Helbros
Helbros
Helbein-Stone Company Inc was incorporated 1919, manufacturing jewelry, $220,000 in Manhattan. Wm Helbein , N. Schwarzstein, N. Schwarzstein, Jr. Hotel Schuyler Arms, New York City. The earliest mention of "Helbros Watches"is from 1925. There was a rumour that Helbros supposedly stands for "Helvetic Brothers" and was a Chicago based company and is still in business - but this is not related to the Helbros watch company referenced here.
At its height, Helbros was a major US watch company, and Helbein was an important figure. Helbein was the first chair of the American Watch Assemblers Association, and was a Director of the American Watch Association. When he died at the age of 70 in his home in Park Lane, he left a successful company. Perhaps in recognition of the challenges of his early life, a memorial scholarship was established in his name at Brandeis University.
There are several examples on-line of Helbros watched branded with logos, for company promotions or other groups, such as Lodges. In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, according to legal documents, Helbros made two distinct lines of watches. One was aimed at door to door canvassers, and long-term credit jewellers. It was, presumably, better quality. A second line was made and sold to discount stores and catalog houses, and was expected to be sold at a discount. This probably helps to explain the widespread belief among collectors that Helbros watches range from the good to the ordinary. ‘Regency‘ and ‘Invincible‘ lines tend to be good quality.
The watch company seems to have flagged after his death, and was effectively closed by the early 1970s.
History
On the 11th of August 1963, Elgin National Watch Co announced the acquisition of the Helbros Watch Co by Henry M. Margolis. Helbros will operate as a division of Elgin with Larry Prigozen remaining as president.
According to the trademark registry, the trademark for "Helbros" was assigned to "The Elgin National Watch Company" in 1968, and was reassigned back to "Helbros Watches Inc" in 1974. There's another trademark listed for "Helbros Regency" which was registered in 1947 by "Helbros Watch Company Inc", that was also assigned to Elgin in 1968, and back to Helbros Watches in 1974. The last registration linked to "Helbros Watches" was in 1991, and it was canceled in 1998. All the "old" registrations for Helbros died (weren't renewed or were canceled) by 1991 or 1998, with the exception of the registration for "Helbros Invincible". That one was registered in 1981, and wasn't canceled until 2002. A new trademark was registered by Jules Jurgensen in 2001, but was abandoned. Another one was registered in 2005 (again by Jules Jurgensen) and is the only "live" registration in the system.
Notable Models
Helbros Movements
There are many movements within Helbros watches, and little can be told from the outside. This will reflect the different ranges sold, and the long time period during which watches were produced. There are examples of pocket watches made by Helbros.
The 820b, from about 1948, is noted to have ‘General Watch Company, Switzerland‘, and ‘Helbros Watch Co. Switzerland‘ inside the case, with ‘Helbros‘ on the dial. The movement is inscribed ‘Helbros Watch Co. Swiss‘ and is reported to have the import code ‘HXW‘.
This is often read as ‘MXH‘. According to ranfft.de, the MXH movement code was used by Morris Hoffman Inc, and included Invicta and Seeland. This is cleared up by the mikrolisk.de site, which lists HXW as an import code registered by Helbros Freres / Helbros Watch Co in Geneva and Neuchatel, Switzerland and New York and Los Angeles. It seems likely, therefore, that watches noted to have ‘MXH‘ codes actually have HXW import codes. Without knowing which way up they have been written, it is very difficult to distinguish them.
Other watches are marked ‘Helbros Watch Co Germany‘. Helbros also inported Rado watches at times, including the ‘Satellite’ model.
Other movements reported include a variation of the FHF Cal 25; the AS 984 by Adolf Schild; the AS 1914; AS 1255; the AS 1475; AS 1568; PUW 260; Otero 48; PUW 561; a PUW 1360 (in a case made by Conde of Hong Kong); the ETA 1100; Felsa 690; Felsa Bidynator; ESA 9158; FHF 28; Mastertime M112; Lorsa P62; Lorsa P76; Landeron 4750; Arogno 128 and an Enicar 980. Movements in electric watches are German PUW movements.
Various movements are used in Helbros chronographs including Landeron 48, Venus Cal. 150, 170, 175, Venus Cal. 188 ( identical to the Valjoux 7730), Valjoux 7733, Valjoux 72C.
Links
Credit - https://forgottenwatchbrands.wordpress.com/2016/01/02/helbros-watches/
