Do you know of Eberhard & Co.?
Of course, the name is not unfamiliar to you, but you may have a hard time recalling any more about the brand and an even harder time recalling its main collections? Eberhard & Co. is an interesting and captivating brand in more ways than one: founded in 1887, it has a watchmaking legitimacy and history, as well as a personal history marked by the tragic disappearance of the heads of its founding family in a car accident in 1962. Loyalty and heritage are fundamental. Loyalty in the Monti family, who took the reins of the company in the 1970s and who are still at the helm today, with a woman as CEO—uncommon in watchmaking—Barbara Monti. Loyalty to the company’s heritage, to its roots and its hometown with the return of the brand’s headquarters to its historic building of origin in La Chaux-de-Fonds last year.
A brand that is also interesting in its efforts to remain independent in an often troubled environment for watchmaking and continued innovation, almost a century after creating the first chronograph on wrist and decades after numerous chronograph-related innovations. And, in the end, loyalty to this chronograph, which remains the specialty of Eberhard & Co. and loyalty to the memory of the great Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari, whom the brand has been celebrating since 1992.
The proof in three watches
1. Extra-Fort Grande Taille Roue à Colonnes
It’s one of the most beautiful chronographs, and that’s why we love it.
The first of the three watches we chose to represent Eberhard & Co. had to be a chronograph. There only remained choosing between the two major collections: Extra Strong or Chrono 4? The design of the Chrono 4 is, above all else, recognizable for its four horizontally aligned counters, but the Extra Strong still spearheads Eberhard & Co. and can boast an uninterrupted success since its launch in 1940. At the age of eighty, the Extra-Strong has lost none of its robustness or elegance, and has a long line of descendants, as the brand has never ceased to develop and enrich this line. One of the latest variations, the Extra-Fort Grande Taille roue à colonnes, pays tribute to the chronograph movement with the device that distinguishes top-of-the-range chronographs from standard pieces, the column-wheel. Presented in a 41mm steel case, it displays a certain uniformity of silver and black colours, synonymous with elegance.
2. 1887 Remontage manuel
We love it because it’s authentically vintage.
This is a timepiece full of historical callbacks and links the brand’s past and its present. Take this into account: 1887 is the year Eberhard & Co. was founded, and this watch houses the new in-house calibre EB 140, a hand-wound movement that collectors will appreciate, launched last year in celebration of Eberhard & Co.’s return to La Chaux-de-Fonds, and integrated here for the first time in a watch. An elegant and classic model with its “Clous de Paris” guilloché dial, its trapezoid-shaped date window and the original “Eberhard & Co. - Chaux-de-Fonds” engraving a plaque on the dial. The strap is made of tie silk, manufactured by the Italian firm Ulturale—the height of masculine elegance.
3. Tazio Nuvolari Legend
We love it because we’re also fans of motorsports.
Since 1992, Eberhard & Co. has been paying homage to the Italian racing driver of the 1920s and 1940s. That year, it launched the first model in the Tazio Nuvolari sports chronograph collection, which it has continued to expand over the years. It has also been the main sponsor of the Gran Premio Nuvolari Rally for two decades. Many watches are inspired by cars, but an entire collection in the name of one driver is rare. Thanks to Eberhard & Co., all lovers of fine watchmaking who are not necessarily keen on motorsport know Tazio Nuvolari. We have therefore chosen a Tazio Nuvolari model as the third emblematic Eberhard & Co. watch, the one that overlooks all the others and raises this driver to the rank of sports legend, the Tazio Nuvolari Legend. This vintage looking chronograph features an original tachometric scale that spirals from the centre of the black dial, a nod to the high speeds that was the passion of the campionissimo. His initials appear on the dial and his favourite car, the Scuderia Ferrari’s Alfa Romeo Type 12C, is engraved in gold on the back.
