Helvetia
Helvetia
The history of the Helvetia watch goes way back to 1848, to Louis Brands . By 1880 Louis and his brother set up a watch manufacturing business, La Generale Watch Co (General Watch Company). Helvetia is the female personification of the Swiss nations. The watches produced by the Brands brothers were highly prized and by incorporation of the new lever movements in 1885, they produced timepieces that were accurate to within 30 seconds per day. Four years later the General Watch company became the largest producer of watches in Switzerland. They formed collaborations with other manufacturers, most notably Audemars Piguet and produced highly desirable watches.
Omega had a financial position in Gw Co/Helvetia at the start of the 20th century, However Omega gave up its stake in 1911 and they became independent.
In the mid 1920s Helvetia/General Watch Co started producing watches with a cross-shaped spring on the balance of the movement which looked like a simplified version of the Depollier/Brun system. During this period one of the main importers of Helvetia watches into the UK was the company ‘Robert Pringle and Sons’ of London.
