Enjoy Watches

Brand history & owner guide

Gübelin

Gübelin is a confirmed jewellery and watch business with historical watchmaking and a documented own-name Ipsomatic offering, not only a retailer. 123

This profile covers the maker’s identity, history and documented work. A complete model catalogue is being researched separately.

At a glance

Subject
Confirmed Watch Brand 123
First documented date
1854 — Breitschmid watchmaker shop established 1
Documented work
Bras en l’Air “Ballerina” 342
Documented work
Astrum / Astral astronomical pocket watch no. 2308220 432

Gübelin was more than a retailer—but whose movement is inside

Gübelin is a confirmed jewellery and watch business with historical watchmaking and a documented own-name Ipsomatic offering, not only a retailer. Phillips’ catalogue says Richard Daners joined Gübelin in 1952 and credits him with complicated watches for the house.

Phillips catalogues a 1982 Bras en l’Air “Ballerina” by Richard Daners for Gübelin, using an IWC calibre 972. Sotheby’s catalogues Daners’ circa-1984 astronomical pocket watch for Gübelin, no. 2308220, with an IWC 9720 and celestial/calendar displays.

Gübelin’s 170th-anniversary Ipsomatic, reference 16B-1003-42, uses a restored vintage Felsa 1560 Bidynator movement. The official product history relates the new Ipsomatic to Gübelin watches using Felsa automatic movements in the 1950s and 1960s.

The documented Daners/IWC and Ipsomatic/Felsa combinations distinguish house identity and creative work from manufacture of the underlying movement. 1234

The work and why it matters

The house history traces the business to Mauritz Breitschmid’s watchmaker shop in Lucerne in 1854. Eduard Jakob Gübelin became Breitschmid’s business partner in 1886 after marrying Bertha Sophia Breitschmid.

The house history describes watchmaking and repair, later jewellery craftsmanship and a gemmological laboratory. Gübelin describes itself as family-owned and identifies Raphael Gübelin with the sixth generation. 1

People, production and attribution

The official house and Ipsomatic websites present a current Gübelin business and branded watch offering. 12

Key dates

  1. 1854

    Breitschmid watchmaker shop established

    The house history traces the business to Mauritz Breitschmid’s watchmaker shop in Lucerne in 1854. 1

  2. 1886

    Gübelin partnership

    Eduard Jakob Gübelin became Breitschmid’s business partner in 1886 after marrying Bertha Sophia Breitschmid. 1

  3. 1952

    Daners joins, according to catalogue

    Phillips’ catalogue says Richard Daners joined Gübelin in 1952 and credits him with complicated watches for the house. 3

  4. 1982

    Ballerina commission

    Phillips catalogues a 1982 Bras en l’Air “Ballerina” by Richard Daners for Gübelin, using an IWC calibre 972. 3

  5. circa 1984

    Astronomical pocket watch

    Sotheby’s catalogues Daners’ circa-1984 astronomical pocket watch for Gübelin, no. 2308220, with an IWC 9720 and celestial/calendar displays. 4

Ownership and continuity

Gübelin is a confirmed jewellery and watch business with historical watchmaking and a documented own-name Ipsomatic offering, not only a retailer. 123

Watchmakers and designers linked to Gübelin

These people have a sourced relationship to this brand in the Enjoy Watches register. The label beside each name states the relationship recorded; it should not be read as a broader employment or ownership claim.

Identification and service

For an individual watch, record the complete reference, serial, dial, case, and movement markings and compare them with dated primary documentation.

A brand history cannot authenticate, appraise, or establish the provenance of a particular watch.

Evidence and limits

How the claims are supported
  1. reasonable inference

    Gübelin is a confirmed jewellery and watch business with historical watchmaking and a documented own-name Ipsomatic offering, not only a retailer.

  2. verified fact

    The house history traces the business to Mauritz Breitschmid’s watchmaker shop in Lucerne in 1854.

  3. verified fact

    Eduard Jakob Gübelin became Breitschmid’s business partner in 1886 after marrying Bertha Sophia Breitschmid.

  4. verified fact

    The house history describes watchmaking and repair, later jewellery craftsmanship and a gemmological laboratory.

  5. reasonable inference

    Gübelin describes itself as family-owned and identifies Raphael Gübelin with the sixth generation.

  6. reasonable inference

    Phillips’ catalogue says Richard Daners joined Gübelin in 1952 and credits him with complicated watches for the house.

  7. verified fact

    Phillips catalogues a 1982 Bras en l’Air “Ballerina” by Richard Daners for Gübelin, using an IWC calibre 972.

  8. verified fact

    Sotheby’s catalogues Daners’ circa-1984 astronomical pocket watch for Gübelin, no. 2308220, with an IWC 9720 and celestial/calendar displays.

  9. verified fact

    Gübelin’s 170th-anniversary Ipsomatic, reference 16B-1003-42, uses a restored vintage Felsa 1560 Bidynator movement.

  10. verified fact

    The official product history relates the new Ipsomatic to Gübelin watches using Felsa automatic movements in the 1950s and 1960s.

  11. reasonable inference

    The documented Daners/IWC and Ipsomatic/Felsa combinations distinguish house identity and creative work from manufacture of the underlying movement.

  12. reasonable inference

    The official house and Ipsomatic websites present a current Gübelin business and branded watch offering.

Known limits

  • This identity dossier is not a complete catalogue of every watch or reference.

Direct sources

  1. The House — HistoryGübelin · official brand history · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: 1854/1886 origins, lines 201–213; workshops and gem lab, line 260; family ownership and sixth generation, lines 325–339.. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.

  2. IpsomaticGübelin · official product and heritage record · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: Reference 16B-1003-42 / Felsa 1560, lines 95–105; movement restoration and historic Ipsomatic, lines 145–148; 170th anniversary edition.. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.

  3. Richard Daners for Gübelin — Bras en l’Air “Ballerina”Phillips · auction catalogue object and essay · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: Object 222283, lot 56, The Geneva Watch Auction: Decade One (2015–2025); 1982 Ballerina, IWC calibre 972, signatures and catalogue essay.. External source.

  4. Richard Daners for Gübelin — astronomical pocket watch, lot 77Sotheby’s · auction catalogue object and essay · accessed September 15, 2026

    Locator: Sale GE1924, lot 77: Astrum/Astral pocket watch, circa 1984, no. 2308220, IWC 9720 and astronomical displays.. External source.

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