In the second half of the 19th century, La Chaux-de-Fonds was the temple of Swiss watchmaking. Amidst the workshops of craftsmen and the first manufactories that animated the streets of the town, a young Georges-Lucien Eberhard, ambitious and determined, decided to give life to a personal project: to found his own Maison. A gamble in the eyes of many, but a thoughtful choice, deeply rooted in his origins. The son and grandson of watchmakers, Georges not only inherited a trade but guarded a passion and set out to transform “the dream” into a legacy destined to last.
From the very beginning, Eberhard & Co. distinguished itself by its ability to blend technical research and innovative spirit. As early as 1894 it obtained the first patent for an original time-setting system; two patents for single-pusher chronographs followed in 1905, precision instruments that anticipated the sporting and military requirements of the new century. Soon the brand became a benchmark in La Chaux-de-Fonds, thanks to models capable of combining the stylistic codes of tradition with cutting-edge functional solutions.
The Maison’s path always remained consistent and independent, even when, in 1926, the reins passed to sons Georges-Émile and Maurice-William. It was they who consolidated the link with the world of engines and aviation, sectors in which the chronograph represented an indispensable instrument. In the 1930s, the Italian Royal Navy chose Eberhard & Co. chronographs, recognizing their reliability and precision.
From the mid-twentieth century onward, the brand continued to interpret the times while maintaining its identity: first with the Extra-fort (1940), then with the Scafograf (1959) and the Scientigraf (1961), up to the contemporary era marked by the arrival of the innovative 8 Jours and the revolutionary Chrono 4. All of these chapters highlight both the technical expertise and the strength with which Eberhard & Co. was able to navigate through changes, trends, and adversity (including the quartz crisis).
Today, with more than 138 years of history and led by just two families, Eberhard & Co. is the custodian of a technical and cultural heritage that continues to fascinate collectors and enthusiasts worldwide.
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Origins and early patents
When Georges-Lucien Eberhard founded his manufacture in 1887, Swiss watchmaking was undergoing an era of profound transformation. Timepieces were no longer just luxury items, but precision instruments demanded by industrial progress, science and transportation. Georges-Lucien Eberhard, who grew up in a family of watchmakers and trained in contact with the workshops in Saint-Imier and then La Chaux-de-Fonds, understood that the future of his business would depend on his ability to innovate without neglecting integrity and craftsmanship component.
The first recognition came in 1894, with the patent for a time-setting system that introduced greater practicality into the daily use of pocket watches. It was the prelude to a series of inventions that marked the first season of the Maison. In 1905 two patents were filed relating to a single-pusher chronograph with jumping hours visible through two windows in the center of the dial (the first, reserved for the hours, is trapezoidal in shape and is located just above the chronograph seconds sphere, while the second window, semi-circular, concerns the minutes and is below).
In parallel, production ranged from 18-karat gold “Savonnette” pocket watches, a symbol of prestige and elegance, to models with technical acumen such as the burnished iron pocket watch with “Lépine” style case and remontoire alarm function.
Another significant step was the 1921 “Patrouille,” equipped with a double silver case and a patented waterproofing system (an ingenious device for the time, when water resistance was still a challenge for watchmakers).
In these pioneering decades, Eberhard & Co. was likened to a “laboratory.” Here the tradition and ars of master watchmakers were intertwined with a willingness to take on new, and seemingly insurmountable, technical challenges.
The era of wrist chronographs
In the 1930s and 1940s, wristwatchmaking experienced a crucial season, marked by the transition to increasingly compact, reliable, and function-rich timepieces.
For Eberhard & Co. that period was decisive. The company presented, in 1940, the model that would become an icon: the Extra-fort.
The Extra-fort derives from a series of experimental models and references that collectors today refer to as “Pre Extra-fort.” These watches, produced in the 1930s, were “oversize” wrist chronographs (40 mm) equipped with Valjoux 65 hand-wound movements on which Eberhard & Co. made unique modifications.
Among these was the replacement of the pusher at 4 o’clock with a “slide” that runs along the profile of the case, allowing the chronograph to inhibit or restart, depending on the direction in which it is pushed. So much attention was paid to the ebauche Valjoux that Eberhard & Co. gave it its own designation, namely cal. 16000.
In the 1950s came even more sought-after versions: chronographs with two or three counters (remembering that the addition of the hour counter designates another record in watchmaking history, as it was Eberhard & Co. that first introduced it on a wrist model) and split-second variants for measuring intermediate times.
Cases could be made of steel or 18-karat gold, while dials ranged from enamel or silver-plated brass base configurations (white, salmon, or the very rare black colors) with tachymetric and telemetric scales to more elaborate versions with pulsometric scales.
In 1942 saw the birth of the chronograph with the “Magini System,” used during World War II on the first Rome-Tokyo connecting flight (in honor of one of the members of the expedition, Publio Magini). The timepiece was equipped with several pushers dedicated to the management of its functions: integrated on the crown is the coaxial pusher for setting the time, while at the 4 o’clock position is the chronograph control. The date and month correctors, on the other hand, are located at the 16 and 24 o’clock positions, respectively.
Among the depths of the sea
In the 1950s, Swiss watchmaking faced an entirely new challenge. Instruments on the wrist had to become reliable companions in adverse conditions, meeting the needs of professional divers and a society confronted with the rapid rise of electric and magnetic devices. Eberhard & Co. immediately grasped the importance of this change and chose to expand its “catalog” by creating two creations that would mark its history: the Scafograf and the Scientigraf.
In 1959 the Scafograf 100 was introduced, the first in a long line of dive watches. With a 35 mm steel case water-resistant to 100 meters (330 feet), a smooth bezel and screw-down crown, it represented a modern, solid solution for those taking on sport diving. Success soon led to even better performing versions: the Scafograf 200 and 300 (1964). The latter featured a rotating bezel (for the first time ever), luminescent hour markers/spheres, and the case was increased to 42.5 mm.
Subsequent iterations, the Scafograf 400 (1969) and specifically the Scafograf 1000 (1983), instead introduced the helium escape safety valve (a device designed for divers who spend long periods of time inside a diving bell).
All models were recognizable by the presence of highly legible dials with first triangular and then luminescent bar indices, generous hands, and an engraving on the caseback showing a starfish, which became the emblem of the collection. The combination of functionality and style made the Scafografs appreciated even by those who did not use them professionally, turning them into versatile instruments suitable for every context.
In 2016, the Scafograf legend was renewed with the launch of the Scafograf 300, awarded “Sport Watch of the Year” at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. This version was followed in 2020 by the Scafograf 300 MCMLIX, a commemorative edition that pays homage to the collection’s year of birth (1959) with a design inspired by vintage aesthetic codes.
Only two years after its debut at sea, Eberhard & Co. looked to another invisible but equally insidious frontier: that of magnetic fields. The widespread use of household appliances, industrial tools and electronic devices were putting a strain on mechanical movements, often compromising their precision.
In response to this need, the Scientigraf, the Maison’s first antimagnetic timepiece, was born in 1961. Inside, an ingenious protection system inspired by the so-called “Faraday cage” shielded the movement, preventing external interference from altering its operation. The sturdy steel case, understated dial with luminescent markers and resistance certified at specialized centers in La Chaux-de-Fonds made the Scientigraf a scientific instrument as well as a wristwatch.
Significantly, Eberhard & Co. has always met technical challenges with concrete solutions, not simply aesthetic ones: the Scafograf answered a real need for reliability in depth, the Scientigraf offered protection in a world that was discovering the risks of electromagnetism. Both represented, in their own way, a step forward in functional watchmaking.
The Monti era and the quartz challenge
When Maurice Eberhard & Co. decided to hand over the leadership of the company in 1969, the fate of the Maison was intertwined with that of Palmiro Monti, an entrepreneur with great vision. It was the beginning of a new phase that profoundly marked the brand’s identity. Those were difficult years for Swiss watchmaking: the introduction of quartz watches was throwing the entire industry into crisis, undermining the foundations of an industry built on complex and expensive mechanical movements.
Many historic manufactures did not survive, others chose to abandon traditional watchmaking and move toward simpler and more accessible productions. Eberhard & Co., under Monti’s leadership, took a different, courageous path that combined defense of its roots with openness to new solutions.
Monti understood that to meet the challenge it was not enough to resist: the Maison’s personality had to be strengthened. On the one hand, he preserved the production of mechanical chronographs, the brand’s true DNA, by offering models that celebrated tradition with generous cases and reliable movements.
On the other, he had the intuition to also present quartz watches, not as substitutes but as complements, showing that the Maison was capable of innovating without betraying its history. This dual path allowed Eberhard & Co. to pass through what for many was a lethal decade without fail.
Monti faced that period with great resilience, showing loyalty to traditional watchmaking even in a time of severe crisis, continuing to present mechanical watches while expanding the range with quartz models.
In the 1990s, having overcome the quartz crisis, Monti’s legacy continued to bear fruit. In 1992 the Tazio Nuvolari collection was born, dedicated to the legendary Italian driver, a chronograph that celebrated the deep connection between the Maison and the world of motor racing.
A ‘further revolution came in 1997 with the 8 Jours, a hand-wound mechanical watch with an eight-day power reserve, made possible by a patented device with two overlapping springs totaling 1.55 meters.
The Monti era was thus a season of both endurance and revival. Thanks to his leadership, Eberhard & Co. not only weathered the quartz crisis unscathed, but laid the groundwork for the renewal that would characterize the 2000s.
Today many collectors look to the 1970s and 1980s of Eberhard & Co. as a lesser-known but extremely interesting period, full of rare and transitional models that represent the duality between tradition and the great innovations that would come at the end of the century.
The Chrono 4 revolution
By the time Eberhard & Co. introduced the Chrono 4 in 2001, the Swiss watchmaking landscape was saturated with chronographs with a traditional layout and layout. The Maison decided to break the mould with a radical idea: to align four perfectly symmetrical counters horizontally.
Minutes, hours, 24 hours, and small seconds flowed from left to right, restoring for the first time on the dial a logical order that mimicked the natural way we read and interpret time. It was an aesthetic revolution, certainly, but also a technical one, because no existing movement could support that arrangement.
To make it, Eberhard & Co. engineers developed a patented module capable of redistributing the energy and flow of information, ensuring that the four totalizers work in perfect synchrony. At the heart of the Chrono 4 is the ETA-based EB251 caliber, completely rethought and modified to power the totalizers on a single horizontal axis. This engineering effort took years of development and testing, but gave rise to an unprecedented, instantly recognizable movement.
Aesthetically, the Chrono 4 brought with it an unprecedented balance: the dial appeared uncluttered, almost architectural, and the symmetry of the four counters evoked a sense of rigor that made it an immediate success. Early versions were offered in polished or satin-finished steel cases, with diameters around 40 millimeters, sapphire crystal, and water resistance to 50 meters. Later variants enriched the offerings with contrasting dials, soleil finishes, 18-karat rose gold editions, and skeletonized versions that allowed a glimpse of part of the mechanism.
The Chrono 4 did not remain an isolated episode but became a long-running collection, destined to decline into many variants: from the Chrono 4 Géant, with its oversized case designed for the sportier public, to the Chrono 4 Temerario, featuring a tonneau case that once again redefined the aesthetics of the line.
In 2017, on the occasion of the Maison’s 130th anniversary, the Chrono 4 130, a celebratory reissue with vintage-inspired dials, was unveiled, while in 2021 came the Chrono 4 “21-42,” celebrating 20 years since the model’s inception and introducing new proportions with a 42-millimeter case while remaining faithful to the original arrangement of the counters.
Between past and present
In recent decades, Eberhard & Co. has demonstrated that its identity is not a “relic,” but a living matter, capable of dialoguing with the present. The strategy pursued by Barbara Monti, Palmiro’s daughter, and Mario Peserico has followed two complementary directions: on the one hand, the re-edition of historical models, and on the other, the creation of brand-new projects that carry forward the Maison’s innovative spirit.
It is in this direction that highly successful operations such as the reissue of the Scientigraf or the Scafograf 300 MCMLIX are located. Similarly, the Chronographes 1887 paid tribute to its founding year with a proprietary movement equipped with a column wheel and flyback function, a sign of how tradition can find new life through technical research.
Even collections such as Contodat, launched in 2025 and inspired by a mechanical watch presented by Palmiro Monti in the 1970s, testify to the desire to maintain a direct thread with history by reinterpreting it for new generations of enthusiasts.
This dialogue between past and present finds an ideal setting in the Eberhard & Co. Museum, opened in 2019 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, inside the historic “Maison de l’Aigle.” Here visitors can admire pocket watches from the late 19th century, military chronographs from the 1930s, early Extra-fort references, original Scafographs, and Scientigrafs tested against magnetic fields. Each installation tells the story of an era, each piece holds a fragment of the philosophy that guided the manufacture.
There is no shortage of rarities that have attracted great interest at international auctions, reflecting the extent to which Eberhard & Co. timepieces are now recognized as instruments and as collectibles.
Conclusion
Constant evolution, which a brand devoted to excellence cannot escape, should never betray its original essence. It is precisely this balance between innovation and fidelity to roots that has marked the entire path of Eberhard & Co. Since its origins, the Maison has demonstrated the ability to look ahead, to interpret the needs of its time and to keep its identity intact, built on precision and quality.
The long and prestigious history of Eberhard & Co. is studded with technical and stylistic achievements that have been able to redefine the parameters of watchmaking, reaching milestones that many still consider difficult to replicate today. This pioneering attitude has made the brand an authoritative benchmark for the entire industry.
It is therefore no coincidence that scholars, experts and enthusiasts have never questioned the historical relevance of Eberhard & Co.: its legacy represents a pillar of Swiss and international watchmaking. Today, as in the past, its timepieces are not just instruments for measuring time, but true witnesses to a path of courage, research and passion. A path that continues to inspire and consolidate the prestige of a name destined to remain etched in the memory of time.
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