Movado goes back to a watch factory founded in 1881 in La Chaux-de-Fonds by Achille Ditesheim. The Movado brand name was registered in 1905. The company registered several patents, including in 1912 for the ‘Polyplan’ watch with an angled movement and in 1926 for the ‘Ermeto’, a case watch. In the 1930s, many new wristwatch models, including a calendar watch and a chronograph, were designed in modular construction. In 1959 they launched the ‘Museum Watch’ and in 1969 Movado - together with Zenith - developed the automatic chronograph with calendar, the ‘El Primero’.
 
The ‘Kingmatic’ model offered here came onto the market in 1956, equipped with the new rotor automatic calibre 531. The Kingmatic developed into the successful ‘standard watch’ at Movado. It was offered in a waterproof version as the Sub Sea model.
 
In 1960, Movado undertook an extraordinary test to prove that the Sub Sea model was reliably waterproof. A Sub Sea was attached to the outside of an ocean liner below the waterline and survived the crossing to America unscathed.
 
The watch has a case by Francois Borgel, a renowned manufacturer who also supplied Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and many other well-known manufacturers. At the time, Movado was absolutely on a par with the aforementioned brands and produced watches of the highest quality with outstanding in-house movements.