Movado is an American 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 Steichen called 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.
Sculpture
Movado commissioned Time Sculpture by architect Philip Johnson. The bronze sculpture with granite base, located outside Lincoln Center in New York City, was dedicated May 19, 1999.
References
External links
- Official Site
- G Grinberg's Obituary in the New York Times