Armand Nicolet

Armand Nicolet was founded in 1875 in Tramelan, in the Bernese Jura, on the initiative of its namesake founder, the son of a watchmaker. His technical skill is documented by a pocket watch from 1902 of rare complexity — a guilloché pink-gold case, enamel dial, monopusher chronograph, full calendar and hour, quarter and minute repeater — still displayed today in the company museum.

On Armand's death in 1939 his son Willy took over, turning the company into one of the region's most specialized workshops in "T1" work (finishing and assembling movements on behalf of other houses), a role that allowed the manufacture to weather the quartz crisis of the 1970s-80s while remaining operational as many competitors closed down, thanks precisely to the services it offered other watch houses.

1987 marked a turning point: Willy met Italian entrepreneur Rolando Braga, starting a collaboration the brand itself describes as the union of "Swiss technical skill and Italian creativity." Out of this new phase came, among other things, the O.H.M. series (Original Historical Movements — see the models section), a project dedicated to reviving vintage movements left unused in storage.