Our History
The official origin date of Cauny is 1927, the year of the earliest verified document bearing the brand’s name. Some sources suggest that the story may have begun earlier, around 1906–1907, when a Spanish watch reseller travelled to La Chaux-de-Fonds to commission watches for the Spanish market. At the time, it was common practice for retailers to source watches from Swiss manufacturers and brand them specifically for local markets.
The name Cauny itself appears to have been chosen for its sound rather than for any strict geographical or historical reason. Inspired by a French province, it was selected for being elegant, distinctive, and easy to pronounce. Documentation from this early period is scarce and fragmentary, but it sets the stage for what would become a remarkable chapter in European watchmaking.
Cauny’s story becomes clearer—and more firmly documented—from the 1950s to the 1970s, widely regarded as the brand’s golden age. During this period, Cauny was led by Mireille Grebler, one of the first women to head a watch brand. Under her direction, the brand followed a clear and successful philosophy: refined, attractive designs paired with reliable, high-quality movements at accessible prices.
While all creative direction and production were based in Switzerland, Cauny’s strongest markets were Spain, Mediterranean France, and Portugal. In Portugal in particular, Cauny became deeply woven into everyday life. It was customary to receive a Cauny watch to mark important milestones—finishing primary school, a first communion, or other rites of passage. These memories are still vivid today. Many of the watches from that era remain in daily use, worn by their original owners or passed down through generations, a testament to their durability and emotional value.
Like many traditional Swiss brands, Cauny was profoundly affected by the quartz crisis. The company changed hands several times—first sold by Mireille Grebler to a Dutch group, and later to a Spanish company that continued production until the late 1990s or early 2000s, when activity finally ceased.
In 2019, the rights to the Cauny brand were acquired by Ourtime, a Portuguese company with long-standing experience in watch distribution. When the idea of developing an in-house brand arose, Cauny was the natural choice — a name deeply embedded in Portuguese collective memory.
Reviving Cauny proved more challenging than anticipated. The concept of an affordable mechanical watch had evolved significantly since the brand’s mid-century heyday. Nonetheless, Cauny quickly gained recognition for its design-driven approach and strong value proposition.
A defining moment came with The Architects of Time series. What began as an idea for a limited-edition collaboration with Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza soon evolved into something far more ambitious. It became clear that the project should not be limited—and Siza himself suggested expanding the concept to include other leading architects. The vision was compelling: to invite architects to design timekeeping instruments that reflected their personal interpretation of time itself.
Since then, Cauny has collaborated with architects such as Rafael Moneo, Eduardo Souto Moura, and Tadao Ando, with future contributors continuing this extraordinary lineage. United by the same enthusiasm, they see the project as a rare opportunity to translate architectural thinking—often reserved for the few—into objects designed for everyday life.
Today, Cauny stands at the intersection of heritage and contemporary design, honoring its past while continuing to explore new ways of measuring time.
