====== Maurice Lacroix ======
{{wst>menue|Maurice_Lacroix}}

{{wst>image_cr|Maurice Lacroix|Mémoire 1}}

**Maurice Lacroix** is a [[Swiss]] watch manufacturer, launched by [[Desco von Schulthess]] in [[1975]] and owned by Asia-focused market development conglomerate [[DKSH]] since [[2011]].

===== Introduction of the brand =====
The story of Maurice Lacroix began in [[1961]] with the establishment of a assemblage business in [[Saignelégier]] by [[Desco von Schulthess AG]] of [[Zurich]]. The parent company, established in [[1889]], was a trading company in silks and became Far East agent for watch brands [[Eterna]] and [[Certina]] in the 1960s, adding [[Jaeger-LeCoultre]], [[TAG Heuer]], and [[Audemars Piguet]] soon after. Initially Desco's [[etablisseur]] produced watches for customers under different brand names.

In [[1975]] the company launched its in-house brand. In search of a suitable name, and according to the Swiss rule that a company had to be named after an employee, the company selected Monsieur Maurice Lacroix, their Director for Silks in Lyon, France. Thus, the first watch model under the name of **Maurice Lacroix** came to market in Austria that year. In [[1976]] the brand name was introduced on the Spanish market, and it spread around the world in the following decades. The final market to be opened was the United States in [[1995]]. Desco von Schulthess also controlled [[Girard-Perregaux]] in the 1980s but sold their stake to director and general manager [[Besson, Francis|Francis Besson]] in [[1989]].

Due to the excellent price-performance ratio and the attractive design of the watches, the brand has a rapid growth in the [[1990]]s in Germany and belongs to the most successful newcomers. Apart from the rather inconspicuous watches in the low price segment (including some models with [[quartz movement]]s), an additional emphasis is put on mechanical skills and high quality appearance with the //Masterpiece// collection.

On 1 October [[2001]], the Maurice Lacroix SA became a unit independent of the former parent company. [[Desco von Schulthess]] sold the distribution rights for Maurice Lacroix to [[DKSH]] in [[2008]] and DKSH purchased the brand entirely in [[2011]], including its manufacturing operations. But the world financial crisis pushed DKSH to offer Maurice Lacroix and Queloz for sale in [[2015]] and announced plans to shut down [[Manufacture des Franches-Montagnes|MFM]]. Queloz was sold in [[2018]] but [[as of 2021]], Maurice Lacroix is owned by DKSH.

===== Development of an own manufacture movement =====
In [[1989]], Maurice Lacroix expanded their in-house capabilities with the acquisition of a watch case manufacturer in Saignelégier.

The company announces a partnership with the well-known watches inventor and designer [[Andreas Strehler]]. After more than three years of development, from this cooperation results the [[chronograph]] calibre [[ML 106]], the first fully self-designed and developed [[manufacture]] movement. This allows Maurice Lacroix to claim the prestigious status of a [[manufacture]].

In November [[2007]] in Shanghai the proprietary chronograph calibre [[ML 128]] with "memory" function is presented. It is used for the first time in the newly developed model [[Maurice Lacroix Mémoire 1|Mémoire 1]]. This spectacular chronograph, which presents a whole series of unusual innovations, comes to market at the end of [[2008]] in a small, only 20 pieces counting edition.

===== Address =====
Maurice Lacroix SA\\ Sales, Marketing & Communication\\ Brandschenkestr. 2\\ CH-8001 Zürich

Tel. +41 (0)44 209 11 11\\ Fax +41 (0)44 209 12 52

===== Weblinks =====
  * [[http://www.mauricelacroix.com|Maurice Lacroix]] (company website)
  * [[http://www.memoire1.ch|Mémoire 1]] (company website)


{{tag>Watch_brands Watch_brands_Switzerland Manufactures Jura_triangle}}