Epos Watch Company

The modern Epos Watch Company was formed by Peter Hofer in the early nineteen eighties. Peter Hofer is a forty year veteran of the Swiss watchmaking industry. His passion for mechanical and complicated lead him to start manufacturing in the city of Biel. All Epos movements are assembled and adjusted in the company workshop.

How it all started

The origins of the EPOS Company date back to 1925. In that year, James Aubert formed his watch company in the Vallée de Joux, known as the centre of the mechanical watch world. James Aubert was an enthusiastic mechanical watch engineer, who dedicated his life to developing new watch mechanisms.

James Aubert was a master of his art and spent most of his efforts focusing on technical developments of chrono-graphs and minute repeaters. He had first acquired his skills working as an engineer for the former watch movement manufacturers “Valjoux” and “Landeron“.

In the true watchmakers’ tradition, he handed down his knowledge to his nephew Jean Aubert and his son-in-law, Jean Fillon, who is still today the EPOS’ watch engineer in chief. In his workshop many of EPOS’ own developments for complicated watches were created in close cooperation with EPOS watchmakers. A few that could be named are the jumping hour, the power reserve indication, the big date, the regulator and the regulator with the phases of the moon.

Company Formation

In the early 80s, the success story of the traditional Swiss watch came to a standstill. The new quartz technology radically changed the face of the watch industry. Nobody wanted to produce mechanical watches any longer, with the notable exception of a few luxury brands.

Peter Hofer, a long-established expert in Swiss watchmaking, was one of the few who still believed in the future of the mechanical watch. With this vision, he and his wife Erna decided to form their own company in 1983: Montres EPOS SA. Their main assets were a passion for mechanical watches and a technical know-how in this field. 

 

Personal contacts with key people in watch workshops both in the Jura Mountains and the Vallée de Joux, as well as a vast knowledge of the global watch market, enabled Peter Hofer to quickly develop his own brand. From the very beginning, EPOS has been a mechanical brand with interesting innovations. For 20 years he remained faithful to his vision, developing stunning collections incorporating fascinating mechanisms, always in close cooperation with Jean Fillon.

 

In 2002 Peter Hofer looked for a successor who shared his passion for mechanical watches and was willing to take over and develop the EPOS business. Ursula Forster, who came from a watchmakers’ family, and her husband Tamdi, who also had great experience in the Swiss watchmaking industry, seemed to be the ideal solution.

Official site: Epos