Carl Suchy & Söhne - Viennese elegance since 1822
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Carl Suchy & Söhne - Viennese elegance since 1822

In 2017 the Viennese legacy watch brand returned with the ‘Waltz N°1’. Pictured are the latest timepieces from the collection that were released in 2019.

The company was founded in 1822 by Austrian watchmaker Carl Suchy. The renowned watch brand counted the likes of Emperor Franz Joseph, Empress Sisi and Sigmund Freud amongst his distinguished customers. After one century as the sole watchmaker for the Habsburg royalty, Carl Suchy & Söhne disappeared with the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.


The Viennese legacy brand returned in 2017 with an iconic model: The Waltz N°1, a watch that is inspired by Viennese Modernism and the works of architect Adolf Loos, who marked the golden age of Austrian art. The automatic timepiece features a caliber by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, which is reworked by Swiss watchmaker Marc Jenni, a former member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI). In 2018, the watch brand presented a skeleton version of its best-seller.


VIENNESE ART OF LIVING

Renowned worldwide, the pompous Austrian capital’s coffeehouse culture and the illustrious balls held at the imperial courts have been the basis of the Viennese art of living since the beginning of the 20th century.


With its rotating “Waltzing Disk” in place of the second hand at 6 o’clock, the Waltz N°1 and its declinations honour an époque of artistic and intellectual effervescence, in which time counted little: once a minute, its guilloche-pattern on the disc aligns with that of the dial.

  • 1796 Carl Suchy was born in Prague, the ‘royal metropolis’ and second capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

  • 1812-1819 Apprenticeship with famous German watchmaker Franz Lehner and spends time wandering in German and Switzerland, the cradles of European watchmaking.

  • 1822 26-year old Suchy opens his shop in Prague. His technically advanced pendulum and wall clocks match the market-leading English and Swiss models and win countless prizes. Official supplier to the Imperial Court since 1835, Suchy has 35 employees and gains a good reputation well beyond the Empire.

  • 1844 Thanks to his watches, which ‘exceed the highest expectations in regard to elegance and technical perfection’, Carl Suchy is appointed the first and for many years only ‘Watch Purveyor to the Royal and Imperial Court’.

  • 1849 As Suchy’s sons join the parental business, ‘Carl Suchy & Söhne’ is founded. The watches are produced in the Austrian manufactory as well as in the Swiss branch and are regularly displayed at world fairs in Paris, London, and Vienna.

In the art nouveau-dominated Vienna of the early 20th century, Austrian architect Adolf Loos was amongst the first ones to reject ornamentation and give priority to proportions and volumes. He is considered one of the precursors of modern architecture and his writings were published in Le Corbusier’s journal L’Esprit Nouveau, who appreciated his clear and original spirit. To draw the pure lines and classic dial of the Waltz N°1, as well as its subtle guillochage, CEO Robert Punkenhofer and designer Miloš Ristin were inspired by the avant-garde and minimalist style of Adolf Loos.



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