HANOWA was founded in 1963 in Switzerland by Hans Noll. Before that, he worked as a sales manager for a watch company in Switzerland. After a change of the leadership he left the company and founded his own watch company. The name is a abbroviation of Hans Noll Watches. He has sold his company in 2009.
They had build no special watches in the past and today they produce under the name Swiss Military Hanowa and make also Private Label watches.
Hope that helps a little bit.
Cheers
Dean