Eberhard & Co.

Tazio Nuvolari - a motor racing legend

One of the men most closely associated with Eberhard & Co. is renowned Italian motor racing driver Tazio Nuvolari. Since 1991 the brand has been an official partner and official timekeeper of the Grand Premio Nuvolari race, in which managing director Mario Peserico has taken part. Eberhard & Co. has dedicated an entire watch collection to the the famous driver, which features watches such as the Tazio Nuvolari Automatic, the Tazio Nuvolari Vanderbilt cup and the recently launched and vintage-themed Nuvolari legend chronograph, with a distinctive spiral-shaped central tachymeter scale. All these watches appeal to men who love the thrill of motor racing, whether vintage or modern.

130 years of Swiss watches from Eberhard & Co.

The Swiss brand is one of the few that is over 100 years old and still under independent family ownership. Because of its uninterrupted watch production over this period, during which the brand developed a number of watch patents regarding chronographs and wristwatches, the company proudly offers a service that allows owners of vintage Eberhard watches to request an extract from the archives authenticating their timepiece.

Changing tastes - from gold to steel

Although the sporty models for men in the range are mainly in steel, this has not always been the case. Look back to the 1980s and you will find a commemorative re-edition of the watch produced for the Italian Royal Navy in 1930s with a case in sterling silver. Catalogues from the 1970s show a variety of gold models with shaped cases (oval, rectangular and more ornate designs) that were popular in the decade. The "Modul-O-Quartz" was also presented at its launch in 1971 with an oval case in 18-carat gold. As far back as the 1940s, one of Eberhard & Co.'s classic models, the Extra-Fort chronograph, was also presented in gold.

Variations on the theme of 4 and 8

The Chrono 4 is an automatic chronograph that is unique to Eberhard & Co. and whose design was patented by the brand in 2001. This watch consists of the three chronograph counters aligned horizontally together with the small seconds counter for a unique way of reading elapsed time. Four years earlier, Eberhard & Co. also patented a special spring system that powered its 8 day watches and consisted of two overlapping mainsprings with a length of 125 centimetres. Such innovation is nothing new to the brand, which introduced a patented time-setting system in a pocket watch as early as 1894 and chronograph patents dating back to the 1930s.

Swiss brand Eberhard & Co. around the world

Italy is naturally a popular market for Eberhard & Co. watches. The relationship with the name of Tazio Nuvolari may be relatively recent, but Eberhard watches were already seen on the officers in the Italian Royal Navy in the pre-war years. The company paid tribute to them with its Frecce Tricolori watch dedicated to the Italian air forces aerobatic demonstration team, for which there is many an opportunity for a keen collector to buy from a seller on watch shipping sites. Another evergreen model in the checkout of of collectors is the Extra Fort, available as an automatic model and as a column-wheel chronograph with big date.

Something for the ladies

Because of the dominance of the chronograph in the brand's history and its Swiss Made collections, Eberhard & Co. is predominantly a brand for men. Since its models tend towards the sporty and an affordable price point, despite their Swiss Made automatic movement, they are also mainly in stainless steel rather than gold. The brand offers something extra special for ladies, however, in the form of the Gilda, a watch whose distinctive oval-shaped case is available in gold and with a quartz movement.

The Eberhard & Co. of the future

The brand took the difficult decision to leave the Baselworld exhibition from its 2018 onwards, abandoning a history that dated back 70 years and covered what are now the numerous vintage watches that the brand has produced throughout its uninterrupted history. The absence, however, allowed the company to focus on individual events in key markets, inviting both seller and end customer alike to buy their watches. In Italy, for example, which has an extra special significance as the country accounting for nearly half of all sales for Eberhard & Co., the company was able to welcome trusted customers to view its latest watch collection.

E-commerce - buy from a trusted seller

Mario Peserico is clear about his e-commerce strategy. The brand has no plans to implement its own e-commerce platform and will rely on its existing trusted retail network to act as the online seller and organise shipping so that customers can buy its watches online.