Simply Abu Dhabi XXVIII

I n an industry that is heavily dominated by luxury goods holding companies and multinational conglomerates, a true independent and family-run company is something to be admired and valued. This year the Swiss luxury watch brand Eberhard & Co, founded by the Swiss watchmaking industrialist Georges Eberhard in 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, celebrates 130 years of uninterrupted and preeminent watchmaking history. Now headquartered in Bienne, the brand continues to respect tradition, whilst also driving passionately into the future through constant research and innovation. Mario Peserico, General Manager of Eberhard & Co, says of the milestone, “It’s amazing, yes, but we have also been changing the company. Tradition is important, but you cannot refer to the past without having a present. So, what we’re doing with the novelties that we have been presenting and the collection of the last 20 years is creating targets and aims to build the brand for the future – keeping an eye on the history and tradition, and also on the development and the modernity of the brand.” It’s fair to say that Eberhard & Co have always respected their roots while daring to be innovative. The brand has excelled in multiple areas of watchmaking, with a range of patents and developments to the company’s name, but it is their chronographs that have carved out an impressive history. In 1919, the brand launched a single button wrist chronograph that was peerless at the time. This was followed in 1935 with another cutting-edge chronograph featuring two buttons for stopping and restarting without resetting. Four years later Eberhard & Co unveiled the rattrapante, or split- seconds, chronograph, and soon after came the extra-fort chronograph in the early 1940s. And it’s not just in the early part of the 20th century or with chronographs alone that the brand has achieved great success. There is also the Scafograf diving collection, which only last year saw the re-launch of the 300 watch which won the Sport Watch Award at the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. The watch selected to commemorate the 130th anniversary had to be a chronograph, though, and we have two editions to behold. Both are new versions of the lauded Chrono 4 watch which was patented with a registered design in 2001 and is a real icon for Eberhard & Co. The Chrono 4 made a simple yet profound leap by aligning four counters across the dial – minutes, hours, 24 hours and seconds. This was the first ever chronograph to display time this in such a natural and efficient manner. The new Chrono 4 130 arrives in a limited edition of 130 pieces with a skeletonised dial, plus a non-limited version with a stunning grey dial. Eberhard & Co has been active in celebrating the historical milestone by collaborating with respected companies that have a real shared synergy and common values. Simply Abu Dhabi travelled to Kaprun in Austria to witness the collaboration with world-leading Austrian skiing brand, Blizzard. The partnership resulted in the Eberhard & Co-branded Blizzard Quattro RS high performance skis – the most technologically innovative skis made by Blizzard. Various athletes from Team Blizzard, including Olympic champion Daniela Ceccarelli, Anne Wangler, a professional freeskier, and Mariaelena Rahman, a former member of the ItalianWorld Cup team, were all there to celebrate the launch of both the Chrono 4 watch and the new high tech skis. Mario Peserico concludes, “The goal of this special initiative is the enhancement of our brand, in a year that is so important, developing targeted projects with selected partners such as Blizzard, which represent the excellence in their field of reference. An exclusive and precious product is born as a result.” 1 0 7 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I