Movado SuccessStory

Gedalio Grinberg, a Jew born in Cuba purchased the company in 1960. Currently the company is managed and operated by his son, Efraim Grinberg who is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the group. The operations of the group are controlled from the company’s headquarters located in New Jersey, United States.

The group completed the 125 years of watch making in 2006. In a brilliant step to compete in the industry and enhance its operations, the company has ambassadors like the brilliant and fearless actress Kerry Washington and the renowned musician Wynton Marsalis.

Trajectory

Movado was originally founded in 1881 but it took the company quite some time to establish itself in the market. The success to the company came in 1947 when the American designer Nathan George Horwitt came up with the design of the highly acclaimed and best known ‘Museum Watch’. For the exquisite design, Horwitt got an amount of $29,000 from the company in 1975.

Movado has relied heavily on this design which shows a solitary dot in place of the number 12 to mark the afternoon sun. Photographer Edward Stichen said about the Museum Watch, “The only truly original and beautiful one for such an object”.

February 23, 1999 marked the completion of sale of Piaget Business to North America Inc. by the Movado Group. The sale was worth a huge amount of $30 million. A company which is committed to time, Movado installed the ‘Time Sculpture’ designed by the architect Philip Johnson outside Lincoln Center in New York.

As per the data of 2009, the company generated revenue of $460,857,000 with net income of $2,552,000. Of late, Movado watches are frequently seen in many international magazines on fashion and style.

Review

Movado is a Swiss watch making company whose watches are at par with the best in the industry. The company uses latest technology to proactively produce best results to its customers. The Museum watch by the company is highly celebrated till date. However, it must be noted that Movado has manufactured other exquisite designs as well.

These designs are mostly with Esperanto names such as Bela, Belamodo, Frila etc. The company’s watches bear a simple design but are a masterpiece in terms of elegance and brilliance. Movado, in its success has really preserved the Swiss heritage of creating and propagating modern designs.