Century Time Gems Ltd was founded on January 5, 1966, by Hans-Ulrich Klingenberg, the first day upon the abolition of the "Statut horloger", which had prohibited the entry of newcomers into the watch industry in Switzerland for almost 40 years.

Vacuum Chronometer Corporation

The company was initially called Vacuum Chronometer Corp., which manufactured vacuum watches (sold under several well-known trademarks), of his own invention: the air being the vector of moisture and all impurities as well as of temperature differences that impair the automatic movements' chronometer precision, Klingenberg had devised a watchcase, where a void of 80% could be created and maintained. According to the International Watch Marketing Director of luxury brand Cartier, Thierry Lamouroux, the efficiency of a watch is not improved until 99% of the air is removed from the case. Furthering his vision of the perfected watch, Klingenberg soon started manufacturing such cases in

boron carbide Boron carbide (chemical formula approximately B4C) is an extremely hard boron–carbon ceramic, a covalent material used in tank armor, bulletproof vests, engine sabotage powders, as well as numerous industrial applications. With a Vickers har ...

, followed by

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

(corundum).

The Century Timepiece

Upon the advance of quartz movements, vacuum automatic watches became much less in demand. But, being less bulky, quartz movements offered Klingenberg the opportunity to finally realize his perfect watch, creating a monolithic diamond-facetted watchcase of sapphire, applying another of his patents. Located previously in

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

, the company is now established in nearby

Nidau Nidau is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Biel/Bienne (administrative district), Biel/Bienne administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. History Nidau is first mentio ...

, still in his family's hands, led by one of his sons. The company is a full-fledged member of the

Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) is the Swiss watch industry's leading trade association, headquartered in Bienne, Switzerland. The Federation is a private, professional and non-profit association. The Federation of the Swiss Wa ...

References

External links

Century Time Gems - Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH

(p. 22)
Gold Bulletin
journal Manufacturing companies established in 1966 Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Swiss watch brands Luxury brands 1966 establishments in Switzerland Design companies established in 1966 {{Switzerland-company-stub