Heritage is of the utmost importance to many of today's watch brands and they frequently remind us of their ancient lineage by including the date of their foundation in advertising material. But, as with great car marques such as Aston Martin, Bentley or Rolls-Royce, many were once ailing, independent companies that have been plucked from the brink of oblivion by powerful conglomerates.

Fewer than 25 years ago the Swiss mechanical watch industry was in crisis as quartz technology threatened to consign clockwork to the scrapheap. Ironically, however, it was the success of one particular quartz watch - the Swatch - that is credited with providing the means for the traditional brands to be revived.