====== Martel ======

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

**Martel Watch Company** was a [[Swiss]] [[watch movement]] company in the 20th century.

Founded in [[1911]] in [[Le Locle]] by Georges Pellaton-Steudler, Martel Watch Co. was a specialty maker of [[repetition]] and [[chronograph]] movements. This category was rapidly rising, especially in Le Locle, and Martel soon became a favored producer. The company is first listed in [[Indicateur Davoine]] as **Georges Pellaton-Steudler**, maker of "Répétitions et Chronographes" at 5 Rue du Chemin-Blanc in [[Le Locle]]. By [[1916]], the **Martel Watch Co.** had been established in [[Ponts-de-Martel]] by Pellaton-Steudler, though the Le Locle office remained active as well through the 1920s.

As early as [[1917]], Martel began specializing in [[chronograph]] movements, working with [[Universal]] for a movement that the company boasted was the world's first wrist chronograph. These were [[mono-pusher]] movements with the chronograph pusher integrated into the crown as on pocket chronographs. In [[1932]], Universal launched what they claimed was the world's first two-pusher wrist watch chronograph. With its dual-subdial design and pushers at 2 00 and 4 00, these remain the template for all future chronograph watches. They were powered by the [[Universal 281]] movement, produced in [[Les Ponts-de-Martel]] possibly by Martel. A year or two later, in [[1933]] or [[1934]], Universal launched a three-subdial chronograph. Zenith and Universal named these chronograph designs [[compur]] and [[compax]], a name which has stuck ever since.

The next great advancement for Martel, with partners Universal and Zenith, was the introduction of a wrist watch chronograph with a calendar complication. Launched around [[1942]], the new four-subdial design added a dial at 12 00 to show the date, two adjacent windows for day and month, and optional moon phase indicators were also added. By this time, Universal had built their own facility in Les Ponts-de-Martel, and history is unclear as to which company, Universal or Martel, is responsible for these movements.

In the 1950s, Martel began marketing watches with their own brand name, both time-only and chronograph models. One notable model in the mid 1950s was the Martel Victorious, an [[automatic]] movement with date in a waterproof case.

By this time, Zenith had begun using [[Excelsior Park]] chronograph movements from [[Saint-Imier]] and [[Le Sentier]] as well, but they returned to purchase Martel outright at the end of the decade.

Ponts-de-Martel is located near Le Locle, home of [[Zenith]] and [[Universal]], and the company long shared some production and management with those companies. Eventually, between [[1958]] and [[1960]], Zenith purchased Martel and absorbed its expertise, movement designs, and production facilities.

===== See also =====
  *[[http://forums.watchuseek.com/f27/short-history-martel-watch-co-zenith-chronographs-660565.html|A Short History of Martel Watch Co and Zenith Chronographs]]


{{tag>Watch_brands Watch_brands_Switzerland Manufactures Zenith Le_Locle Les_Ponts-de-Martel}}