Legend of the Phoenix: Patrik Hoffmann Announces the Rebirth of Favre Leuba at Geneva Watch Days

Horological history is filled with resurrections. Sadly, there are many examples of once-great brands being clumsily reanimated to profit from their name recognition (Elgin springs immediately to mind).

Then, there are brands like Universal Geneve, which saw its assets trapped for decades in some holding company’s vaults.

But sometimes it leads to great things, like when Dr. Jürgen Lange, together with Heinrich Moser’s great-grandson Roger Nicholas Balsiger, relaunched H. Moser & Cie. in 2005 (with a boost from the Meylan family’s MELB Holding Group in 2012).

Because we’re optimists (and we can’t resist a good comeback story), we’re hoping for good news from the rebirth of Favre Leuba. Here’s why our curiosity is piqued.

According to myth, the phoenix was a bird that lived for 500 years. When its time was up, it set itself on fire, and a new phoenix would rise from the ashes.

While it’s not quite 500 years old, few manufactures go back as far as Favre Leuba. So, it’s not too much of a stretch to see parallels between the brand and the phoenix legend.

Favre Leuba was started by Abraham Favre in 1737. Then, in the 1860s, Fritz Favre, Abraham’s great-grandson, made the brand an international sensation when he traveled to the British Raj and instilled a love for the brand in the Indian market.
 

The next golden age for Favre Leuba came in the 1960s when the brand dove deep into innovative tool watches. The brand even released one of the world’s first dive watches, the Deep Blue, along with an expedition model, the Bivouac, which could measure altitude and air pressure.

Unfortunately, after a flurry of changes in corporate structure (Favre Leuba even owned the iconic Jaeger-LeCoultre at one point) and the onset of the Quartz Crisis, the brand passed through several hands by the 1970s and ’80s.
 

The result of all this upheaval was that the brand’s drive for innovation was put on the back burner. So, while the name Favre Leuba endured, enthusiasm for its timepieces waned.

One place where Favre Leuba’s cachet was (and still is) strong is India; the country kept the name alive. Then, in 2011, the Titan Watch Company signed an agreement with Spain’s Valfamily SL and Switzerland’s Maison Favre Leuba SA to acquire global rights for the brand.

This incarnation saw Titan do its best to reinvigorate the brand’s status, but the COVID-19 pandemic severely hampered its plans for regrowth. However, resilience is built into the Favre Leuba story.
 

“Favre Leuba is not just a watch brand; it’s a symbol of resilience and innovation for the entire watchmaking industry,” explained Hoffmann in the press release announcing the relaunch. “We honor our past and our collective heritage while embracing the future, creating watches that embody the pioneering spirit of our founders.”

Today, the manufacture is entering a new era of transformation. Under the leadership of Patrik Hoffmann, former CEO of Ulysse Nardin, and his team of watchmaking experts, including veteran designers such as Antoine Tschumi (who has helped create timepieces for Czapek & Cie. and Louis Moinet) and Laurent Auberson (who has worked for Zenith, Chronoswiss, and Lehmann Uhren), the brand has set out on its most ambitious journey yet, both in scope and depth.
 

When asked by Watchonista why he took on this project, Hoffmann said: “As the second oldest Swiss watch brand, Favre Leuba carries an incredible history and legacy. So, in a time when people are increasingly valuing authenticity and tradition, it was clear that a brand with such strong roots deserved to be brought back to life. And the more we explored Favre Leuba’s rich past, the more we recognized its immense potential in today’s market.”

Currently headquartered in Grenchen, the goal, for now, is to produce thousands of watches annually within three years. However, eventually, Favre Leuba plans to move assembly and movement building in-house.
 

“The Biel/Grenchen area plays an important role in the Swiss watch industry, especially for brands that are volume-driven rather than niche or boutique-focused,” Hoffmann told Watchonista. “Favre Leuba has a rich global history, and it is no coincidence that we chose Geneva Watch Days as the platform to relaunch the brand on the global stage to the international watch community.”

Here’s the scope: Priced from CHF 2,250 to CHF 4,375, Favre Leuba is releasing 22 new references spread across three collections designed around the themes of air, sea, and land. Moreover, each collection will feature different movements from Manufacture la Joux-Perret and Chronode.
 

The brand’s campaign, with its renewed vision and innovative spirit, is ambitious, to be sure, but the goal is to expand the Swiss pioneer’s appeal beyond its Indian comfort zone, so it kind of has to be

The three new collections – Chief, Deep Blue, and Sea Sky – have been entirely rethought. However, they have also been influenced by Favre Leuba’s innovative past archives.
 

“When creating the new collection, three key factors were important to me,” Hoffmann explained to Watchonista. “First, staying true to the brand’s core principles and DNA. Second, providing genuine value to our customers. Third, creating timepieces that are wearable and can be enjoyed by both today’s and future generations.”
 

Of the three new collections, “[t]he cornerstone of Favre Leuba’s relaunch is the Chief collection,” said Hoffmann in a press statement. “The original piece that inspired this collection, the 1970 Chrono Valjoux 23 hand-wound, already featured a square-curved case that softened slightly at the four corners.”
 

But instead of marketing a reproduction, the designers fanned out from this one model to build a new family. “With the Chief, our goal is to develop a complete collection that will incorporate a variety of movements of different sizes in the future, embodying the full potential of our renewal with elegance and innovation,” Hoffmann’s press statement continued.
 

Finally, the new models’ CHF 2,250 to CHF 4,375 price range also underlines Favre Leuba’s commitment to delivering excellent value along with exceptional watchmaking to new enthusiasts. As Hoffmann said in the release about the relaunch: “We are determined to restore this legendary brand to its rightful place in the global watchmaking landscape.”
 

To learn more, visit the Favre Leuba website.