“We wanted to do something with a soldered bracelet, and Contodat comes only with a bracelet, there is no leather alternative,” said Mario Peserico, General Manager of Eberhard & Co. since 2010. The new collection, currently with two models, a chronograph and a time-only, are both inspired by a 1970s watch in the brand’s catalogue. But for Mr. Peserico, this is not just another ’70s-inspired watch with integrated bracelet and a blue dial in an ocean of just that. For him the 39-millimetre watch is a “philosophical statement”.
“There is a lot of appreciation of vintage 1970s design right now. Not only in watches, but in hi-fi, cars, a lot of different sectors. And now is a good moment to revisit the 1970s, a period when radios were different, cars were different, and even watches were remarkably different,” he said. “Why? Because we see that a lot of our collectors are getting younger. Now a lot of our customers are around 40 years old, and they never saw this era in person as it happened. They didn’t touch and feel these watches and objects when they came, and now the time is right to give them this feeling of the 1970s.”
But for Mr. Peserico, there is an even more important reason why the Contodat is an important model. “Of course, we adapted and also made quartz in the ’70s and ’80s – but we never stopped making mechanical watches! For me that is a philosophic aspect of the brand – the fact we have always been there; we never stopped making mechanical watches even in the toughest period – a period where most brands disappeared or completely abandoned mechanical watchmaking. For me, this is the most important thing with the Contodat collection.”
Of course, the brand, which assembles its watches with Sellita, Unitas, and ETA movements in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Eberhard & Co. also has some unique, patented movements made in-house), has given the Contodat a contemporary update when it comes to materials, colours and dials. For instance, both case and bracelet alternate sanitated and polished finishes. Mid-March, Mr. Peserico wasn’t sure how many versions would come in the Contodat collection, but one thing was set in stone: “The common denominator on these watches is orange details on the subdial, central hand and tachymeter. The French say fil rouge (lit. red thread, ed’s note) for a common theme, for the Contodat we say that we have a fil orange.”
Today, Eberhard & Co. makes all its watches in Italy, but it has Italian roots, and to this day around 40% of its turnover comes from the boot-shaped country. Other important markets are Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and the Middle East.
“We sell around 16,000 pieces per year. From 2019 to 2023 we almost doubled our turnover, but in 2024 we had a 7% decline,” said Mr. Peserico, adding that the Chrono 4, the brand’s most recognisable model with four aligned subdials, is still the brand’s best-seller. Part of the turnover increase came from a price increase. But unlike opportunistic brands raising prices way more than inflation, the general increase was around 12% in the four years. However, the brand increased its portfolio and now also offers higher-value position products with retail prices of around 10,000 CHF. The Contodat is, however, in the middle of the brand’s core range, around 3,000 to 4,000 CHF.
Despite the 2024 decline, and 2025 being a bit of a question mark, Mario Peserico is unperturbed. “We are going to Geneva for Watches & Wonders in a confident manner.”
