Movado
The History of Movado Watches
Movado Watches have a rich heritage in Swiss watchmaking and were founded in 1881 by a relative young watchmaker Achielle Ditesheim in the village of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, producing pocket watches and jewelry timepieces.
In 1905, Ditesheim's company officially adopted the name Movado, an Esperanto term meaning “always in motion.” The brand's slender Polyplan timepiece, a slender and innovative rectangular-shaped watch with an arched crystal and leather strap was one of their early achievements, which also earned Movado a patent in design as well.
The brand's innovative spirit took on a revolutionary turn in the late 1940's with the introduction of the Museum Watch, an iconic timepiece created by artist Nathan George Hewitt and renowned for its sleek, fluid lines and minimalist design dial.
The original model influenced by the designer's Bauhaus background, featured a perfectly round, ultra-slim in yellow gold on a black lizard strap. The iconic black dial with two slender, polished sword hands and a single dot at the 12 o'clock hour, representing the sun at high noon.
The Museum Watch was added to the Museum of Modern Art in 1960 and still stands today as a paragon of modern time. Over six decades later, many watches in Movado's popular men's and women's collections, including Eliro, Sprortivo, Vizio, Concerto and Bold feature updated aspects of the iconic Museum dial, sans the sweeping second hands and hour indicators.