Mondaine

Identity and scope

Mondaine is a Swiss family-owned watch manufacturer and licensee of the Swiss Federal Railways clock design.

This guide treats that identity as the starting point. It does not transfer line-level history to an individual watch without matching reference evidence. 1

Historical position

Its official history dates the conversion of Hans Hilfiker's railway-clock design into a licensed watch collection to 1986.

The date and context belong to the event described, not automatically to every object bearing the name. 1

What the source establishes

The cited Mondaine record is the evidence anchor used here for Mondaine. Its documented scope is narrower than a complete corporate, calibre, or model archive.

Where the source speaks for the brand, its historical statements remain attributed rather than converted into independent verification. 1

Identify the exact watch

Record every visible dial signature, the complete case-back reference and serial markings, movement or module markings, dimensions, materials, and complications. Compare those details with a dated catalogue, manual, archive extract, or service document for the exact reference.

A shared logo or broadly similar case is an identification lead, not proof of age, originality, or authenticity. 1

Keep entities and dates separate

Use 1986 only in the documented context described above. Names may survive ownership changes, disappear and return, or refer to a founder, historic maker, product line, and present operator at different times.

Build an object-level chronology before making continuity claims. 1

Research a Mondaine watch

Start with clear photographs of the dial, case back, crown, clasp, and movement where safely accessible. Search the exact markings in primary documentation and retain the document date and page or section.

For authentication, servicing, or valuation, use a qualified specialist and preserve provenance, invoices, and prior service records. 1

Independent research update

Mondaine is a Swiss watch company whose best-known line uses the licensed Swiss Federal Railways station-clock design.

Mondaine's railway-clock watch collection dates to 1986. Swiss Federal Railways independently describes Mondaine as bringing the SBB station-clock design to wristwatches in 1986.

The reviewed evidence supports Swiss-made Mondaine watches and official SBB design licensing; it does not establish the origin of every component.

Mondaine describes itself as Bernheim-family owned; no contrary current-control evidence was found in the reviewed sources. 12