Dior

In 1947 Christian Dior founded his business of the same name in a mansion on avenue Montaigne, Paris. He went on to design radically avant-garde ladies' collections.

As early as the 1950s, he expanded his business to perfumes. He was a visionary, and set off to conquer the United States – where he organised the first fashion shows abroad, with the help of his own public relations offices.

He was so successful that in 1957, he alone was responsible for over half of France's haute couture exports worldwide. For the next three decades, Dior significantly developed its collections and renown, creating its first line of watches in 1975.

The Dior Watchmaking Workshops, founded in 2001 in La Chaux-de-Fonds at the heart of the watchmaking region of Switzerland, enjoy a special relationship with the design studios in Paris' 8th district. They have enlisted the help of the best specialists in their field: movement designers, dial makers, jewel setters and more. Their close collaboration has borne fruit in five Dior Horlogerie collections: D de Dior in 2003, Chiffre Rouge in 2004, Dior Christal in 2005, Dior Grand Soir in 2010 and Dior VIII in 2011.