Since its founding by Eugène
Meylan in 1914, Glycine has been producing watches at its
factory in Bienne, Switzerland.
Meylan was an uncompromising
watch engineer who strove for perfection and nothing less.
He had a profound understanding of both the market demands
and the possibilities offered by the technological advances
of the time. Very soon, he succeeded in producing extremely
precise, small movements for ladies watches, enabling Glycine
to put on the market the finest miniature movements, clad
in precious gold and platinum cases, often studded with diamonds.
Glycine
became a supplier to the wealthy people who valued highly
these works of fine craftsmanship. However, Meylan
did not stop there. Around 1931, he presented to the world
market a well-functioning self-winding watch, entirely of
his own invention, a sensational performance that, for lack
of capital, could not be exploited commercially. Some of
these GLYCINE Eugène Meylan SA self-winding watches
can still be found in the collectors' market.
The year
1934 saw the launch of a chronometer range, a line of watches
passing the exacting tests of the Official Swiss Quality
Control. The depression years of the 30s and the approaching
world war took a heavy toll on the company as Switzerland
was cut off from nearly all its traditional export markets.
Yet
Glycine survived and even managed to be one of only 29
exhibitors at the Basel Fair in 1938, an annual event
the
firm has not missed since.
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Watch production in the 1920's |
