What do the original Omega Speedmaster, the Patek Philippe Reference 3970, and the Tutima Military Chronograph have in common?
Lemania founder Alfred Jules Frederic Lugrin (1858-1920)
All feature movements from Lemania – a marque whose name is legendary among horological aficionados, but is almost completely unknown outside the watch industry. Originally known simply as “A. Lugrin,” the brand was founded by ex-Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmaker Alfred Lugrin in 1884, a man whose early chronographs and other complicated calibres received numerous awards in the early 20th century. When Lugrin’s son-in-law Marius Meyland joined the business around 1930, it became “Lemania” — a play on Lac Léman, the French name for Lake Geneva. The onset of the Great Depression the year previous made itself felt even in Switzerland, however, and by 1932, Lemania joined forces with Omega and Tissot to form the Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogére (SSIH) in a desperate bid to stay alive.
The hand-wound Calibre 321 in all its glory
It worked: Lemania would go on to supply its sister companies with all of its chronographs for four decades, including the ébauches for the legendary Calibre 321 – the movement used in the original Omega Speedmaster between 1957 and 1968. But the story doesn’t end there: In addition to outfitting Omega, Lemania also developed the ébauches for Patek Philippe’s legendary Ref. 3970 perpetual calendar chronograph and Ref. 5004 perpetual calendar with split-seconds chronographs. And if this weren’t enough, its Calibre 5100 central-minutes-counter movement outfitted the Tutima Military Chronograph and numerous models from Sinn, Omega, and others. This is to say nothing, by the way, of the countless chronographs and other watches produced under its own name and for others, including for the British Ministry of Defense.
By the 1970s, the Swiss watch industry was in the throes of the Quartz Crisis, with sales of inexpensive Japanese-made quartz calibers decimating Switzerland’s mechanical watchmaking market. When Lebanese-born businessesman Nicholas Hayek was asked to restructure SSIH and ASUAG (a larger watchmaking conglomerate) in the early 1980s, Lemania left the group and became Nouvelle Lemania in 1981. By 1992, Breguet had purchased Nouvelle Lemania, and in 1999, the Swatch Group — the entity created by Nicholas Hayek — purchased Breguet. Today, Lemania is effectively no more, though its beloved movements continue to garner attention from collectors, while its own-branded watches provide an excellent opportunity for collectors to break into the world of vintage chronographs at more approachable price points.
