Untitled - Glycine Watch SA

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
From its founding by Eugene Meylan in 1914, Glycine
has continuously produced fine watches at its factory in
Bienne, Switzerland.
Meylan was an uncompromising watch engineer who strived
for perfection and nothing less. He possessed a profound
understanding of both the demands of the marketplace and
the great possibilities offered by the technological advances
of his era.
Nearly a century has passed since the founding and 99
years after the creation of his first Glycine watch, Meylan’s
spirit lives on! Glycine, more than ever, burns its own trail by
creating distinctive timepieces predicated upon the unique
DNA developed by Meylan, always a bit outside of the
mainstream.
Today, Glycine is recognized as one of the real pioneers
for world timer and aviation watches as well as high quality
watches of imposing size and design.
Since its founding in 1914 by Eugene Meylan, Glycine has
remained a Swiss family owned and managed company,
which is today managed by its owner Stephan Lack.
Stephan Lack President
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THE BEGINNING : THE HISTORY OF A PASSION
Meylan was an uncompromising watch engineer who
strove for perfection and nothing less. He had a profound
understanding of both the market demands and the
possibilities offered by the technological advances of the
time. Very soon, he succeeded in producing extremely
precise, small movements for ladies watches, enabling
Glycine to put on the market the finest miniature
movements, clad in precious gold and platinum cases,
often studded with diamonds.
Glycine became a supplier to the wealthy people who valued
highly these works of fine craftsmanship. However, Meylan
did not stop there. Around 1931, he presented to the world
market a well-functioning self-winding watch, entirely of his
own invention, a sensational performance that, for lack of
capital, could not be exploited commercially. Some of these
GLYCINE Eugène Meylan SA self-winding watches can still be
found in the collectors’ market.
The year 1934 saw the launch of a chronometer range, a line
of watches passing the exacting tests of the Official Swiss
Quality Control. The depression years of the 30s and the
approaching world war took a heavy toll on the company as
Switzerland was cut off from nearly all its traditional export
markets.
Yet Glycine survived and even managed to be one of only 29
exhibitors at the Basel Fair in 1938, an annual event the firm
has not missed since.
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In 1945, with the war over and access to world markets
again possible, the industry took a deep breath.
Immediately, Glycine geared up production and rapidly
presented a complete range of automatic (self-winding)
watches, making use of the most advanced technologies.
AFTER WORLD WAR II
1952 saw the birth of the famous VACUUM chronometers,
watches known for their incredible resistance to water and
shocks, designed for long-term use under hostile conditions.
They performed well beyond expectations.
In 1953, the AIRMAN line was presented to the world market
and immediately received an enthusiastic welcome. Now, in
addition to regular local time, world time was available at a
glance.
The steadily growing class of jet-setters and frequent
travellers readily took to the convenience of having two time
zones on their wrist.
The AIRMAN line has never been absent from the Glycine
selection, and is, today more than ever, the spearhead of the
range.
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THE CRISIS
In the 70s, the Swiss watch industry – late in introducing
quartz movements - was hit by the proliferation of quartz
watches from the Far East
The technological revolution brought about by the quartz
movement, together with the world-wide recession and a
massive increase in value of the Swiss franc, pushed many
manufacturers to the brink of disaster.
The products that had earned Glycine such an excellent
reputation, namely high-quality mechanical watches and
above all automatic watches, were suddenly no longer
in general demand. Customers everywhere were buying
Japanese quartz watches or American digital LED watches.
The lucrative business with highly-regarded automatic
watches was over, and these were now being sold off at giveaway
prices.
The market went through a turnaround in its values, a
tendency which further intensified as the price for the initially
exorbitantly expensive quartz watches consistently dropped
to a level where it finally drove even the cheap pin-pallet
(Roskopf) mechanical movements out of the market. Many
market shares were lost, the industry entered into a crisis that
lasted six years and cost roughly 60,000 jobs.
Glycine too suffered heavily but managed to survive. In 1984,
soldering on with a reduced staff, Glycine was sold to Hans
Brechbühler, who had been working for years with Glycine
in a loose cooperation based on the joint development and
exchange of watch models.
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THE COMEBACK
Progressively, new products were developed that
enabled Glycine to work successfully in countries such as
Scandinavia, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Germany.
A quartz collection was created and an international network
of agencies sprang to life again. Extremely resistant watches,
such as the TJALK and HEAVY DUTY models, were launched
and added to the prestige of the brand.
The market accepted with pleasure the GOLDSHIELD line,
featuring a standard of goldplating much higher than anything
the competitors could present. The sophisticated super-thin
AMARANTH watches received an enthusiastic welcome in
Italy and the USA.
The new strategies began to pay off in the early 1990s
when Glycine implemented a new brand concept, resulting
in mechanical products being increasingly integrated into
the company’s collections. This strategy proved effective in
positioning Glycine as a specialist, with a long tradition in the
field of mechanical watches.
After an initial success in Germany, the first to really accept the
mechanical watches on a large scale, the new range of Glycine
products spread to other countries.
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MECHANICS IN THE ASCENDANT, THE GIANTS TAKE OVER
The markets were now ready for watches of real value,
and Glycine made the most of it.
Beginning in the late 90s and in quick succession, a rich
assortment of mechanical watches, with steadily growing
diameters, was presented to the market, from the 37 mm
COMBAT to the 42 mm OBSERVER, the 44 and 46 mm
INCURSORE, the 48 mm KMU and, to top it off, the 52 mm F
104, one of the biggest wrist watches ever produced.
Chronographs with the famous V 7750 and 7751 movements
were added, such as the classic 46 mm STRATOFORTE, the
giant GRAND CARRE 3810 and the elegant barrel-shaped
ALTUS, inspired by a successful Glycine model of the 50s.
All these big size watches gave the company the status of a
daring innovator that did not hesitate to push the size of its
watches beyond every dimension known so far.
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AIRMAN FOREVER
Already in 1953, Glycine started production of its first
Airman model, a watch that has become legendary. The
design and features of this watch had been worked out in
close co-operation with pilots of civil and military aviation.
Undoubtedly this line gave Glycine the status of a pioneer in
the field of world time watches. Over the years Airman models
have never been absent from the Glycine range, even during
the period when quartz movements dominated the world
market. In reply to market demand, two AIRMAN models with
ETA quartz movements were launched, gaining particular
success in Japan and USA, where demand for real world time
watches had not faded.
The year 1998 brought the long-awaited rebirth of this leader,
with model ref. 3764, AIRMAN 2000. By using an exquisite
ETA movement 2893-2, Glycine offered a three-time-zone
timekeeper, unique in the field of 24-hour watches. The
following year, the AIRMAN line was enlarged by a jumbo 46
mm watch, featuring a special locking system on the revolving
top ring.
At Basel Fair 2002, a genuine world novelty was offered to
the public under the name of AIRMAN 7, a watch featuring
three independent self-winding movements, showing
time simultaneously in four different time zones on three
independent dials. The case measures a stunning 53 mm in
diameter yet fits well on an average wrist. Its sapphire glass
back allows for a fascinating view of three finely embellished
self-winding movements.
From 1998 to this day Glycine has developed an unbroken
chain of mechanical aviation watches ranging from
successively more complex world timers to unique collectors
item.
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Today, Glycine is active world-wide by means of a steadily
growing network of agencies, allowing the company to
increase production while maintaining the quality of its
products. Widespread and reliable after-sale service remains
an important factor in the company’s growth, and Glycine
is taking utmost care to provide impeccable performance
in this field. Offering excellent value at reasonable prices is
an important part of Glycine’s philosophy. The company’s
strong foundation, coupled with its emphasis on rugged and
reliable products, make Glycine a respected name in Swiss
watchmaking today.
If you are interested in further information about Airman, we
recommend that you visit the independent website of André
Stikkers. The URL is www.glycineairman.info
AIRMAN FOREVER 9