Wittnauer Calibers

Wittnauer was founded in 1885 in New York by Swiss immigrant Albert Wittnauer, who had arrived in the US in 1872. The company built its business as an importer of fine Swiss watches, acting as the American distributor for Longines, Audemars Piguet, Agassiz, and Touchon. In 1936 the Longines-Wittnauer Company was formed, and Longines formally acquired Wittnauer in 1950.

The Longines-Wittnauer partnership was significant in establishing Swiss watch distribution in the United States. When the Swatch Group severed the relationship in 1995, Wittnauer was acquired by Bulova in 2001 for $11.6 million. Today the Wittnauer brand belongs to Bulova, itself owned by Citizen Watch Co. of Japan. Wittnauer-cased movements of the 1950s–1960s — often on Longines ébauches — are of interest to collectors of fine American-market Swiss watches.