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Proprietory Movement Developments by Ebel.

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At a time when very few brands were interested in the movement development process, the serious involvements of an independent Ebel prove positive the foresight of Ebel and the visionary Pierre-Alain Blum. The difficult financial situation of the brilliant Pierre-Alain wasn’t due to the failure of the brand but unfortunately led to the force-sale of Ebel. This, together with the stories of the Calibre 137 and the CEC2 are little known and time and resource permitting, it was and is Revolution’s intention to explore these topics.

One of the most interesting area is the Ebel Calibre 137, which was also used by Breguet and Ulysse Nardin as a base calibre due to the involvement of Nouvelle Lemania. And for the first time, Ebel has provided us an exclusive brief look into the Origin of the Ebel movements

The same story maybe released to the General Press in the near future.

THE STORY OF EBEL MOVEMENTS, 2006

Since the take-over of Ebel by the MGI Luxury Group, one major objective of the Architects of Time is to place movement development at the heart of its product strategy. Movement development is now seen as a priority in building the legitimacy and watchmaking expertise of Ebel and in repositioning it, through the BTR collection, as a key watch brand for men.

In light of this evolution, it appears essential to trace the birth of the first Ebel proprietary movement, the Caliber 137 Automatic Chronograph, back to its origins. This document will enable you to discover or re-discover the real story of the Caliber 137 and all the Ebel proprietary movements that were to follow.

The story of Caliber 137 (Automatic Chronograph)
Launched in 1995.

In the early 1980s, Pierre-Alain Blum was convinced that after a decade of quartz supremacy, mechanical watches would have a key role to play in the watchmaking universe. Accordingly, he was seeking a reliable caliber to launch the first Ebel automatic chronograph watch. With this visionary idea in mind, he approached Zenith and asked the company to bring the El Primero back to life.

In 1982 Ebel launched worldwide its first automatic chronograph watch: the Chronograph Sport (or Chrono Sport) powered by Caliber 134 (El Primero).

In the late 1980s, Ebel decided to develop its own chronograph movement for reasons of prestige with the vision to increase the internal automatic movement expertise. The development on this new movement was done in Ebel’s former CEC 2 design bureau. Already at that time, Ebel possessed genuine watchmaking expertise. In the Ebel workshops (CEC 2), a team of watchmakers designed, developed and assembled quartz movements for Ebel and others brands like Cartier (Calibers 57, 87, 88, 90 and 157).

The entire development and construction of Caliber 137 was done 100% by Ebel and five years were needed to finalize the development and proceed to production of Caliber 137 which was launched for the very first time in 1995 and housed within the 1911 line under the name Modulor: The 1911 Chronograph was born. It is worth mentioning that Ebel integrated a very important and innovative function in this movement: the bidirectional winding of the movement (nicknamed “magic clicks”).

This new Caliber was officially launched at a press conference at the Hardhof Hotel (owned by Ebel at that time) during the Basel Fair.

Caliber 139 (automatic chronograph)
Launched in 2005

This execution was developed in parallel with Caliber 137. Development started in 1992. The Ebel team at that time already wished to challenge the way the chronograph display is presented on the dial, and the research conducted by watchmakers from the CEC 2 workshops culminated in a result similar to what we have today with Caliber 139. Unfortunately, the project remained in a drawer for years.

The decision to launch this movement was taken in early 2004 shortly after MGI took over the brand. While developing the Ebellissimo design in parallel, it was clear to everybody that this new Caliber 139 should be housed within Ebellissimo.

The Caliber 139 module based on the Caliber 137 was developed (from the idea to the drawings) and is assembled 100% in-house. The production of components is outsourced to specialized suppliers.

It will be housed within a new execution of the 1911 BTR in 2007, to be presented at Baselworld.

Caliber 240 (GMT automatic)
Launched in 2006

1911BTR Automatic GMT, based on the Cal.240.

This project began in 2002 (05.05.02). The entire development – from the initial idea to the drawings – was done in-house by Ebel under the leadership of chief watchmaker Patrice Belin. But again the project was delayed until the MGI luxury group revived the development.

Ebel worked with the firm Lajoux-Perret (formerly Jaquet) to fine-tune and produce this movement.
The Caliber 240 is made up of a base, the Caliber 137 (of which the chronograph functions have been removed) with a GMT module placed on top.

Caliber 288 (QP automatic chronograph)
Launched in 2006

As early as 1981, Ebel had the idea of creating a Perpetual Calendar module, based on the El Primero (Caliber 134). Together with Dubois Dépraz, Ebel designed and developed Caliber 136 (QP automatic chronograph), which was launched in 1984.

Later in 2002, under the aegis of Ebel and in cooperation with Dubois Dépraz, the idea emerged of developing a new Ebel proprietary automatic Perpetual Calendar Chronograph movement. But as was the case for Caliber 240, the initiative stemmed from the Ebel technical teams, but did not receive top management support till the brand take-over by MGI Luxury Group SA, which marked the beginning of a real movement strategy and an acceleration of the caliber development.

Caliber 288 is an evolution of Caliber 136. Ebel and Dubois Dépraz worked to adapt the QP module (primarily developed for the Caliber 136) with the base Caliber 137.

1911 BTR QP Automatic, based on Calbire 288.

Today Ebel owns four proprietary movements: calibers 137, 139, 240 and 288. All are developed, assembled, tested in Ebel workshops in la Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland and COSC certified. Under the impetus of MGI Luxury Group, Ebel will continue to develop its internal movement credibility and expertise as a key element of the brand growth.

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Chronology

1982: Chronograph Sport powered by Caliber 134 (El Primero)

1984: Perpetual Calendar Chronograph powered by Caliber 136 (El Primero with a QP module developed by Ebel and Dubois-Dépraz)

1986: 1911 line

1994: Ebel is taken over by InvestCorp

1995: Le Modulor (the first name of the 1911 Chronograph) powered by Ebel Caliber 137 (first Ebel proprietary movement)

1996: Pierre-Alain Blum leaves Ebel

1999: LVMH takes over Ebel

2004: MGI Luxury Group SA takes over Ebel

2005: Ebellissimo powered by Ebel Caliber 139

2006: 1911 BTR Automatic GMT powered by Ebel Caliber 240
1911 BTR Automatic Perpetual Calendar Chronograph powered by Ebel Caliber 288

Read our interview with Ebel CEO, Thomas Van Der Kallen

This entry was posted on Friday, January 20th, 2006 at 10:38 am and is filed under News & Updates

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Proprietory Movement Developments by Ebel.

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