Rabco Distributes Eberhard, Goldpfeil

By William George Shuster, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 4/1/2002 2:00:00 AM

Rabco Luxury Holdings, the largest U.S. distributor of independently owned Swiss watches, has added two more luxury brands. The New York City firm has signed long-term contracts with Eberhard S.A. and Goldpfeil S.A., both manufacturers of fine mechanical Swiss timepieces.

Eberhard & Co., founded in 1887, made the first automatic watch (1930), a chronograph with two pushbuttons (1935), and the Rattrapante chronograph (1939). It introduced simultaneous date-setting in the 1960s and the eight-day power reserve in 1997. At the 2001 Basel Fair, Eberhard unveiled Chrono 4, a patented mechanical chronograph whose counters are aligned horizontally across the dial face. The Eberhard Collection features a variety of automatic and manual timepieces.

Goldpfeil timepieces are a collection of seven limited series created for the luxury brand by members of Switzerland's famed Académie Horologére des Créateurs Indépendents. They also were unveiled at Basel 2001 and will be sold by a select group of about 30 retailers worldwide (including six or seven in North America). Each of the collections' designers also created a one-of-a-kind timepiece to be auctioned during the Basel 2002 Fair.