It seems as though we have been celebrating a number of anniversaries recently – so why not news of another before this year ends.
125 years ago the founder of Victorinox Swiss Army, Karl Elsener, opened a cutlery workshop where he developed the Original Swiss Army Knife. Today, the Elsener family are still the directors of the company, the third and fourth generations are now at the helm.
The same spirit of innovation that went into the production of that first iconic pocket knife has been applied to Victorinox Swiss Army’s other products ever since, including, of course, their timepieces, household and professional knives, travel gear and ladies’ and men’s fashion.
2009 is also the 20th anniversary of the first Victorinox Swiss Army timepiece. So it is not surprising that to mark these anniversaries the company have produced the Travel Alarm 1884 Limited Edition which has been limited to 1,884 pieces worldwide.
The technical teams of both the knife and watch divisions have joined forces and applied the principle of the retractable blade to the design of this stylish and one-of-a-kind travel alarm. The resulting timepiece features the same spring effect and ‘click’ sound as the Original Swiss Army Knife, the same red side-panels, and it even includes the typical toothpick and tweezers found in the Victorinox Swiss Army pocket knives.
December 2009 is not only an important anniversary for 
Towards the end of November JeanRichard Manufacture played host to one of the legends of the motorcycle world, Giacomo Agostini.
In 2009 the two Swiss towns of Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle were added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. 
TechnoMarine is a young watch brand, having only been created in 1997. Their first watch, a very popular one, was the Raft, reportedly selling over 50 000 pieces in the first year. The Raft offered a bold new style: a chronograph watch with a plastic strap.
In 1997 what was then the Vendôme Group took over the Florentine watch company Officine Panerai. Today 
Zenith watches are designed and assembled in the company’s own workshops in Le Locle, Switzerland. Thus Zenith is legitimately entitled to use the word manufacture in the company name, as in ‘Zenith Manufacture’. This tradition has its roots in the French language where the word manufacture means ‘manufacturing company’.
In 1860 Giovanni Panerai (1825-1897) opened the first watchmaker’s shop in the Italian city of Florence. He also made contact with some of the most prestigious and established of Swiss watch manufacturers. The family business grew from strength to strength and today 
In the early 1900s Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, also and not surprisingly known as the ‘crazy Count from Lake Constance’, created the large airships we know of as the Zeppelins that made historic passenger flights form Germany.
