Does “Leroy” ring a bell to you? If you are a true watch fan it should, but I understand if it doesn’t. Montres Leroy (or L. Leroy) is a brand with a history that goes back to 1785 and a heritage that only few brands can dream of. Name me another brand that had Marie-Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte and Winston Churchill among their clientele? That developed the worlds’ most complicated watch in 1900, consisting of 975 parts, and hold that record until 1989, when it was broken by Patek’s calibre 89)? A dive into the history of Leroy is a very interesting exercise.
Festina
However, it seems that their importance and dominance was more related to the 19th century than to the 20th, and the recent past has been one of something between being awake and dormant. In 2004 Spanish Festina group took over the brand (together with Perrelet) and moved the watchmaking facilities back to Besancon in France, closer to its origins.
