Following the purchase of Glycine in 1984,
Brechbühler, who had been a specialist in private label
business, switched over to the brand watch business, an entirely
new experience for him. Progressively, new products were
developed that enabled Glycine to work successfully in countries
such as Scandinavia, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Germany.
A
quartz collection was created and an international network
of agencies sprang to life again. Extremely resistant watches,
such as the TJALK and HEAVY DUTY models, were launched and
added to the prestige of the brand.
The market accepted with
pleasure the GOLDSHIELD line, featuring a standard of goldplating
much higher than anything the competitors could present.
The sophisticated super-thin AMARANTH watches received
an enthusiastic welcome in Italy and the USA.
The new strategies
began to pay off in the early 1990s when Brechbühler's
daughter Katherina, born in 1962, joined the company and
successfully implemented her own brand concept, resulting
in mechanical products being increasingly integrated into
the company’s collections. This strategy proved effective
in positioning Glycine as a specialist, with a long tradition
in the field of mechanical watches.
After an initial success
in Germany, the first to really accept the mechanical watches
on a large scale, the new range of Glycine products spread
to other countries.
|
|
1994: The automatic Goldshield line with a 40 microns goldplated case.
1996: 40mm diver watch of the Combat line movement ETA 2824
|
