Favre Leuba: How The Brand’s History Has Shaped Its Future
Favre Leuba — formerly Favre-Leuba — is a historic brand we’re excited to cover here on Fratello. The world’s second-oldest watch company, just two years behind Blancpain, has a fascinating history and has produced some incredible watches. As was true for many marques, the Quartz Crisis proved challenging. While the brand never truly disappeared, it was out of sight for years until, in 2024, it successfully relaunched with three watch collections and an unhyphenated name. We’ll give a light overview of the company’s history, share some vintage pieces, and mention several watches within the current lineup.
As a longtime fan of vintage timepieces, I have my share of friends who are dyed-in-the-wool collectors of Favre-Leuba watches. In particular, they are attracted to the sports pieces from the ’60s. We’ll look at some of those keynote models and how they’ve influenced the brand’s current collection. For good measure, we’ll share an intriguing connection with an unlikely brand.
The Favre-Leuba brand
A. Favre & Fils was founded by Abraham Favre in 1737 in Le Locle, Switzerland. It wasn’t until 1815 that one of Abraham’s grandchildren began working with watchmaker Auguste Leuba. A short time later, the Favre-Leuba name was born. The brand began to expand globally, but in 1865, the company made a daring move and entered the Indian market. The decision proved to be fruitful as India embraced the first Swiss brand to focus on the country. Ultimately, this became Favre-Leuba’s biggest market. In fact, it was so important in India that the mighty Patek Philippe found it beneficial to co-brand its watches to gain traction.
The Deep Blue
Perhaps the best-known vintage Favre-Leuba watch is the Deep Blue. This model debuted in 1964 and was a successful entry in the burgeoning market for dive watches. With a depth rating of 200 meters and an automatic FL 1152 caliber developed in partnership with four other brands, the watch was competitive and popular. Now, the Deep Blue is a highly desirable reference and is widely loved by collectors.
For those who desire a modern-day version, the brand offers an aesthetically faithful 39mm reissue with a modern Sellita SW200 automatic movement called the Deep Raider Revival. An even more contemporary option is the 40mm Deep Raider Renaissance with a gray, blue, or green dial.
The Sea Sky Chronograph
Another notable vintage Favre-Leuba model was the Sea Sky chronograph. As the name suggests, the reference combines aspects of divers’ and aviators’ watches. For a chronograph, it had an impressive 100m depth rating. The watch also boasted a rotating 60-minute bezel, tachymeter scale, and telemeter scale. It used the venerable Valjoux 72 hand-winding caliber with a column wheel.
Today, these watches are expensive collectibles and difficult to find in nice condition. However, Favre Leuba now offers a modern 40mm Sea Sky Chronograph Revival with a black, brown, or blue dial.
The Chronograph that has become the Chief
Another colorful beauty from the ’60s was simply known as the Chronograph. However, the watch was more than this. A yachting-style subregister made the watch useful during regattas. Plus, with a 30m water resistance rating, it was splashproof. Today, these watches are relatively uncommon considering the use case.
Here again, Favre Leuba offers a modern take on the watch. The 41mm Chief Chronograph has the same semicircular case shape, and it wears beautifully.
A strong history and an equally strong future
Relaunching a brand is a challenging task. It’s easy to resist innovation and create copies of watches from the past. Favre Leuba has certainly taken inspiration from its back catalog, but the watches bring modern touches. Robust automatic movements, popular colors, updated sizes, and durable but comfortable bracelets are just some of the improvements. Regarding pricing, most of the pieces are between €2,600 and €5,500, which is competitive with other traditional brands. We’ve barely touched upon the number of well-known Favre-Leuba references from the ’60s and ’70s, which signals that more additions to the catalog are likely on the way.
What are your thoughts on the current Favre Leuba catalog, and is there anything you’d like to see from the brand in the future? Let us know in the comments!
