Lorenz: the history of the Italian watch brand since 1934
The origins in the 1930s: Tullio Bolletta and the Italian-Swiss vision
Lorenz was founded in Milan in 1934 thanks to the intuition of master watchmaker Tullio Bolletta. At a time when Italian watchmaking was taking its first steps towards industrialization, Bolletta had the pioneering idea of combining refined Italian style with Swiss technical mastery in a single product. This fusion of design and technical excellence would become the brand's hallmark. It's worth noting that the company was initially called "La Regale" before finally taking the name Lorenz. In 1938, the young brand opened its own atelier on Via Montenapoleone, in the heart of Milan's fashion district. This prestigious location not only underscored Lorenz's international ambitions, but also inextricably linked the brand to Milanese elegance from its very beginnings.
From the earliest years, Lorenz defined its identity on the values of unconventional elegance and quality construction, faithful to its own standards yet open to innovation. A strong identity, one that would evolve over time without betraying the founding ideas of Tullio Bolletta. Bolletta himself, passionate and full of ideas, patented a technical invention as early as 1939: the so-called TI-BI liquid, a solution for degreasing and cleaning the microscopic gears of watches. This seemingly minor technical detail demonstrates how the founder was attentive not only to aesthetics but also to process innovation in watchmaking. The TI-BI became an important product for the entire industry and was produced for decades, a testament to the pioneering impact Bolletta placed on his company.
1950s: Swiss movements and new brands
In the decade following the war, Lorenz consolidated its "Italian style & Swiss made" philosophy by establishing manufacturing partnerships with Switzerland. In 1951, the first Lorenz watches with mechanical movements designed specifically for the brand were produced in Switzerland, featuring 19 and 25 jewels and the Incabloc shock-absorbing system. These high-quality calibers placed Lorenz at the forefront of technology for the time and confirmed the brand's commitment to combining Italian design and Swiss engineering in every timepiece.
At the same time, Lorenz began to expand its offering by creating secondary brands aimed at different market segments. In 1952, Tullio Bolletta launched a second brand, Laurens, designed to complement Lorenz with more accessible watches. The Bino brand will later be added to Laurens, strengthening the company's presence on the market with different lines. These strategic moves allowed Lorenz to grow and cover various segments of the public, from the high-end models signed Lorenz to the more economical ones under other names, while maintaining the same manufacturing care in all of them.
The 1960s: Innovation, Design, and the First Compasso d'Oro
The Lorenz Static table clock (conceived 1957-59) designed by the young Richard Sapper: its inclined cylindrical case was created to reuse wartime timing mechanisms. This model won the Compasso d'Oro in 1960 and is still considered a design icon, so much so that it is exhibited in museums such as the MoMA in New York.
The 1960s marked Lorenz's definitive establishment on the international design scene. In 1960, the company achieved its first prestigious international recognition, winning the Compasso d'Oro Award —Italy's highest industrial design prize—with the Static table clock.
This revolutionary timepiece, designed by the then-emerging German designer Richard Sapper in collaboration with Tullio Bolletta, became a symbol of innovation. The Static featured an unusual torpedo shape, designed to house special wartime-derived timer movements (originally intended for torpedoes) and to balance at an angle on the table. The dial employed aeronautical instrumentation components, blending modern aesthetics and technical functionality. The result was an object with a minimalist yet dynamic aesthetic, capable of visually "moving" while remaining still. The Static earned Sapper his first Compasso d'Oro in 1960 and inaugurated a tradition of design excellence for Lorenz. Even today, this iconic watch is part of the permanent collections of major design museums (from MoMA in New York to the Triennale in Milan), a testament to its historical significance.
Interestingly, after decades of requests from enthusiasts, Lorenz decided to relaunch the Static on the market in 2019 with a new production entirely Made in Italy, thus celebrating its design heritage.
The Static's success was not an isolated case, but rather the culmination of a lively decade. In those years, Lorenz was in fact carrying out other experiments in design and communication. In the 1960s, many Lorenz watches were distinguished by two small symbols depicting a little man and a little woman, graphic elements also used in advertising with the slogan "Lorenz walks with progress." This playful spirit accompanied the brand for much of the decade, until in the late 1960s the company introduced the new Lorenz logo that is destined to last to this day: an elegant symbol consisting of a square superimposed on an "L," a stylization of a dial with two hands. Before then, the name "Lorenz" appeared on the dials in italics, sometimes surmounted by a small four-pointed crown. The new logo, around 1969, marked the modernization of the company image, in line with contemporary tastes.
In the technical field, Lorenz began collaborating with prestigious Swiss watchmakers in the 1960s. In particular, it began a partnership with Aquastar, a brand known for its professional diving watches, and laid the foundation for an increasingly close relationship with the Swiss company Edox. Lorenz first became the Italian distributor for Edox and Aquastar, and later integrated the expertise of these companies into its own high-performance diving models. Indeed, some watches from the late 1960s and early 1970s bear the double "Lorenz Edox" logo on the dial. This Swiss influence allowed Lorenz to offer high-end technical timepieces, anticipating the diver's watch trend that would explode in the following decades.
The 1970s: Directime and the Challenge of Diving Watches
The 1970s were a period of further technical innovation and production diversification for Lorenz. Around 1970, the Milanese watchmaker introduced a very unique model, the Directime, a mechanical wristwatch with a jumping hour display. The Directime adopted a cutting-edge technical solution: instead of traditional hands, the hours, minutes, and seconds were displayed via three rotating discs visible through windows on the left side of the dial. This system allowed for an immediate and unusual reading of the time, combining the charm of traditional mechanics (the movement was a Swiss AS automatic) with a decidedly modern design for the time. The Directime confirmed Lorenz's propensity for experimenting with original solutions, earning the attention of enthusiasts of innovative watchmaking.
At the same time, Lorenz continued to develop its range of professional diving watches, leveraging its acquired Swiss expertise. Having become the official importer of Edox in Italy in the 1970s, the company was able to combine that company's components and expertise to create robust, high-performance diving watches. It is no coincidence that the legendary Lorenz Hydro-Sub model, capable of water resistance to 500 meters, was born in those years. The Hydro-Sub – often branded both Lorenz and Edox – became one of the most important examples of Italian-Swiss collaboration and one of the benchmark diving watches of its time. Furthermore, the Lorenz collection included diving watches with exotic names such as Delfin, Acapulco, Aquitania, and Ouragan, which evoked ocean adventures and are now highly sought-after pieces by collectors. Thanks to these choices, in the 1970s Lorenz managed to keep pace with the era of technical watches and maintain high levels of attention on the brand, even in a decade marked by the quartz crisis which was putting many traditional manufacturers in difficulty.
The 1980s: Elegance and Sportiness in the Quartz Era
With the arrival of the 1980s, the watch market underwent a radical transformation due to the advent of quartz watches. Lorenz faced this watch boom by remaining true to its DNA while also adapting to new demands. In the midst of the quartz era, the Milanese brand launched a successful line of analog chronographs featuring Japanese movements and alarm functions. These reliable and well-priced chronographs found favor with the public and became reference models for enthusiasts of the brand, so much so that they are still sought-after on the vintage market today. Lorenz's ability to offer useful complications (such as alarms) integrated into sports chronographs demonstrated the company's ability to combine tradition and innovation even in an age dominated by digital technology.
Also in the 1980s, Lorenz developed collections that combined sporty spirit and refined aesthetics. A prime example was the Montecarlo line, introduced midway through the decade: sports watches with black anodized steel cases, with a bold and modern look. The Montecarlo collection was one of Lorenz's greatest commercial successes of the period, so much so that the current Granpremio collection (launched many years later) is clearly inspired by those iconic models of the 1980s. The Montecarlo not only satisfied the demand for aesthetic sports watches, but also anticipated certain design trends that could be found in contemporary international brands (some models were reminiscent of the Orfina Porsche Design, TAG Heuer, or even the Rolex sports watches of the time).
Alongside sport, Lorenz did not neglect classic elegance. In 1984, exactly half a century after its founding, the maison celebrated the anniversary by presenting the prestigious Montenapoleone collection. The name recalled the historic headquarters on Via Monte Napoleone, paying homage to the brand's Milanese roots. Montenapoleone watches were distinguished by their refinement in every detail: elegant steel and rose gold cases, mobile lugs for a perfect fit, quality movements, and fine finishes. This collection embodied classic Italian elegance combined with watchmaking technique, and remains a cornerstone of Lorenz production to this day. Towards the end of the 1980s, other lines were launched, such as the Ouragan and Acapulco (dedicated to the world of water and diving), and Lorenz also gained recognition as a distributor in Italy of several high-end niche brands (for example, it became the representative of the elegant watch brand Bertolucci ). All this further consolidated Lorenz's reputation for both sports and dress watches.
1994-2000: Anniversaries, Contemporary Design, and New Awards
By the dawn of the 1990s, Lorenz could already boast a history spanning over sixty years. To appropriately celebrate this milestone, in 1994 (the 60th anniversary of its founding), the company created a commemorative model called the Anniversaire. This special, retro-inspired watch echoed the aesthetic lines of Lorenz models from the 1950s, displaying the historic logo in italics on the dial and featuring an engraving of the Lorenz man (the symbol used in 1960s campaigns) on the caseback. The Anniversaire was intended to represent the brand's historical evolution in a single timepiece, merging past and present. These initiatives helped strengthen Lorenz's cultural identity, emphasizing the connection between modern Italian watchmaking and its roots.
As the 2000s began, Lorenz demonstrated its desire to push the accelerator of contemporary design. In 2003, an important institutional recognition arrived: the Milan Chamber of Commerce awarded Lorenz the title of “ Historic Company ” of the city, testifying to the company's cultural and industrial value in the area. But the real excitement occurred in the field of product design: starting in 2005, Lorenz launched a Designer Collection involving well-known international designers. On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the first Compasso d'Oro won (1960-1980), the brand organized an international “Invitational” – an invitation-only competition – to develop a new watch that best expressed Lorenz's distinctive values (i.e. Italian design and Swiss technology). Five emerging designers who were already established on the international scene were selected: among them the German Werner Aisslinger, the Spanish studio CuldeSac, the American Jozeph Forakis, the Italian Gabriele Pezzini and the British Theo Williams. The competition was fierce, but in the end the project by the Valencia-based studio CuldeSac prevailed.
The return of design: the Neos project and the new international awards
Lorenz Neos (chronograph model, 2007) designed by the Spanish collective CuldeSac: a bold and modern watch with a sandwich-structured steel case and yellow resin details. This contemporary line won the ADI Compasso d'Oro in 2008, marking Lorenz's second triumph in this prestigious award.
The result of the invitational was the birth of the Lorenz Neos, introduced in 2007 as a synthesis of tradition and avant-garde. Designed by the CuldeSac team, the Neos brought a breath of fresh air to the watchmaking landscape: its modular six-piece case with a steel sandwich construction and colored inserts, its essential yet colorful dial design, and unusual details such as a concave polyurethane ring around the case or the rubber strap with a light vanilla scent. These innovative elements, however, blended with the tradition and elegance typical of the Lorenz brand, creating a truly unique timepiece.
The Neos immediately received critical acclaim and within a few months garnered major international recognition. In 2007, the model designed by CuldeSac won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in the product design category, recognized for its originality and high design quality. The following year, Lorenz achieved its crowning achievement in Italy: in 2008, Lorenz won the ADI Compasso d'Oro for the second time, thanks to the Neos wristwatch, which was judged the best in the "personal objects" category. This was a historic achievement: few watch brands can boast two Compasso d'Oro awards. Lorenz thus confirmed its position as a leading figure in design as well as technology, reaffirming its role as an ambassador for Italian watchmaking around the world. Riding the wave of this success, variations were introduced such as the Neos Chronograph (a unisex chronograph with a bold style, also characterized by the contrast between the colored dial and black strap) and even special editions such as the Neos All Black in 2009. The involvement of other contemporary designers continued: figures such as Matteo Ragni, EMO Design, Officina Italiana Design, and Werner Aisslinger collaborated on the creation of new models in the Lorenz Designer Collection. This openness to international design has kept alive the brand's ability to innovate, while remaining faithful to its classic identity.
From 2010 to today: the relaunch with Leader Watch Company and the tradition that continues
After more than 80 years of business, in the new millennium Lorenz has faced new market challenges by renewing its structures and strategies. In 2016, the brand became part of the Swiss holding company Leader Watch Company, a group specializing in the sector that has set itself the goal of relaunching Lorenz in terms of both production and distribution and communication. This move brought fresh investment and a commercial reorganization: under the aegis of LWC, Lorenz expanded its distribution network and, in addition to producing its own models, also marketed watches from other international brands in Italy (including Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, and Hugo Boss ) and licensed brands such as Belstaff. Furthermore, it continued to produce and distribute the "minor" brands Laurens and Bino, ensuring continuity in the multi-brand offering it has historically developed.
From a product perspective, recent years have seen Lorenz launch new collections that combine heritage and modernity. The aforementioned Granpremio line, for example, recently introduced, reinterprets the sporty spirit of the historic Montecarlo series in a contemporary key and gives a nod to the world of motor racing. At the same time, there has been a renewed focus on professional diving watches: the latest-generation Diver collections hark back to the success of models from the 1970s and 1980s such as the Delfin, Acapulco, and Ouragan, but with updated technical features (reliable quartz or automatic movements, high water resistance, modern materials). In 2019, as already mentioned, Lorenz relaunched production of the Static table watch in an updated edition, underscoring its connection to its glorious past. At the same time, it continues to offer classic wristwatches, both elegant and sporty, periodically updating the design to keep pace with contemporary market tastes.
Lorenz today still embodies the motto “Italian Classic since 1934,” a perfect synthesis of its corporate philosophy. This means maintaining high-quality products with excellent technical features, yet at competitive prices, remaining faithful to an all-Italian tradition of quality. Artisanal care, careful selection of materials, and rigorous controls at every stage of production have remained cornerstones, as has a qualified and globally recognized after-sales service, a sign of the bond of trust built with the public over the years. After more than 90 years, the Lorenz brand continues to represent a cornerstone of Italian watchmaking, a bridge between creative design and precise technology. Its history—from Tullio Bolletta's visionary origins to international recognition such as the Compasso d'Oro, up to the current renewal—bears witness to the evolution of watchmaking culture in Italy. Telling the story of Lorenz means retracing decades of elegance, innovation, and passion: a ChronoStory that confirms how, behind the ticking of each of its watches, the heart of the Italian watchmaking tradition beats strongly.
Credits: lorenz.it