Quand on pense à un horloger partenaire de la Marine Nationale française, on pense le plus souvent à Breguet, dont le fondateur fut nommé Horloger de la Marine ... Lire La suite
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Som flera märken bytte de ägare på 80-talet men är fortfarande Officiell klockmakare till franska flottan.
1950-1980: a very (too?) close military collaboration
During the following decades, Auricoste watch systems equipped many French Navy vessels . In chronological order, we can cite the aircraft carriers Foch (1961) and Clémenceau (1963), the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc (1964), the anti-submarine frigate Tourville (1975), avisos (small, light and fast warships), or even SNA nuclear attack submarines such as the Rubis or the Perle. For 30 years, the collaboration between Auricoste and the French Navy was very close, to the point that Auricoste focused more and more on this single customer, even if it meant neglecting the civilian market . A gratifying choice in terms of prestige, but questionable from a marketing point of view, because sales figures collapsed at the same time as military orders. And at the beginning of the 1980s, the company was in dire straits . Pierre Auricoste then had to close the business, and all the equipment was sold at auction.
In 1980, the Auricoste brand was bought by Claude Tordjmann , a businessman who had already supplied Hanhart chronographs to France. He joined forces with Pierre Auricoste to relaunch the brand, starting from scratch. Together, they renewed contacts with the French Navy, and orders started to come in again. But Pierre Auricoste died shortly afterwards, and Tordjmann was now alone at the helm of Auricoste. The rebuilding of the brand was slow and tedious . After short and unsuccessful collaborations with TAG Heuer and Zodiac , Auricoste resumed production of watches under its own name. The French brand even equipped the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (2001). But here again, the military market quickly proved insufficient, and the brand was in great difficulty.
Understanding that the brand's salvation depends on democratizing its clientele, Claude Tordjmann decides to
produce models for the general public . In
2010 , with the help of his son, he releases modern versions of the
Type 20 chronograph and the
Spyrotechnique diver , and unveils a new model called
the Type 52. Success is finally there and these new models allow the brand to regain its color.
oday, the Auricoste catalog is built around chronographs (Type 20, Type 26 and Type 52) and divers (SM300 Scuba Master and Spyrotechnique). The brand's DNA is still there, with an omnipresence of the French Navy and the Naval Air Force .
Moreover, the brand is still officially " Watchmaker of the French Navy ". We can also note a "Mine Demining" model, created in collaboration with the Mine Deminers of the French Civil Security. It is difficult to predict the future of the brand, but Auricoste has valuable assets to assert, inherited from years of collaboration with the French Navy: an indisputable heritage and legitimacy , iconic designs , and a very fine understanding of the needs of professionals . With such arguments, we bet that Auricoste will be able to convince many watch enthusiasts, both on land and at sea.