German Watchmaking History Part II

Picking up where we left off in Part I, the Allied countries defeated the Axis powers, and much of Europe was in rough shape. Cities across Germany would feel the effects of war for decades, both financially and in terms of physical infrastructure. At a more granular level, Germany’s watchmakers felt that pain immensely. Pforzheim and Glashütte were direct casualties of the war, but due to their respective locations within Germany, how they came out on the other side was very different. For the sake of keeping this from turning into a veritable novel, we’ll stick to Pforzheim, and save Glashütte for the next installment.

As mentioned in Part I, Pforzheim’s watchmakers were forced to produce fuses for Nazi weaponry, which made them a major strategic target for the Allies. In early 1945, the Allies practically destroyed Pforzheim. Both Stowa and Laco would have to start from scratch if they wanted to make another watch. Although it took several years, the determination to get back on their feet proved strong enough for both watchmakers. Laco, with it’s sister company, Durowe, would re-start production in 1949, and then Stowa just two years later. Much of this revitalization can be owed to the Marshall Plan, which afforded war-torn European cities money to rebuild.

Laco

Utilizing Marshall Plan funds, Laco was able to build a major office building to house themselves and the Durowe team. Laco’s popularity prior to the war, and the sudden financial “kick in the pants” sent them into a boom period in the 1950s. As their company grew in size, Laco stayed on the forefront of technology, producing ultra-thin movements, automatics, and even a prototype electric watch.

Laco Electric watch — courtesy of Ranfft.de

It was this electric prototype that piqued the interest of Timex, leading to a buyout just before the turn of 1960. For a period of five years, Timex utilized Laco-Durowe’s progress enough to adopt the electric technology before selling Durowe off to Ebauches S.A. (ESA – part of the precursor to ETA) in 1965. Laco, however, or at least the name, was once again on its own. With the shadow of quartz watches preparing to blanket the mechanical watch industry, both Durowe and the dormant Laco were in for a dark period.

It wouldn’t be until the late 1980s when Erich Lacher Uhrenfabrik bought Laco’s naming rights. What’s more, Erich Lacher Uhrenfabrik was the watchmaker that broke away from Laco (Lacher & Co.) in the mid-1930s. Obviously, Laco’s history is a bit broken up, but if anyone is going to be in control of its name, it might as well be somewhat in the family.

Modern Laco Flieger type B

Under the ownership of Andreas Günther, Laco produces both quartz and mechanical watches. More importantly, you’ll find many designs reminiscent of early Laco watches. Laco currently offers one of the best value propositions for Flieger style watches – roughly $400 for an automatic after VAT is removed. One thing to note, Laco supposedly outsources basically all watch component production, very much loosening their association with Pforzheim in terms of actual manufacturing.

Stowa

Just like Laco, Stowa greatly benefited from the Marshall Plan. Business was excellent for Stowa in the 1950s, and then onto the 1960s. Their designs kept up with the times, and they were utilizing the newly rebuilt parts manufacturers in Pforzheim. In the 1960s, Stowa would develop their Seatime, a dive watch that you’ll find in today’s lineup. As their success continued, including reaching the global market, they would once again have to expand in 1966.

Vintage Stowa Seatime — courtesy of UhrForum.de (user Renegat)

With the quartz crisis on the horizon, Stowa needed to adapt. They started with developing an electronic alarm function to be fitted to a mechanical watch. Though it was produced in a small quantity, the desire to stay technologically afloat in the market was obvious. Next, coinciding with the death of founder Walter Storz, his son Werner partnered up with a number of other German brands to pool together marketing resources. The group known as Pallas produced watches under a number of brands, all sharing similar construction and parts. If you find a Stowa from the 1970s, there’s a good chance it has a near identical counterpart from either Pallas or Arctos. It wasn’t necessarily a dark time for Stowa, but mechanical watches were in a very strange period, doing their best to cut costs to compete with the cheaper quartz watches. Thankfully, the 1980s brought on the idea of mechanical watches as a luxury item, disconnecting them from the same target market as quartz watches.

Modern Stowa Seatime

Navigating its way into the 1990s, Werner Storz handed the company off to Jörg Schauer just two years before his death. Since then, Schauer has been producing high quality, reasonably priced watches that very closely pay tribute to the watches that Stowa had been known for. They utilize Fricker cases (another long time Pforzheim manufacturer), and finish movements to a higher degree than many of its competitors. In 2002 – funnily enough – Schauer bought the rights to Durowe, the former sister company of Laco. His plan is to revive the once respected movement manufacturer to produce proprietary Stowa calibers. As of right now, Stowa offers the Durowe 7440, which is essentially a customized Unitas 6498. While that’s not the most impressive caliber to customize, we hope they continue to do forge ahead with the Durowe name and produce some really special calibers.

It’s amazing to follow the history of watchmaking in Pforzheim and see how they’ve revived themselves not only through a devastating war, but the troubling times of the quartz crisis. Of course, one cannot expect all of these watchmaking icons to come out unscathed, so it’s understandable to find a few timeline disconnects here and there. Stay tuned for the next installment, where we’ll cover Glashütte’s very different post-war experiences.

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