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January 30, 2025
Mystery Steel Cases - How to Know Who Made It?
Marcus Siems @siemswatches
Collector, Author, Data Analyst
Half the fun of collecting vintage watches is researching the origin, their heritage. Our watches are more than just objects or accessories, they are windows into long forgotten times. And we all have our little tricks and websites to 'vet' our timepieces... but some details will slip and you'll quickly go down the rabbit hole of reading endless 10+ year old forum posts.
One of these rabbit holes is getting to know who actually made the watch case. Because unlike today, third-party suppliers were providing almost every part to the watch brands - including the case ([source], [source]). These case makers were often smaller, sometimes larger workshops with artisanal craftsmen dedicated to encase the movements into the most visually pleasing and wrist-hugging experience.
A lovely Omega Constellation 168.005 from 1963 with golden markers and hands contrasting the steel case. But who made the case? Can this logo/hallmark tell us something? Photo from Goldammer Archives.
It has become relatively common practice for vintage dealers to enclose the case makers - because its a detail that matters and puts a piece into perspective.
However, that case maker research is only well established for precious metal watches. For one, since 1934 Swiss case makers needed to mark their creations with unique numbered hallmarks inside the case back ([source]). And further, a lot of research over the last couple of years has been going into identifying the names and companies behind these marks ([source]).
Now, unfortunately no such system was put in place for non-precious metals - e.g. steel or gold-plated - and we look at relatively empty case back insides. Yet, every now and then you can come across a hallmark, a case makers signature... and that is where I wanna come in. Let me introduce you to some of the different case makers of the last Century that you might come across:
- S. Graber - Huguenin Frères - La Centrale - Schmitz Frères - Kessi Frères - Epsa - Etoile - F. Borgel -
1) Fabrique de Boites de Montres S. Graber SA
Hallmark. A shovel (from 1947), or initials SGR inside a shovel-head (1960s)
Origin. The trademark and hallmark for this case maker was first registered on April 1947 in Renan (close to La Chaux-de-Fonds; 1st S. Graber trademark in 1944; [source]). The unique hallmark-shape comes from the name itself: Graber is German for 'digger' - and what do you need to dig...?
Style. It's hard to pin down a certain style as I could predominantly identify Omega Constellation/Seamaster pieces from the 1960s with that hallmark... Soooo there you got a distinctive style.
Examples. 1960-66: Omega Constellation 168.005; Omega Seamaster 14704, 14773, 166.002
Example watch cases made by S. Graber SA. Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives & Omega.
Hallmark. initials HF inside a stylized painter's palette (since 1905).
Origin. The company was originally founded in 1868 in Le Locle by the brothers Fritz and Albert Huguenin. They started in case decoration and evolved more and more into elaborate case making experts ([source]).
Style. During the late 19th Century the company was for example known for decorating silver cases and other joaillerie projects. They were even responsible for the 1928 Olympic Winter Games' medals from St. Moritz. Their impact on the horological side came predominantly from the mid-1950s onwards, when the case making department was split up from the mother company ([source]). The new HF case department landed their biggest coups with Omega making the 1957/58 trilogy of first Speedmaster, Seamaster 300 and Railmaster executions as well as with Universal Geneve and being responsible for the original Polerouter and later Compax cases. All in all, the masters of twisted and Lyre lugs.
Examples. 1950-70s: Omega Seamaster 2657; Universal Geneve Polerouter; Omega Speedmaster 2915, 105.003; Omega Seamaster 300 2913, 165.024; Omega Railmaster 2914; IWC Cal. 89; Heuer Autavia 2446; several deep divers from Eberhard, Eterna, Certina, etc.
Example watch cases made by Huguenin Frères. Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives, Vintageur, Analog:Shift, Shuck the Oyster, & S. Song Watches.
3) Central Watch Case Co., La Centrale
Hallmark. CB inside a 'tombstone'/bread form (since 1934)
Origin. The company was founded latest 1906 in Biel/Bienne as Fabrique des Boites La Centrale SA ([source]).
Style. Again, these markings can predominantly be found in Omega watches of the 1960s with everything from the Geneve collection up to Constellations and some vintages of the 'Ed White' Speedmaster 105.003 ([source]). But their origins with the brand go back well into the late 1940s and some of Omega's earliest (bumper) automatic watches. But looking back into the early 20th and late 19th Century you'll also find Hamilton pocket watch cases made by "Central Watch Case Co" ([source]).
Examples. 1940s-70s: Omega Automatic 2638; Omega Geneve 14724, 135.041; Omega Constellation 14900, 168.005; Omega Seamaster 300 165.024 (2nd Gen)
Example watch cases made by Central Watch Case Co., La Centrale. Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives, Swiss Watch Trader, & Horlogica.
Hallmark. S.F. initials or remarks on utilized patents ("Brevet +", see [here])
Origin. Otto and Werner Schmitz were the original Schmitz Freres who opened their workshop in 1937 in Grenchen ([source]).
Style. During their early years the brothers patented several innovations in the field of water- and element-proof watches and in particular chronographs. Their best known achievement from the time most likely is the 'clamshell' case construction that was used by Gallet. However, it wasn't until the late 1960s that the S.F. initials occurred in the latest Omega Constellation executions.
Examples. 1939-70s: Gallet Multichron 30; Omega Constellation 168.010, 168.045, 168.019 (C-shape); Omega Ploprof; Various brands 565-style time-only
Example watch cases made by Schmitz Frères. Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives, Vintageur, & Hillmann Watches.
Hallmark. K.B. in diamond (from 1926) or in 'tombstone'/bread (from 1931; see [here]).
Origin. The company trademark was first registered in 1926 in Biel/Bienne. K.B. stands for 'Kessi Biel'.
Style. Even though the history of this workshop is quite long you'll find their mark only reserved for a very limited range of Constellations (1966) and a couple Speedmasters (~1971).
Examples. 1966-71: Omega Constellation 168.017, 168.004; some Omega Speedmaster 145.022 (potentially service parts?, see [here])
Example watch cases made by Huguenin Frères. Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives, & Bazamu (his 145.022-68 is an all original HF case though)
Hallmark. EPSA in oval alignment (since 1945) or the Scuba Diver (helmet). But several patent descriptions (Brevet +) make the identification of EPSA cases possible as well (CH317537, CH337462, CH472716, CH487449).
Origin. The company acronym EPSA stands for Ervin (Gustave) Piquerez SA, and was first mentioned in 1945 with a workshop in Bassecourt ([source]) that was potentially founded already in 1939 ([source]). However, the family's business in the area goes back to at least 1886 with the 'Frères Piquerez' watch case making workshop ([source]).
Style. Ervin Piquerez made a name for himself with inventions and related patents (1955 & 1960) in the field of deep sea diving and making a watch as sturdy and reliable as possible. The most important (collectible) innovation likely is the 'Super Compressor' case used by many brands including Enicar, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vetta, Longines and others ([source]).
Examples. UG Polerouter 204612, Sub 20369; IWC Aquatimer 816; Omega Seamaster 168.034; Longines Legend Diver
Example watch cases made by Ervin Piquerez SA (EPSA). Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives, Shuck the Oyster, Vintageur, & Schoene Sammleruhren.
7) Etoile - Sandoz & Breitmeyer (?)
Hallmark. a 5-armed Star (Etoile french = Star)
Origin. I must admit this hallmark, or rather the company behind it, is debated. See the info I provide here as a starting point: You can find an upside-down star in several Omega cases of the early to mid-1950s. The best fit for the trademark might be the Etoile (= star) mark from the company Sandoz & Breitmeyer, registered first in 1892 in La Chaux-de-Fonds responsible for making watches, parts and cases ([source]). Indeed the name Sandoz is further associated with another high-end case making company in La Chaux-de-Fonds namely Chatelain, Sandoz & Co that made precious metal cases with the hallmark #109 ([source]). The name Sandoz disappears from the registered hallmark #109 in 1956 which adds plausibility for the 'Star' mark also just being identifiable until the mid-1950s.
Style. This is another example of an Omega-related case maker. From what I've seen they have been making Jumbo-cases (37mm+) for manually wound watches as well as automatic "Beefy Lugs" Seamasters.
Examples. 1950s: Omega Sub-Second 2505, 2603, 2808; Omega Seamaster 2577
Example watch cases made by (potentially) Sandoz & Breitmeyer. Photos Courtesy of Goldammer Archives, & Belmont Watches.
8) Francois Borgel - Taubert & Fils
Hallmark. F.B. and key in rectangle (since 1887)
Origin. If you came here specifically to learn more about steel cases you likely have already heard about Francois Borgel and the innovations he brought to the horological landscape. FB founded his company in 1887 in Geneva and patented the first 'Borgel case' in 1891 ([source]). He was a pioneer in the field of watertight watches and his name was eponymous with cutting edge technology. After his death the company was sold (1924) to the Taubert family from Le Locle but the production site stayed in Geneva ([source]).
Style. The work of the manufacture FB (Taubert & Fils) was always driven towards sturdy, reliable and element-proof watch cases. Rolex even experimented with Borgel cases before introducing their Oyster ([source]). And over the years they made legendary case design become reality for Patek Philippe, Movado, Vacheron Constantin, Mido, and many more.
Examples. 1930-70s: Movado M95 chronograph; Patek Philippe 565; Patek Philippe Tasti Tondi 1463;
Example watch cases made by Francois Borgel (Taubert & Fils). Photos Courtesy of A Collected Man, Hairspring Watches, Phillips, VIsion Vintage, S. Song Watches, Time Curator, & Benjamin Marcello.
Conclusion & What Did We Learn?
I've given you some tools to better understand watch case makers in steel watches - you have to look out for marks and trademarks (check via [Mikrolisk]) and patents ('Brevet +', check via [escapenet]). These can give you a good feeling for who made the case or at least a hint, an attribution.
However, here are some more central epiphanies I had while putting together this guide. First, you will rarely find actual markings of case makers for steel watches. Which is a pity because it interferes with the curious search for a deeper understanding of our watches.
Examples of the hallmarks we could identify... yet with these we can still only research a fraction of all the vintage watch cases out there.
The Omega Conundrum. A very interesting detail of my search has been that most of the hallmarked steel cases were Omega (or Universal Geneve). Five to six of the presented suppliers fall into this bracket - and there are even more that I didn't include: LL (Louis Lang SA, Porrentruy, since 1934), JF (J. Finger, Lengnau, since 1935), VM (???), MLB (Maeder-Leschot SA, Biel\Bienne, since 1927). But for some reason other brands didn't mark their cases... Longines, IWC, JLC and others used generic markings on most of their steel watches leaving no trace of the original supplier.
Interestingly, the Omega/UG markings started roughly during the 1950s and were most prevalent during the 1960s and 70s. Yet, at that point the marked suppliers and their trademarks existed already for 20-30 years. Something changed and made the watchmaker realize that it is of advantage to keep track of the produced cases coming from various suppliers.
Why did Omega commission the production of their C-Shape Constellations sometimes to Schmitz Frères (like this one here) and other times to Kessi Frères? Photo from Goldammer Archives.
It shows me two things. First, the production of steel and gold-plated cases seems to have been relatively interchangeable. The same design was realized by various different and often overlapping case makers. This is actually in stark contrast to the production of precious metal cases where the case makers had their own designs and interpretations... often proposing new concepts to the brands.
Second, this grants us another angle on verifying the authenticity and originality of vintage watches. Think of it this way: the same reference, for example the Omega Speedmaster 105.003 'Ed White', was made by different case makers. The production range for each supplier was relatively fixed and we know which production year of the movement should coincide with the respective case maker. It doesn't give you 100% certainty but will help you in identifying a good range of Frankenwatches.
The Omega Speedmaster 'Ed White' 105.003 can come from various case makers including HF (Huguenin Frères, like this one) and CB (Central Watch Case Co.). Photo Courtesy of Fathom Watches & Hairspring Watches.
The Meaningful Few. Not all of the identified case makers do however fall in the category of 'relatively replaceable' but bring individual innovations to the brands. This category of suppliers - I'd count EPSA, FB (Taubert & Fils), & Schmitz Frères - is closer to how we see the supply chain manifesting with precious metal cases. These companies bring unique selling points to the table - aka patents - that need to be recognized by the watchmaker and their contribution to the design and technological evolution can thus be understood way better.
One of the few steel designs that are well recognizable and directly related to the case maker: F. Borgel (Taubert & Fils). Photo Courtesy of S. Song Watches.
Anyway there's a lot of 'research' left to be done in this field. There's an entire world to explore. It will be some time until we can really appreciate all the different case makers that (unfortunately) remain unknown so far... If you think I've left meaningful names out and there's more to include already feel free to directly contact me on instagram (@SiemsWatches). I'm always eager to extend the list!
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