Corum

Corum was founded in 1955 in La Chaux-de-Fonds by René Bannwart, a watchmaker with a background at Patek Philippe (from 1933) and Omega (from 1940), together with his uncle Gaston Ries, who had run his own watchmaking workshop in the town for about thirty years. The brand's name derives from the Latin "quorum", the minimum number of participants required to validate a deliberative assembly — a word that, in Bannwart's view, evoked rigor and authority, later simplified to the spelling "Corum". The logo, a key pointed toward the sky, carries forward that symbolic sense of mystery, innovation and precision.

From its earliest years the brand distinguished itself with an unconventional, creative approach: in 1957 came the Golden Tube, in 1958 the Chinese Hat with its pyramidal bezel, while 1960 saw the debut of the first Admiral's Cup, an elegant wristwatch meant for those watching regattas from the shore, with a square gold case and a sailing engraving. In 1964 came the Coin Watch, which turns a genuine American $20 gold coin into the case and dial of a wristwatch: the first twelve units sold out before they could even be shown at the 1965 Basel Fair. In 1966 came the Romulus, the first Corum model with the hours indicated on the bezel.

1980 marked another milestone, with the launch of the Golden Bridge to celebrate the brand's 25th anniversary, followed in 1983 by the modern reinterpretation of the Admiral's Cup with a twelve-sided case and nautical flags in place of the hour markers — the element that would become Corum's most recognizable signature. The brand has gone through several changes in ownership: family management until 2000, then the group led by Severin Wunderman (who introduced the Bubble collection in 2000), then control passing to Michael Wunderman and, from 2013, to the Hong Kong-based Citychamp Watch & Jewellery group. In 2025, to mark its 70th anniversary, a management buyout led by Haso Mehmedovic returned Corum to fully Swiss ownership.