News Central

New watch brand: Antoine Martin

 

MEDIA RELEASE

WITH HIS OWN WATCH MANUFACTURE AT THE HEART OF SWITZERLAND, IN ALPNACH NEAR LUCERNE, MASTER WATCHMAKER MARTIN BRAUN HAS REALIZED HIS VISION OF ESTABLISHING A NEW AND UNUSUAL BRAND FEATURING HIS OWN MOVEMENTS IN THE LUXURY WATCH SEGMENT. THE NAME OF THE NEW BRAND IS ANTOINE MARTIN, AND THE MAN APPOINTED TO MANAGE IT IS BRUNO JUFER, WHO HAS ENORMOUS EXPERIENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL WATCH MARKET. THE FIRST WATCH COLLECTION, DEVELOPED AND MANUFACTURED EXCLUSIVELY AT THE COMPANY’S MODERN WORKSHOPS IN ALPNACH WILL BE UNVEILED AT BASELWORLD 2011 FROM 24 TO 31 MARCH.


A watchmaker of exceptional talent, Martin Braun founded his company MHO AG (Manufacture Horlogère
Obwalden) in 2009 with the declared aim of realizing his idea for his own watch movement, featuring the
Swiss club-tooth lever escapement he had developed himself. After almost two years of intensive work, the
first ANTOINE MARTIN movement developed and manufactured entirely in the company’s workshops is
ready. It is a fascinating hand-wound movement with an integrated perpetual calendar, large date display
and six-day power reserve. Development of the second movement, an automatic, will be completed by midyear.
Both movements, featuring unprecedented technical innovations, are absolute highlights in watch
design and are available exclusively to the new brand, ANTOINE MARTIN.

AN INDUSTRY EXPERT AS CEO

The man appointed to manage the brand is CEO Bruno Jufer, who has enormous experience of the watch
industry. He has previously held positions with Maurice Lacroix, Jaquet Droz, Zenith and, most recently, as
a member of executive management with Carl F. Bucherer. The new ANTOINE MARTIN watch collection
was born under Bruno Jufer’s management. “Our watches are a distillation of all our expertise, our desire
to create something totally unusual, and our passion for exquisite design, technology and top-quality
materials,” he explains. The brand and its first watch collection will be presented to the industry and the
general public at Baselworld, the world’s largest watch and jewellery fair.

A CLEAR VISION

According to Bruno Jufer, the brand has a clear vision. “We aim to establish ANTOINE MARTIN as a luxury
watch manufacturer of worldwide renown. The brand will be a benchmark for innovative technology in
movement construction and stand for unique watch design.” Master watchmaker Martin Braun and
entrepreneur Antoine Meier jointly founded the manufacture and provided its name. The combination
ANTOINE MARTIN has a pleasing ring and has a similar pronunciation in all the world’s major languages.
The decision not to resurrect and relaunch an existing brand name was a conscious one. “What we’re doing
now is making use of all the expertise we’ve amassed in the past and gearing it entirely towards the future.
We aren’t drawing on a tradition established by long-gone founders: our developers and master
watchmakers all live in the present and are under no obligation whatsoever to follow predefined routes. Our
independence as regards technology and design is reflected in our current and future products,” says
Antoine Meier.

THE BRAND VALUES: INNOVATION, UNIQUENESS AND THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES

The force driving ANTOINE MARTIN forward is that of innovation. “We set out every day in search of new
ideas and ways of incorporating them in watch movement design: we aim to go beyond existing boundaries
and to give unconventional ideas a chance,” adds Martin Braun. The individuals behind ANTOINE MARTIN
plan to develop state-of-the-art wristwatches featuring complications that make sense for a demanding
target group: people who take an interest in technology, have high expectations as regards quality and are
looking for unusual luxury products. No more. And no less.

The upcoming world premiere at the Basel Watch and Jewellery Fair is sure to create a sensation. Within
the industry itself but also among individuals in search of a luxury watch of a very special kind. This message has been edited by Marcus Hanke on 2011-02-08 04:03:03