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Angelus Watches - Manufactured Performance
Small Beginnings
The small town of Le Locle sits comfortably in the heart of Swiss Jura Mountain. Renowned for their workshops here, it is here that one can trace the roots of this Swiss brand, Angelus.
Founded by the Stolz brothers Albert and Gustav Stolz in 1891, the brand has built a firm reputation over its 125 years of existence. Now, Angelus Watches is considered one of the elite manufacturers in the horological world. What initially started in a small office and workshop for assembling externally supplied watch parts, in 1912 Angelus made a name for itself by shifting the focus to complex watch movements and chronographs. The Chronodate or Chronodato released by Angelus in 1942, equipped with self-produced calibres, immediately grabbed the public’s attention. Chronodate became the world’s first serially produced chronograph with a calendar function.
The success of Chronodate (1942) paved the way for Angelus to be the pioneers of complex engineered watches. The Chrono-Datoluxe (1948) was the first of its kind to feature the date in a chronograph wristwatch. It also became the first series of wristwatches that included a digital calendar - a feature that has blended in modern watchmaking. Angelus added another feather in their cap by releasing Datalarm (1956), the first watch to have an alarm and date function in it, as the unique name suggests.
However, Angelus’s success soon hit a blockade in the 1970s. Like many other Swiss watchmaking brands, Angelus too was hit hard by the Quartz Crisis. This led to a halt in their production in 1980. The company remained dormant for almost three decades until it was revived by the movement manufacturer La Joux-Perret SA under the leadership of its CEO Frederic Wenger and the chief of innovation, Dr Sebastian Chaulmontet.
Time Is Precious: The Angelus Manufacture
Since its revival in 2011, the Angelus headquarters has been shifted to La-Chaux-de-Fonds, a city known for its watchmaking prowess within the famed Watch Valley in the Swiss Jura mountains.
Drawing inspiration from their founders, Angelus has started producing premium watches once again. The hi-tech labs of Angelus use the latest Computer Assisted Design technologies to design their calibres. The movements of the watches are made using the bureau technique. Modern materials such as maraging steel, copper alloys, aluminium, titanium, and carbon fibres are used as components. These components further undergo thermic treatment like annealing and tempering to make them more resistant. However, what truly makes Angelus a masterpiece are the dedicated watchmakers who hand-polish and assemble every little piece of the watch.
At every stage of the watchmaking process, thorough quality checks are conducted using binoculars, microscopes, digital sensors, photo cameras, etc. The brand also conducts battery checks, including torque, strength and water resistance to eliminate potential inaccuracies.
Legacy
Angelus’s legacy in manufacturing chronographs, calibres have been unmatched through and through. Ever since their resurgence, the Urban collection of Angelus has been one of the biggest hits. The series of watches released by Angelus include U20, U21, U22, U23, U30, U40, U41, U50, U51, U52. Out of all these, the U52 collection was designed in partnership with Luis Campos, one of the greatest technical directors in the world of football.
Despite its long period of dormancy, Angelus has been able to keep up with modern watchmaking brands. By setting a one-of-a-kind standard, Angelus has emerged as the “byword of innovative watchmaking”.