An inventory of Portuguese watch brands
In this second article devoted to Portuguese watchmaking, we set out to bring together all the known Portuguese watch brands. It is important to stress that we are talking about Portuguese brands, not Portuguese watches. For several decades, many entrepreneurs created watch brands in Portugal in order to sell imported watches, mainly from Switzerland. The aim of this work is to identify, document and preserve the memory of those brands through the examples that have survived to the present day. This article is only one stage of a wider project that will continue to be developed by the Instituto Português de Relojoaria.
The photographs presented in this article are the result of a photo shoot carried out by Bruno Candeias as part of the Instituto Português de Relojoaria project dedicated to surveying Portuguese wristwatch brands.
The initiative had the support of collectors who made their pieces available for study and documentation. The set presented here brings together 185 watches in NOS (New Old Stock) condition, with dials, cases and graphic elements preserved in an exceptional state of conservation.
It should also be noted that a significant part of the information currently available about these brands comes from oral accounts, the memories of former professionals in the trade, collectors and incomplete documentation. It has not always been possible to confirm independently every reference we found. For that reason, some attributions should be regarded as provisional until new documentary sources come to light.
O Inventário
We chose the name O Inventário (“The Inventory”) because this project aims to identify, gather and document the Portuguese watch brands we have come across in the course of our research. There is also a curious etymological link with the Portuguese word inventar (“to invent”): many of these brands were born from names carefully dreamed up by their founders, in an attempt to create an identity and stand out in the market. The name is often the first step of a business venture and, in many cases, it is also the element that survives longest after the company itself has disappeared.
Over the last few years we have been gathering scattered information about these brands from advertisements, trademark registrations, commercial documentation, oral accounts and surviving examples. The aim of this work is to preserve that information, make it accessible and create a documentary base that can be continuously expanded and corrected as new sources emerge.
The photographs presented in this article are the result of a photo shoot carried out by Bruno Candeias as part of this Instituto Português de Relojoaria project dedicated to surveying and inventorying Portuguese wristwatch brands.
The initiative had the support of the collectors Nuno Graça and João Martins, who made their pieces available for study and documentation. The set presented here brings together 185 watches in NOS (New Old Stock) condition, with dials, cases and graphic elements preserved in an exceptional state of conservation.
This work is part of a wider project of the Instituto Português de Relojoaria, which seeks to build the most complete inventory possible of the wristwatch brands sold in Portugal.
It should also be noted that a significant part of the information currently available about these brands comes from oral accounts, the memories of former professionals in the trade, collectors and incomplete documentation. It has not always been possible to confirm independently every reference we found. For that reason, some attributions and relationships between brands should be regarded as provisional until new documentary sources come to light. This survey should be understood as a permanent work in progress, open to corrections, contributions and new discoveries.
Photos: Bruno Candeias
What do these dials tell us?
The 185 watches documented in this survey represent only a small part of the universe of Portuguese wristwatch brands. The database of the O Inventário project currently holds more than 300 brands identified through commercial records, old advertising, historical documentation, oral accounts and surviving examples.
Despite the limitations inherent in this kind of research, the set already makes it possible to identify some important trends in Portuguese watchmaking over the course of the 20th century.
The creativity behind the names
The names chosen for Portuguese watch brands reveal a great deal about how their founders wanted to present their products to the market.
Although some names simply correspond to the name of the owner or the company, many others are the result of exercises in commercial creativity that sought to convey trust, prestige, modernity or a distinctly Portuguese identity.
Among the most curious examples are a few brands built from their owners' surnames spelt backwards.
The Otar brand, associated with Fernando Rato, is probably the best-known case. There are also examples such as Said, linked to the surname Dias, and Morais, related to the surname Morais. These solutions made it possible to create an original brand without losing the connection to the founder's identity.
Other names sought to convey an image of prestige, quality or authority. Names such as Imperial Watch, Regina, Vanguard, Primar or Starlux evoke ideas of leadership, distinction and importance, qualities frequently used in the international watch advertising of the period.
The inventory also reveals some curious situations relating to the spelling of the brands. One of the most interesting examples is the coexistence of the names Siaron (Morais) and Siarom (Norais) . Without additional documentation, it is not possible to determine whether these are two distinct brands or whether one of the variants resulted from an error made during the production of the dial or the engraving of the printing plate, or from a change introduced during the commercial life of the brand. Cases like this clearly illustrate the difficulties encountered when researching Portuguese watchmaking, where often only the watches survive, the documentation that would settle these questions once and for all having disappeared.
We also find brands linked to Portugal's territory, culture and collective imagination. Examples such as Tagus, Vouga, Adamastor, Latino or Girassol show a clear intention to create commercial identities associated with national references easily recognised by Portuguese consumers.
At the same time, many brands adopted names whose sound was inspired by Swiss, French or German watchmaking. Names such as Limoge, Eletta, Vanguard, Starlux or Zuryl often sought to convey an international appearance, benefiting from the technical reputation that foreign watchmaking enjoyed among the public.
The diversity of these choices shows that creating a brand was far more than a simple administrative exercise. The name was one of the main instruments of commercial differentiation and, in many cases, it is today one of the few traces left of companies that disappeared several decades ago.
Between the Portuguese Brand and the Portuguese Watch
Most Portuguese brands did not manufacture their watches in their entirety. In many cases the movements were imported from Switzerland, while the watches were marketed by Portuguese companies. This explains the frequent presence of ETA, FHF, FE, AS, Valjoux, Peseux, Lemania, Lorsa or Unitas movements in watches sold under Portuguese brands.
The historical value of these brands does not necessarily lie in the industrial production of the watches, but in the creation of commercial networks, workshops, distributors and identities of their own that left their mark on several generations of Portuguese consumers.
The Main Centres of Portuguese Watchmaking
The research carried out so far makes it possible to identify a few centres that were particularly important for Portuguese watchmaking.
Cantanhede is associated with a large number of brands, distributors and assemblers. Porto also shows very significant activity, in particular through J. Borges de Freitas and several trading houses linked to the sector.
Lisbon is home to some of the best-known brands on the national market, while cities such as Coimbra and Viseu also have a significant watchmaking heritage.
A Universe of Almost Forgotten Brands
One of the clearest conclusions of this work is the enormous number of brands that have now disappeared. In many cases we do not know the exact circumstances of their disappearance. Even so, the concentration of these disappearances in the last decades of the 20th century suggests a link to the profound changes that marked the international watch market, in particular the spread of quartz watches and the growing globalisation of the industry.
Many have survived only through a dial, an advertisement or a trademark registration.
In a number of cases we do not know the exact date of creation, the scale of the business or even the identity of the owners. Even so, these brands are valuable testimony to Portuguese economic activity and to the country's connection with the great international networks of the watch trade.
A Work in Progress
It should also be noted that a significant part of the information currently available about these brands comes from oral accounts, the memories of former professionals in the trade, collectors and incomplete documentation. It has not always been possible to confirm independently every reference we found.
For that reason, some attributions and relationships between brands should be regarded as provisional until new documentary sources come to light. This survey should be understood as a permanent work in progress, open to corrections and contributions from everyone.
Conclusion
This inventory is a fragmented map of the history of Portuguese watchmaking. Although many of these brands disappeared several decades ago, the dials, watches and documents that have survived continue to bear witness to the diversity of a sector that had a far more significant presence than is generally recognised.
Each newly identified example helps to deepen our knowledge of these brands and makes it possible gradually to reconstruct a heritage that remains insufficiently studied.
Contribute to the Project
Do you have suggestions, corrections, photographs, documents or information about any of these brands? Do you know stories about Portuguese watchmakers, workshops or watch companies? Would you like to be an active member of this project? Get in touch with us.
The research is still under way and all contributions are welcome.
Comments