Movado Luxury Watches

Movado is a Swiss watchmaker best known for its Museum Watch. Designed in 1947 by Bauhaus-influenced artist Nathan George Horwitt, the watch dial has a very simple design dial defined by a solitary dot at 12, symbolizing the sun at high noon.

It was first made by Vacheron & Constantin-Le Coultre Watches, Inc., and later produced by Movado. Horwitt's dial was selected for the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1960, the first watch dial awarded this distinction. The single dot dial now appears in many of Movado's timepieces.

History

Movado was founded as LAI Ditescheim & Freres SA in 1881 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, by Léopold Achille Isidore Ditesheim. In 1983, the company was purchased by Gedalio Grinberg, a Cuban-born Jew, who fled Fidel Castro's Marxist Revolution in 1960 with his family.

His son, Efraim Grinberg, is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Movado Group, Inc. The North American President of Movado is Alan Chinich. In 2006, Movado celebrated its 125th year of watchmaking.

On February 23, 1999, Movado Group, Inc. completed the sale of Piaget business to VLG North America, Inc., for approximately $30 million.

Watches

The company markets the Museum Watch, designed by the American designer Nathan George Horwitt in 1947. It was first manufactured by Vacheron & Constantin-Le Coultre Watches, Inc., Switzerland. Movado started producing an unauthorized version starting in 1948, copying Horwitt's design.

It was added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in 1960. Movado finally settled with Horwitt in 1975 with a payment of $29,000 ($128,000 in 2015 dollars). Following Horwitt's death, Movado started heavy promotion of Horwitt and the design of the Museum Watch.

Photographer Edward Steichencalled Horwitt's design "the only truly original and beautiful one for such an object". Some Movado watch models have Esperanto names such as Bela ("beautiful"), Belamodo ("beautiful fashion"), Fiero ("pride"), Brila ("brilliant"), Linio ("line"), and Verto. The company's name means "movement" in that language.

In November 2015, Movado announced the release of the Movado Motion collection of fine Swiss made watches, powered by the Manufacture Modules Technologies (MMT) MotionX technology platform. The collection includes the women’s Bellina and the men’s Museum Sport models.

Items to Consider when Buying a Luxury Watch

1. Overall Design and Materials: Does it appeal to the buyer's eye? What are the materials used? Beyond the staples of Gold, Silver and Titanium there is a wide range of new materials on the market which work beautifully in luxury watches. Avoid anything plated, i.e. gold-plating.

2. The Watch Maker and History: Pick a seller or watch maker with a solid reputation and a untarnished history of making great products. Last place you want to make an exception is when buying an expensive timepiece.

3. Complications: Complications are number of different functions a watch can perform. Do your research of these as the price of a mechanical watch increases exponentially with the number of complex movements.

4. Movement: These are the intricate movements and design on the inside and can be either made in-house (considered better but more costly) or by third-party. If it's done by third-party, look up the reputation of that third-party.

5. Materials & Jewels: Check for number of jewels on the inside as well as out-side displayed jewels. Inner-jewels contribute to smoother and longer lasting mechanical parts.

6. Return Policies: Most reputable watch sellers and makers allow for easy returns if the piece is not to your liking. Sometimes it takes a few times of trial and error to get the right watch your comfortable with and enjoy wearing. A No Hassles return policy is best.

7. Budget: Considering many luxury watches are high in price, some more than a car or home, it may be a good idea to consider your budget or plan to get into a nicer watch. Many places will let you trade in and trade up with additional deposits. This way you can work your way up to a nice mechanical watch after some time and while getting the feel of the type of watch you prefer.