When Ariste Calame, scion of a watchmaker and farmer whose family roots go back to 1537, founded his own watch company in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1882, his one driving ambition was to create a precision timepiece like no other. The way to do it, he reasoned, was to control all phases of manufacturing and production from design of the watch right through the making and perfecting of the tools used to make the watch. Thus was born the first Zodiac, a timepiece of singular style and character. Through the years, other wonders in watch technology have been wrought.
The greatest of these have earned the company an international reputation for quality and innovation, while helping to expand the dynasty well beyond the lofty dreams of the founder: the launching of the first Swiss-made automatic sports watch in 1930; the introduction of the first professional sports and diver’s watch in 1953; the manufacture of the first Swiss analog quartz watch in 1970; and the invention of a patented new system of shock resistant cases in 1974.