The story behind the Festina watches
The Festina watches have a long history, tradition and influence from different cultures. Even though they are created in 1902, Festina get properly famous in 1989. Maybe due to the fact that they are world famous since relatively soon, you will probably hear the name of this brand less than those of its competitors. However, the Festina watches are luxury, high-quality, comfortable and incredibly beautiful.
The development of Festina
The first models of Festina were made in 1902 in a small watch factory in the Swiss town La Chaux-de-Fonds. The initial founders were the Stüdi family but after that the company had many different owners. In 1935, Festina was sold to the businessman Willy Burkhard von Wilhelm and during World War II, the company is transferred to Barcelona.
1989 is one of the most important years for Festina. That was when the Spanish watchmaker Miguel Rodríguez Domínguez acquired the company with all its rights and creates the so called Festina Lotus Group. The Group owns other watch brands such as Calypso, Candino, Jaguar and Lotus and the jewelry brand Lotus Style and Lotus Silver. Nowadays, the headquarters of Festina Lotus Group are still located in Barcelona and the brand sells nearly 5 million watches per year.
Even though the headquarters of Festina moved to Spain, the Swiss tradition for impeccable quality in the watches did not change. The company not only kept its reputation for high-quality work but also implemented innovative changes, new materials, modern design and incredible precision in the models. The improved Japanese quartz mechanisms of the Festina watches even became famous for being the most accurate.
The brand offers men’s watches as well as women’s and among the wide range of styles we discover something for each taste – elegant and simple models, classic and retro inspired or ones with bold bright colors. Digital, analog or chronograph, used as an accessory or from professional atheletes – the possibilites are endless. There is a huge variety in the stripes too – leather, rubber, titanium or stainless steel.
From all the designs, the most well known and recognizable Festina watches are the signature chronographs which are not only stylish but practical too. They offer all kinds of features too – stopwatch, calendar, second time zone, timer, alarm and others. Another distinctive feature of Festina is the so called Mecaquartz movement. It is one of a kind mechanical quartz movement without a battery and is used for the most luxury watches.
In the last few years, Festina became a leader among the watch brands in Europe and the world. True fans and collectors who appreciate the fine watches are happy to wear Festina on their wrists. And even thought the Spanish company thinks about every taste and style, the are in which it is most popular is the sport one. Festina sponsors a lot of sporting events, mainly biking ones.
In 1992 the company became an official certified timekeeper and sponsor of Tour de France. It even launched Tour de France watches which became a huge hit and a serious competition for the other brands. Besides the biggest bicycle race in the world, Festina is the timekeeper for other important events. Some of them are the Tour of Italy, Tour of Great Britain and Tour of Spain. Inspired by the sports, the Festina watches offer many sport models with functions that professional and amateur athletes adore. The company has an amazing team whose job it to create and improve models who are not only useful for athletes but also incredibly stylish.
Festina in Europe and around the world
The business strategy of the brand turned out to be extremely successful. Thanks to the sporting events which it sponsors, Festina gets mass fame and wins the reputation for a high-quality brand. Except for Europe and mostly Spain, the Festina watches are bestsellers in the USA too. Firstly, the company started selling watches in the USA in bike shops. With time it became popular but people still associate it with biking.
Nowadays, there are Festina stores in 90 countries, on 5 continents all over the world and except for the good quality and the beautiful designs, the company gained fans thanks to the affordable prices too.
Festina Group
For 30 years now Festina Group specializes in the manufacture of watches, watch parts and jewelry. The company united the following brands: Festina, Lotus, Candino, Jaguar, Kronaby, Calypso, Lotus Style and Lotus Silver.
The two main production centers are in Switzerland and Spain but Festina Group has subsidiaries in France, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Chile and Benelux. The watch companies in the Festina Group sell models in a wide price range and this way the respond to the needs of a wide group of clients.
With over a 100-year-old experience, the distinctive design and the constant technological progress are some of the main values for Festina. The price-quality ratio of their watches is one of the best, so if you want a luxury accessory at an affordable price you can count on Festina. The name of the brand is inspired by the Latin aphorism festina lente which translates to English in make haste slowly. This saying is in the philosophy foundation of the company and if you own a Festina watch, then be sure that a lot of time and patience were dedicated into the improvement of each detail. And the interesting mixture of Japanese mechanism, Swiss quality and Spanish design will become your favorite combination.
