During its heyday in the 1990s and early aughts, Chronoswiss was a brand you couldn?t turn a corner without seeing or hearing about. While a large part of the brand’s production was always centered around regulator wristwatches, its collection continued to expand through that period until the 2007 recession landed them (as well as many other luxury brands) in somewhat dire circumstance. Thankfully, the brand found new ownership in the Ebstein family in 2012, led by Oliver Ebstein who now sits as the brand?s CEO, and is slowly but surely continuing to regain its footing in both the United States and international markets. A recent visit to the brand?s headquarters in Lucerne revealed both a very familial and welcoming business structure, as well as a surprising level of internal production and development capability, especially given the scale of its past presence in the marketplace. The Chronoswiss Sirius Flying Grand Regulator
Located in the center of Lucerne, only a brief walk from the city?s massive Bucherer boutique, Chronoswiss HQ is compact and unassuming, to say the least. At its center, a glass-fronted isolated room contains a small cluster of watchmaking benches, where a team of four watchmakers completes the final assembly of the brand?s current collection (with one bench dedicated to in-house servicing and repair). Along the exterior of this central room, a string of vignettes displays a mix of the brand?s current collection, as well as a historical archive...