartz crisis]] and was sold to [[Benedom]] in [[1978]]. The brand passed to [[LVMH]] and private holders in the next few decades.

The brand was revived November 16, [[2011]] when it was purchased by [[Titan]], part of the Indian Tata Group. The headquarters of the company is moved to [[Zug]]. Favre-Leuba returned to [[Baselworld]] in [[2017]] with a collection of new models that pick up on specific characteristics of the previous successful models and feature advanced technologies.

===== Model survey =====
==== Dive watches ====
  * [[Favre-Leuba Raider Harpoon|Raider Harpoon]], 2016
  * [[Favre-Leuba Deep Blue|Deep Blue]]
  * [[Favre-Leuba Sea Sky|Sea Sky]]

==== Expedition watches ====
  * [[Favre-Leuba Bivouac 9000|Bivouac 9000]], 2017

==== Sports watches ====
  * [[Favre-Leuba Sky Chief Date|Sky Chief Date]]
  * [[Favre-Leuba Sky Chief Chronograph|Sky Chief Chronograph]]

===== Address =====
Favre-Leuba AG\\ Niklaus-Konradstrasse 25/27\\ CH-4500 Solothurn\\ info@favre-leuba.com

===== Weblinks =====
  * [[https://www.favre-leuba.com/|Favre-Leuba]], official site


{{tag>Watch_brands Watch_brands_Switzerland Upscale_watch_brands}}