History of Glycine: from its origins to the legendary Airman watches

At the height of the Swiss Belle Époque, specifically in 1914 in Bienne, a small watchmaking workshop was founded, destined to leave an indelible mark on the history of watches. This was Glycine Watch SA, founded by the ingenious watchmaker Eugène Meylan, then just twenty-three years old. The choice of the name "Glycine" – the French term for the wisteria flower – was not accidental: it recalled the floral motifs in vogue during Art Nouveau and symbolized robustness and adaptability, qualities the company wanted in its timepieces. From Meylan's humble workshop in Bienne, the adventure of Glycine would begin, a brand that for over a century has combined Swiss tradition, technical innovation, and a touch of pioneering audacity.

The origins of Glycine: Eugène Meylan and the founding in 1914

In May 1914, Eugène Meylan founded the Fabrique d’Horlogerie La Glycine in Bienne, supported by several financial partners from the local watchmaking industry. From its beginnings, Glycine distinguished itself as a manufacture (in-house production), creating its own mechanical calibers internally. Meylan, a talented watchmaker trained in La Chaux-de-Fonds, had received recognition for the precision of his movements since he was a student. This dedication to quality permeated the company's early years: Glycine focused its production on women's wristwatches, which at the time were true miniature technical jewels.

In the 1910s and 1920s, the workshop produced movements of very small diameter intended for elegant ladies' watches, encased in refined gold or platinum cases and adorned with gems. These high-jewelry creations immediately captivated the international public: Glycine quickly became a cherished name in the salons of London and New York, where nobility and the new Anglo-American jet-set showcased Meylan's delicate Swiss watches.

Already in its first decade of activity, Glycine also pursued chronometric precision. In 1923 and 1926, it obtained its first official chronometer certificates for its small movements, demonstrating that elegance and accuracy could coexist in tiny watches. In 1925, Glycine opened a branch in Geneva. However, by the late 1920s, the Swiss watch industry faced difficult times: the Great Depression and increasing competition led many factories into crisis. Glycine was no exception, but it was precisely from these difficulties that one of its most important innovations would emerge.

Technical innovations in the 1930s: Glycine, a pioneer of automatic watches

At the dawn of the 1930s, the watchmaking industry was experiencing a small but significant revolution: the automatic watch, capable of winding itself with the simple movement of the wrist, without the need for daily manual winding. Glycine, with Meylan's pioneering spirit, was at the forefront of this transformation.

In 1930, Eugène Meylan designed a universal automatic winding module: a self-contained device, applicable to standard movements, capable of transforming them from manual to automatic. To develop and market this invention, Meylan founded a new company called Automatic E.M.S.A. (Eugène Meylan Société Anonyme). His system used an oscillating rotor, but with a key difference: the entire mechanism was enclosed in an independent circular module, which could be screwed onto a regular movement.

In 1931, Glycine was the first company to adopt and mass-produce Meylan's automatic system, introducing its first automatic wristwatches to the market. This timely move allowed Glycine to successfully navigate the economic crisis of the 1930s. The EMSA automatic module became a small industrial standard: Glycine not only used it for its own watches but also supplied automatic movements to other contemporary brands. Alongside these innovations, in the 1930s, Glycine also experimented with original designs, introducing "baguette" calibers and even jumping hour watches.

From war to new beginnings: Glycine in the 1940s and 1950s

The war events of the 20th century did not spare the watchmaking industry, and Glycine underwent significant changes in the 1940s. In 1942, the company sold its in-house movement division to an industrial consortium, beginning to source movements from external suppliers, focusing on assembly and design. During World War II, Glycine supplied watches to the armed forces.

In the post-war period, the company was guided into a new era. During these years, Glycine introduced an innovative Vacuum system (vacuum chronometer): a hermetic monobloc case with special gaskets, designed to reduce oil oxidation and prevent condensation, offering high resistance to water, dust, and shock. The project anticipated modern "hermetic" solutions, while remaining a niche technical experiment.

Glycine Airman: the birth of the aviation watch (1953)

In the early 1950s, the world was entering the golden age of aviation: transatlantic flights were becoming a reality, and pilots, both military and civilian, needed reliable instruments on their wrists. Glycine captured this spirit of the times and, in 1953, launched what would become its most iconic watch: the Glycine Airman.

According to tradition, the idea arose from the request of an RAF pilot who, during a layover, expressed to Glycine technicians the need for a watch capable of simultaneously indicating local time and the time of his country of origin during intercontinental flights. Glycine took up the challenge and designed a revolutionary timepiece for its era, developing it in close consultation with pilots to ensure it met real needs in the cockpit.

The first series Glycine Airman featured a 24-hour dial (instead of the usual 12) and a rotating bezel engraved with 24 hours, lockable via a second crown, which allowed the pilot to mark a second time zone. In practice, the Airman could simultaneously show home time and destination time, a function common today but extraordinary in the early 1950s. It also included a date window, an additional useful detail for those rapidly crossing multiple time zones.

The Airman immediately became popular among pilots. During the Vietnam War, for example, it was widely used by pilots and personnel of the United States Air Force as a personal watch. Its reliability and the ability to read two different times at a glance made it ideal for both military missions and civil flights of the jet-set era.

An Airman in space: the Glycine watch between air and space missions

In the 1960s, the Airman's fame reached new heights, extending into space. On August 21, 1965, astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad, departing for NASA's Gemini 5 mission, decided to wear his personal Glycine Airman on the wrist of his space suit. Conrad was a test pilot and had long been fond of his Airman, appreciating its robustness and the dual time zone useful for synchronizing with mission reference times.

During the Gemini 5 mission, he and Gordon Cooper set a record for time spent in space, testing both men and equipment. Conrad's Airman thus became one of the first automatic watches to travel in space and withstand extreme conditions: in the subsequent Gemini 11 mission, Conrad himself performed extravehicular activities with his Glycine directly exposed to space conditions for a long interval, without suffering damage.

Upon returning to the recovery aircraft carrier, Conrad still had his Airman securely fastened to his wrist, a testament to the watch's resilience. This episode confirms the Airman's vocation as a reliable instrument in extreme conditions: from the Earth's atmosphere to the vacuum of space, the Airman had proven its worth.

Design evolution: from the 60s to the 90s, amidst new models and the quartz crisis

Riding the wave of the Airman's success, Glycine expanded its product line in the 1960s. In 1967, it introduced the futuristic Airman SST, inspired by new supersonic aircraft, featuring a tonneau case design and a boldly colored dial. In the same period, the Combat line was born, designed for more "terrestrial" use: robust watches intended for military and sports use, often equipped with a hacking seconds mechanism for precise time synchronization.

The 1970s brought the quartz crisis, which brought much of the Swiss mechanical watchmaking industry to its knees. Glycine tried to adapt by introducing quartz models and experimenting with contemporary electronic solutions, but still went through a complex period. Despite the difficulties, the brand managed to survive and stay afloat, ready for a relaunch under new leadership.

The return of Glycine: relaunch from the 80s and the connection with collecting

In 1984, ownership of Glycine passed to new entrepreneurial leadership who believed in the brand's historical potential. In the 1990s, the new generation also joined the company, helping to steer Glycine into the new millennium. During that period, the brand rediscovered its roots and decisively refocused on mechanical movements and functional design.

In the early 2000s, Glycine began offering reissues and reinterpretations of historical models, finding favor with enthusiasts. In 2002, an Airman capable of displaying multiple time zones was launched, while in 2014 the brand celebrated its centenary. On the occasion of this milestone and the growing demand for vintage, Glycine reintroduced the Airman No.1, a modern re-edition in a 36 mm case of the 1953 original, which was enthusiastically received by enthusiasts.

Parallel to this, models such as the Combat Sub – a robust and affordable mechanical dive watch – attracted a new generation of users to the brand, helping to fuel the Glycine fan community. The history of the Airman and the brand has been documented and rediscovered by scholars and collectors, making some vintage Glycine watches particularly sought after.

Glycine today: living tradition and new chapters

In 2016, Glycine became part of an international group with the aim of expanding its global presence. This phase has not erased the identity of the Bienne-based company: today's models continue to reflect Meylan's original philosophy of robustness, reliability, and functional design. The Airman collection remains central, the Combat line is experiencing a second youth, and new series show how Glycine can renew itself while remaining connected to its heritage.

In conclusion, the story of Glycine is that of a brand that has managed to navigate more than a century while preserving its soul. From the high-jewelry creations of its early decades, to the first mass-produced automatic watches, to the Airman that accompanied pilots and astronauts, Glycine has continuously innovated without betraying its origins. Today, thanks to renewed collector interest and a broader market presence, the brand continues to write new chapters: its watches tell the wearer a legend made of time, travel, and authentic passion for watchmaking.