TECHNOS

The trademark ″Technos″ was firstly registered in and used since 1924, with an increasing success, thanks to the quality of its mechanical and automatic watches. After WWII, it has had years of significant market shares, especially in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Like many other Swiss Watch Brands, it has almost been swept into oblivion by the onslought of the Japanese Watch industry in the mid 1970s and relives progressingly out of its present stronghold in Brazil.

History

• M. Gunzinger-Hug Co.

The company was founded 1900, under the name M. Gunzinger-Hug, by Melchior Gunzinger, in Welschenrohr

Welschenrohr

Welschenrohr is a municipality in the district of Thal in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-History:Welschenrohr is first mentioned in 1179 as Rore. An important watch manufacturing place up to the 1960s, its economy was heavily affected by the late 1960s watch crisis...

, in the Swiss Jura Mountains

Jura mountains

The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...

, Canton of Solothurn

Canton of Solothurn

Solothurn is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn.-History:The territory of the canton comprises land acquired by the capital...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

• Gunzinger Bros Ltd

Melchior’s son, Joseph Gunzinger

Joseph Gunzinger

Josef Gunzinger was born in Welschenrohr, Solothurn, Switzerland on March 23, 1892, and died on May 1, 1970 in Heiligenschwendi. He was made "citizen of honor" of the city of his birth in 1962.Son of Melchior Gunzinger, watchmaker, and Elizabeth Allemann...

  took over the small watch manufacturing facility in 1920 and changed the name to Gunzinger Bros Ltd.

1924 he registered the TM Technos and started manufacturing and exporting watches under that specific name. Technos became a very successful brand and the company had to increase its manufacturing capacity, to become a sizeable company, almost the sole employer in the area: in 1970, as Josef Gunzinger sold the company to General Watch Co

General Watch Co

General Watch Co. was the watch companies Holding of ASUAG.-History:ASUAG had been founded in 1931, with the assistance of the Swiss Government and the Swiss Banks, to combat the severe economic crisis and ensuing unemployment by means of refinancing General Watch Co. (GWC) was the watch companies...

, it occupied 450 people and exported the world over, but especially to Japan & Brazil.

Soon however, began the downturn originating from the onslaught of Japanese watches. Technos started losing most of its market shares, and by 1976, only the Japanese market was still managing to provide some orders.

1977 the company was transferred to Biel/Bienne in Montres Edox SA premises. Both companies were reorganized under a new joint management, to fight for survival. 1980 Certina was also integrated in the ad-hoc structure.

• Gunzinger Bros TECHNOS Watch CO LTD, WELSCHENROHR

1982 the company was sold with all rights to the TM Technos and all the numerous others held, to its long-time Japanese importer Heiwado & Co, Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

  (see :ja:テクノス ) and took its new name on. Its new owners granted a limited licence to use the trademark Technos to the importing company in Brazil , allowing them to design and manufacture their own Technos branded watches.

1995, the company sold the rights to the TM Technos for Brazil, the whole of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 to TECHNOS RELÓGIOS S. A. , followed in 2002 by the sale of the remaining worldwide rights.

However, Gunzinger Bros Technos Watch Co Ltd Welschenrohr, located in its town of origin still exists as a backup office for the after sales service of the countless Technos Swiss Made watches sold in Japan between 1955 and 2002.

• TECHNOS RELÓGIOS S. A.

In Brazil the history of Technos began in 1956, when Centauro Importadora, from Rio Grande do Sul, started to represent Technos watches, with the slogan: "The most punctual Swiss of the world". Now called TECHNOS RELÓGIOS S. A., with its parent company, Technos da Amazônia Indústria e Comércio Ltda, both 100% Brazilian companies, they produce about a million watches a year in their own manufacturing facilities in Manaus. Now based on Citizen movements, Technos watches are no longer Swiss Made

Swiss Made

Swiss Made is a label used to indicate that a product was made in Switzerland.-Overview:The wording was formally adopted in the late 19th century and is unique in that most other countries use the phrase "Made in ". The most obvious place where the label is found is on Swiss watches...

. (See )

Technos has become the leader in Brazil, with a 35% of market share. The first company in its area of activities to be certificated ISO 9002, it has obtained more than 26 times the prize « Mérito Lojista ».

• TECHNOS DA AMAZONIA SWISS SARL

through their sister company in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Technos Brazil are now holding the rights to the trademark “Technos” worldwide.(see *http://www.moneyhouse.ch/u/technos_da_amazonia_swiss_sarl_CH-645.1.010.587-1.htm|