Meet Eberhard & Co.’s Most Storied Watches

You are probably familiar with the distinctive style of Eberhard & Co.’s signature pieces: The Scafograf 300, the Chrono 4, and the Tazio Nuvolari. And if you’re not, you should be.

But you’re probably not as familiar with the long history of this independent watchmaker. If you’re a horological storyteller, then this is a great one to share.

Let’s begin with Eberhard & Co.’s creation story.

The manufacture was founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the historic birthplace of the Swiss watchmaking industry, in 1887 by Georges-Lucien Eberhard. The Eberhards (which is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar) were an old Bernese family that could trace its origins back to the 10th century and included counts, dukes, and archbishops among its family tree. Not to be outdone by his impressive lineage, Georges himself was considered something of a wunderkind when he founded the manufacture d'horlogerie Eberhard & Co. at the tender age of twenty-two.
 

Later in life, he also became the patriarch of an eclectic, yet powerful, watchmaking dynasty, as his children and grandchildren married into the upper echelons of Swiss industry, including the Blums, Vogels, and Ditisheims. Eventually, his descendants became owners of some of the most important brands in the industry: Ebel, Movado, Vulcain, Solvil et Titus, Paul Ditisheim, and of course, Eberhard & Co.
 

Eventually, in 1919, two of Georges-Lucien’s sons took over the company. Frequent visitors to Italy, the new leaders of Eberhard & Co. searched for an export market and made connections to the Italian Navy.
 

Extra attention has also been given to the details. For example, the steel version of the Grande Taille Chrono 4 has an embossed “E” on the crown and on the pushers (for the red gold version, the rubber is used only for the crown). It also is protected by a non-reflective sapphire crystal, and, depending on the version, is water-resistant to 3 or 5 ATM. The stainless steel model comes with a black rubber strap while the red gold version has a crocodile leather strap with a buckle in 18k red gold.
 

Not only is the look enduring, but Eberhard is still making the Scafograf today. The modern Scafograf 300 is a mechanical, self-winding diving watch. Under its starfish-engraved caseback lies its automatic ETA 2824-2 movement with a 40-hour power reserve.

The 43mm watch also features a steel case, a unidirectional rotating ceramic bezel, with luminescent markings on the first 15 minutes scale, curved sapphire glass, and an automatic helium escape valve at 9 o’clock. The “galbé,” or curved, black dial has luminescent indices and the date at 3 o'clock.
 

When Italian businessman Palmiro Monti bought the company from the founding family in 1969, he intended to strengthen its ties to the Italian market and motorsports. At that same time, there was a growing interest in the myth of the Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari (1892-1953). He was an Italian racing legend from the 1920s and 1940s, and a man Ferdinand Porsche himself called "the greatest driver of the past, the present, and the future."

Known as Il Mantovano Volante (The Flying Mantuan), he started out racing motorcycles and went on to win 72 major races, including 24 Grand Prix events, five Coppa Cianos, two Mille Miglia, two Targa Florios, one Le Mans 24-Hours, and a European Championship.
 

A colorful character, Nuvolari was also embroiled in feuds with Ferrari, allegedly involved in a race-fixing scandal, and once won Le Mans after patching a leaky fuel tank with chewing gum.

Since 1992, Eberhard & Co. has paid tribute to this storied era of motorsports with the Tazio Nuvolari sports chronograph collection. Our favorite is the tribute to the Mantovano Volante: the Nuvolari Legend.
 

It is a very cool chronograph with lots of vintage vibes, including a black dial with Arabic numerals applied with an aged lume. Other retro touches include a minute counter at the 12 o’clock, a chronograph hour counter at 6 o’clock, and a spiral tachometer scale in km/hr in the center. The heritage feel of this timepiece is completed with a rugged leather strap or optional stainless steel bracelet.

The self-winding movement is visible through a sapphire crystal caseback, which is fixed by 8 screws and engraved with the model name and an image of the Alfa Romeo Type 12C, the car most affiliated with Nuvolari.