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Hermès

France · Founded 1837

Founded in 1837 in Paris by Thierry Hermès as a harness and saddlery workshop; the family firm later diversified into leather goods, opening its flagship store at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1880. Hermès retailed and rebadged Swiss-made pocket watches and wristwatches from the early twentieth century, working with outside manufactures — documented partners include Universal Genève (roughly 1930s-1950s) and, in the 1926-1978 window, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe, and Rolex — without a dedicated watch factory of its own; a sometimes-cited Movado partnership could not be independently corroborated. In 1978, under chairman Jean-Louis Dumas, the company founded La Montre Hermès SA in Bienne (Biel), Switzerland, launching the Arceau as its first true in-house model and beginning a standalone watchmaking division. Hermès took a 25% stake in movement maker Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier in 2006, then acquired dial specialist Natéber in 2012 and case maker Joseph Erard in 2013, vertically integrating its Swiss watchmaking supply chain.