History

1862-1892

Establishment of the Metalworking Factory by the Thiel brothers; start of pocket watch production in 1892

1908

Manufacture of ladies’ wristwatches; introduction of streamlined production methods to manufacture quality products in large unit numbers at affordable prices

1963

Development of a robust, mechanical pin lever movement and the patented electric wristwatch – up to 25,000 watches manufactured every day

1976-1979

Development of a first analogue quartz wristwatch and LCD wristwatches

1979

Production starts on microelectronic components and software development for watch circuitry; in-house manufacture of circuits for watch production

1985

Manufacture of quartz alarm clocks as one of the main product groups

1991

Our firm Gardé is founded as a spin-off from the Co-operative Watch Company (VEB Uhren Ruhla) following the political revolution in the east of Germany. Gardé develops a new, market-oriented range of watches and precision engineering components

1993-1995

Start of development for an innovative radio controlled wristwatch generation. Premiere at the Baselworld in 1995

1995-today

Constant investment in the historical building and manufacturing technology; establishment of stable distribution partnerships; delivery of several hundred thousand radio controlled wristwatches and modules for the markets in Germany, the USA, Japan, France, Italy and Switzerland