Ebel 2014, the nouvelle Wave

At this point in time, when the custom of reworking iconic pieces appears to be so new it is being termed neo-vintage, when legendary models are undergoing facelifts and bicolor pieces are suddenly emerging in the vanguard of trends, it is worth remembering that everything had to be invented at some time.

Once upon a time, there was a Sport Classic

Thus, this is not a world premiere in the application of the principals governing product lifecycles.  For a brand with such rich history as Ebel, grappling with icons is not a recent phenomenon, irrespective of what the rank and file of the info class say. Ebel! The name was made up of the initials of the two founders, Eugène Blum et Alice Levy, and was entered into the trade register of La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1911 as the gift for a 9th year of marriage. It was their grandson, Pierre-Alain Blum, who put the family business on the international charts with the launch of the Sport Classic line in 1977. Are there any distinguishing features? Yes, a bracelet whose highly identifiable curved links justify reviving the item itself in a cyclical and recurring fashion.  

Mechanical honors for women

Buoyed by a brief historical reminder (see the article "October 2001, I was there: when Ebel relaunched its Wave"), the appearance of a new Wave series in July 2014 occurred within a context of perfectly legitimate continuity. The brand has been in Movado's hands since 2004, a full 10 years. Ladies first, as it were: there is the Wave Lady automatic, a 30-millimeter case harboring the mechanical ETA 2671 caliber. It's a respectable choice of motorization, dependable as well, with a 38-hour power reserve and a date.

The case, with polished and satin-brushed finishing, is 10.05 millimeters high and water-resistant to 50 meters (5 atm), and is therefore well in the trending bicolor pattern. You could almost forget that for Ebel, this is actually a return to the roots, when one considers just how much the brand subscribed to launching these kinds of ideas during its history. The supple features of this legendary bracelet were reinforced and given more dynamism.

On the dial side, the choice of white mother-of-pearl is more than just proper. Especially since at 12 o'clock and at the three remaining quarter-hour markers, an Ebel logo and three appliques stake their claim in red gold and alternate with the eight diamonds weighing 0.052 carats each. The date aperture was placed at 3 o'clock. As for the price, under CHF 3,000, it says a lot about Ebel's goal of turning this wave into a bit of a tsunami.

Two Wave Gent models

For men, the famously curved links of the "Ebelistic" bracelet is back in two versions. The one uses its affordability (CHF 1,600) as a pathway to ownership of a page of Swiss history. This version, driven by a Ronda 175 movement (Swiss-made quartz), is all steel with an unflaggingly classic sober backdrop and marked, in terms of finishing, by a most happy alternation between polished and brushed sections. It is also water-resistant to 50 meters and features a date aperture at 3 o'clock. The vaulted and rhodium-plated hands sweep through time under an antireflective sapphire crystal.

The second option, driven by an automatic caliber, the ETA 2824-2, was also provided with a diameter that is, once again, reasonable, 40 millimeters. This is the version that rehabilitates the bicolor trend, steel and red gold. In fact, the crown is in solid red gold. Its hue contrasts with the galvanic silver of the dial, spangled with appliques, which are also in red gold, just like the Ebel symbol, enthroned at 12 o'clock, right above the name of the brand. As with the women's models, an aperture was cut into the dial at 3 o'clock, the power reserve is 38 hours and pricing does not go beyond the CHF 3,000 mark, an egalitarian message for women and men of good will.

Ebel, history and prestige

These 2014 novelties, presented among the protagonists of the world of distribution, i.e., retailers and distributors, are part and parcel of the scheme of a brand that is over a hundred years old and having historic capital that is rich enough to make some current companies green with envy. Few horological names have inscribed themselves so much into the key pages of watchmaking. 

In 1914, just three years after being born, it picked up a gold medal at the National Exhibition in Bern, thanks to its patented watch rings (anchor escapement and concealed time-setting). And was it not the first Swiss watchmaking company to use the "Western Electric" system, an ancestor of the vibrograph, to measure the precision of its timepieces' movements?  With the launch of the Sport Classic in 1977, the brand was a pioneer of the Sport Elegance trend that reached its peak in the 80s and is still a widely recognized style today.

So in its own way, and with the same precision and entrepreneurial vision as those who invented the Swatch, the great Swiss watchmaker Ebel also saved watchmaking. But without making waves, or maybe they did?...