The Transatlantic History of Cuervos y Sobrinos
Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador, released for the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana / Credit: Bittner
You may have noticed we like to highlight historic non-Swiss watch brands at Montres Publiques, to emphasis the fact that Swiss dominance of the watch industry is a recent development. So, today we talk about Cuba, or a Cuban brand to be specific. Now, Cuba may be known for rum and cigars or Castro and Communism, but it is also the home of a watch brand older than Rolex itself, one that survived a revolution and is still in production today.
Founded in 1882 in Havana, Cuba as an atelier, Cuervos y Sobrinos has its roots in Ramon Cuervo’s jewelry store opened in 1864, and eventually started to import and resell watches from some of the most prestigious Swiss brands of the day. Ramon Cuervo grew the business over the years, becoming the most prominent jeweler in Cuba and one of the most important in Latin America. The brand was eventually taken over by his nephew Armando (hence the name, ‘Cuervo y Sobrinos’), who continued selling watches – even gaining enough renown to have Cuervo y Sobrinos engraved on some watch dials, much like Tiffany & Co. or many other celebrated retailers of the 1900s. As they grew in the early 20th century, they started expanding with new locations in Germany and France to source precious metals and hire local craftsmen. They also started to develop their own watches, which were well received, albeit fairly simple as they mostly focused on classic dress watches. Over the years, they marked their success by serving clients like Clark Gable, Winston Churchill, and Albert Einstein, unfortunately succumbing to the turmoil caused in Cuba by the Communist revolution of the late 1950s.
Luckily, it was not the end of the brand’s history, as it was officially relaunched in Europe by entrepreneur Marzio Villa in 2002. Since then, they have opened a new manufacture in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, been sponsors at many recognized sporting events, and continued to expand the revived business. Here’s to the future of Latin America’s only well-known watch brand.