If you are into vintage watches, there is no doubt you have at some point crossed the name Gübelin. It is one of the retailers that co signed wrist watches from brands such as Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Often times these would be very special watches such as Patek 1518, 2499 or Disco Volante AP watches. On these watches the input from Gübelin was very limited. They would simply sign and distribute the watches for the brands and had a close relationship, which also allowed them to take special orders now and then.
Gübelin actually holds a much more special place in watchmaking history. For a general overview of the company’s history, see here. They set themselves apart because they also produced watches with their own name on the dial. Still the movements in these examples would be sourced from other suppliers, but the Gübelin watchmakers would finish them to unmatched standards. This is where they exceed other retailers such as Cartier and Tiffany&Co. Those brands would also work with movement suppliers but opted for a plug and play strategy. Using the movements as they were supplied to them. I do not wish to criticize this at all. It is very understandable they worked like this, as their main focus was on jewelry. Especially when dealing with Cartier it was and still is to this day all about the case and dials. Their instantly recognizable style is loved across the globe. With main locations in Paris, London and New York they weren’t close to the fire when it comes to watchmaking either. For them the movement was simply a component to make their creation come to live. For Tiffany it is much the same, where the focus is even more on precious stones and jewelry. Their role in watches has been mainly limited to retailing and co-signing.
What is different is that Gübelin chose the base movements they used with great care, it would often be the best of the best available in the market and the watch would be created around the movement. You can tell they were deeply emerged in the Swiss watch industry. I dare to go as far as saying that some of the Gübelin watches can compete with the brands they co-signed and retailed. They also used third party case makers that were involved with the big brands. To name some examples they used Wenger cases as well as cases from Ponti, Gennari et Cie. The thickness of their cases is also often unmatched and absolute top quality.
But what movements exactly did they use? Well let’s go through some examples. In the early days we see some spectacular creations using jump hours and other innovative time telling systems. The movements behind these complications came from Niton. Much later we see the legendary Valjoux 72, and other movements from Valjoux were used for the chronographs. Some cased in steel, some in gold. Always with unique high quality cases. The signature on the dials would change over time. E.Gübelin being the earlier signature where later examples would only bear the Gübelin name. The Valjoux 72 used by Gübelin might be the best finished example used in series produced watches. Then there are Gübelin watches using the Eterna 852 movement. This is an extremely durable caliber that is best known for powering the Eterna Majetek military issued watches. What is cool about the Gübelin is that they do not really care about what a movement was initially intended for, they do their own thing with it. Most often one would encounter the 852 in oversized steel watches by Gübelin, with lumed dials and hands. However, I have also seen oversized gold examples that are intended as dress watches, and again with an extra bit of finishing. This is a super interesting take. Take the most durable of calibers and put them in the classiest watches, so the end user can have the best of both worlds.
Other examples use movements by IWC. I have seen caliber 82 and 83. What is also important to note is that the movements would be supplied to Gübelin unsigned and they would put the Gübelin signature on them, or sometimes they would order the manufacturer to do so. We also see Zenith and Peseux movements that got the Gübelin treatment. Finishing these movements is not something regular watchmakers can do, this is super high level specialist work we applaud the independent watchmakers for today. The watchmakers at work in the Gübelin workshop at the time, can be considered the best of the best.
One of the movements used the most must be the Felsa Bydinator automatic movement. A patented bi-directional winding automatic movement. It was used by Gübelin in a wide range of watches. There is the early Cioccolatone watches, then there is a wide range of different models known as the ipso series. Ipsomatic being the name Gübelin gave to their self-winding watches. Ipso means self in Latin, so the name is pretty straightforward. The Swiss focused on quality, not catchy names. There is the ipso-day, a watch with date display. In addition, we find lots of different calendar models which also include moonphases. Again, with spectacular movement finishing.
But the most notable of all movements used by Gübelin must be from the legendary Valjoux VZ line, which you can read more about here. In 1953 Gübelin contacted AP to supply them with 200 movements for their jubilee. These Jubilee pieces are absolutely the best of the best. They feature star dials, diamond set dials and all the best techniques available to Gübelin at the time. They also used other movements to commemorate 1854-1954, but this is the most important one. More about the VZ history and evolution can be found here link.
Ah, and then there is something out of this world, which I really, really want. A Robert Cart jump hour by Gübelin, which I have only seen in an ad, once posted here. This can be considered my personal grail Gübelin. If anyone has any information on this watch, please let me know.
Let’s now go through some of the Gübelin watches that have passed through our hands over the last years. If you have anything similar, or dissimilar but equally interesting, please get in touch. Any vintage Gübelin wrist or pocket watch from the 1920’s to the 1990’s can be of interest, so do not hesitate.
