Austria, despite its envy-inducing location on the border of Switzerland and Germany, isn’t home to as many prestigious watchmakers as you might think. In fact, other than the husband and wife duo that forms the independent brand Habring², there hasn’t been much horological activity in the country over the past few decades.
That changed in 2016 when the renowned independent watchmaker Marc Jenni helped revive a 196-year-old brand named Carl Suchy & Söhne with the help of Robert Punkenhofer, an authoritative figure in the worlds of art and design and the current Austrian Trade Commissioner in Barcelona, who serves as the historical brand’s CEO.
The Carl Suchy & Söhne Waltz N°1
Founded in 1822 by the young Austrian watchmaker Carl Suchy, the watch firm had an impressive reach and became the official timepiece supplier to the Imperial Court in 1835 and the first Watch Purveyor to the Royal and Imperial Court in 1844. For close to 100 years, Suchy and his 35 employees served members of the Habsburg aristocracy such as Emperor Franz Joseph, Empress Sisi, and Sigmund Freud. However, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved amid the fallout of World War I, so did the once-eminent watchmaker. In the 100 years since World War I, Carl Suchy remained an imposing figure in the horological mythos of Austria, but his influence outside of his homeland, despite maintaining a branch in Switzerland during his lifetime, dissipated. That is until Punkenhofer ...