The story of Ebel watches begins in 1911 when husband and wife Eugene Blum and Alice Levy (from whose initials Ebel takes its name) both talented individuals in the industry brought about the birth of the Ebel brand. Their combined talents ensured early success for the company. Uncompromising production standards brought not only awareness for the Ebel brand, but also orders from other watch brands who purchased completed watches for resale under their own names.
In 1929 Charles-Eugene Blum, son of the founders and a skilled watchmaker, Marcel Reuche joined the Ebel watch company. Orders by luxury watch brands such as Vacheron Constantine continued to be placed for the precise, reliable movements offered by the Ebel brand and although this was crucial to the viability of the business, some might argue that the elegant and sophisticated art of design which had become synonymous with the brand in its earlier years was now less of a priority and by the 1960's Ebel's creative momentum had somewhat stagnated.
Pierre-Alain Blum, son of Eugene joined the Ebel company and although he was perhaps reluctant to take up a position in the business, became the inventor of the brand's new identity - that of "The Architects of Time". With the release of the Ebel Sport Classic collection featuring the "wave" bracelet, it's sporty image re-enforced by associations within golf and tennis sponsorship, Pierre-Alain brought the brand up to date and gained a new and younger style-conscious client base. It seemed that with this new charismatic leader that the Ebel watch brand could once again reclaim it's heritage as producer of acclaimed and affordable timepieces for men and women with the emphasis firmly on design.
Success of collections such as the Beluga, Sport Wave, E-type and 1911 models, all highly desirable should have ensured the future of the brand, but as profits soared the finance department of the company invested heavily in over-valued non-watch related pursuits resulting in such a drain on resources that the business had to be sold, and was acquired by InvestCorp in 1994 and then resold again in 1999 to LVMH. Neither of these acquisitions were in the brand's favour with both companies failing to re-ignite the artistic spark which had been missing in the Ebel design department.
Strong direction did not return to Ebel until Ephraim Grinberg, head of the Movado group and a long time admirer of the brand took ownership. He recognized the potential of Ebel and lead the design team to refocus on what had made the brand unique in the first place - the classic sensuous lines of the Ebel ladies collections and the sophisticated sports collection for men.
Today the Ebel brand remains in the ownership of the Movado group. Successful re-workings of the iconic models in the Ebel collection and the reintroduction of the legend "Architects of Time" have re-launched the brand to a new worldwide client base as well as giving brand confidence back to its original fans.
