COLLECTING
Then there was the 1914 Movado “Soldier’s Watch” with a protective grill
that was popular during WWI, the 1926 Movado Ermeto square pocket watch,
the 1938 Movado monopusher chronograph, the Calendograf, the Celestograf,
the Calendomatic, the Datron, the world time and the Artists’ Series, which
included the Andy Warhol timepiece.
However, out of all of Movado’s innovations, the two that stand out to me
the most are Movado’s first automatic chronograph with Zenith’s El Primero
movement (called the Datron HS 36 caliber at Movado) and of course, the
now-iconic Museum watch created by Nathan Horwitt in 1947.
Unfortunately, the 1970s was a dark decade for Movado. The Grinberg
family purchased the company in 1983 and turned it into the Movado Group
with the aim of bringing back the spirit and passion of the Ditesheim days.
THE MOVADO ARCHIVES
The official Movado library and archives are located in New Jersey. Stephanie
A Movado World Timer.
Artistic collaborations, including those with Andy Warhol.
64 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SPRING 2019
Riccoboni—who has worked at Movado for twelve years—is the librarian in
charge. With such an in-depth knowledge of Movado’s history, she works very
closely with Movado’s master watchmaker, the marketing team, and the
business development team.
After the Grinberg family purchased Movado more than thirty-five years
ago, the company began the process of developing an archive of historic
vintage Movado watches. Movado continues collecting pieces today and is
constantly scouting auction houses, private collections and even Instagram
for timepieces.
It was fascinating to browse through a place with shelf after shelf of
reference books, drawers filled with caliber drawings and sketches, piles of
original sales catalogs, billboards, displays, and other brand paraphernalia.
Today, the Movado Group has more than 1,200 vintage watches (including
pieces from Movado, Ebel, and Concord)—each one carefully photographed
and filed in photo albums.
A unique watch Movado made for Elizabeth Taylor.