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The Beginning
The company Lacher & Co. – the
name Laco deriving from the first syllables
- was founded by Frieda Lacher and Ludwig Hummel in Pforzheim
in the middle of the 1920s. At this time, Pforzheim's many
watch manufacturers used to fit their casings almost exclusively
with Swiss mechanisms, either delivered complete, or as individual
parts – a considerable saving in customs duties –
which could then be finished and re-assembled by the factories
themselves.
Frieda Lacher and Ludwig Hummel's young business made a successful
start, yet after a few years the founders were to go their
separate ways.Hummel continued to manage the greater part
of the original company, the Laco watch-making
factory, while Frieda Lacher branched off into the production
of precision parts for wristwatches, such as wheels and pinions.
Later, under the direction of her son Erich Lacher, Frieda's
branch was to start producing complete watches again. Erich
Lacher entered the firm in 1936, which was then renamed the
"Erich Lacher Uhrenfabrik".
However, it was Laco-Durowe which developed to become a world-class
brand and Pforzheim's main watch producer through the sister
company "Lacher & Co.", run
by Hummel. Hummel, born July 26th 1889 in Engelsbrand (nr.
Pforzheim), wanted to do more than simply fit Swiss mechanisms
into casings. Hummel, along with several other Pforzheim watchmakers,
strove to become independent of the Swiss manufacturers, with
the aim of producing his own line of watches. The fact that
the
wristwatch was comparatively slow to take off in Germany,
and that many of Pforzheim's assembly plants continued to
need the rough movements from Switzerland, made Hummel's plans
somewhat harder to realise.
So it was that in 1933 he founded a mechanism-producing company
(Durowe -Deutsche Uhren-Rohwerke) which, from the outset,
was to supply not only his own Laco plant but other watchmakers
as well. The production range was soon to include a wide assortment
of high quality wristwatch
mechanisms. On offer were two round mechanisms - 8 ?? (cal.
318) and 10 ?? (cal. 410) lines respectively, and three non-round
mechanisms – 5 ?? (cal. 50), 7 ?? x 11 (cal. 275) and
10 ?? lines - distinguished by an additional "F"
for Formwerk. All of the models were pallet anchor mechanisms
with clutch winds – by no means the general rule at
that time. Cylinder anchor and pin pallet fork mechanisms
were still favoured, with full pallet fork mechanisms tending
to feature ratchet winds, whose quality and design were considered
less sophisticated.
The company continued to grow steadily until the outbreak
of the Second World War, with the number of mechanisms produced
per month increasing from to 20,000 to 30,000. Even during
the war, Laco continued to manufacture watches and mechanisms,
in particular the aviators' watches.
In both models ticked a first-class Durowe 22 line pallet
bridge movement, adjusted with chronometer accuracy.
A Company of International Standing
The war ended catastrophically for almost all the Pforzheim
manufacturers, including Laco. During a devastating air-raid
by the Allies, all the factories were destroyed and more than
80% of the town itself was reduced to rubble.
However, the work of rebuilding was to begin soon after the
end of the war, and Laco and its sister firm
were back in business again by 1949. Helped by the Marshall
Plan, Ludwig Hummel built an impressively large 5-storey edifice
to house Laco-Durowe, which was later further extended, so
that by the middle of the 1950s 1,400 people were working
there. Production of rough movements rose to 80,000 a month,
giving some idea of the company's dramatic growth over this
period.
The years up until 1959 may be regarded as Lacher's "golden
age". Laco enjoyed a strong market position with the
manual wind and - starting in 1952 - with the automatic models,
while Durowe supplied various watchmakers with an ever-increasing
number of reliable and high-quality movements.
Unique
to Pforzheim
Seen through the eyes of collectors and enthusiasts of German
precision engineering, this period offers a wealth of particularly
interesting models. Firstly, the "Laco-Sport" which
introduced the "Duromat" - 11 ?? lines (552 cal.),
the first automatic movement to be produced by Durowe as of
1952.
This movement, with its 18,000 semioscillations and two-directional
rotor, based on the 422 cal. manual wind, made Durowe one
of the first German manufacturers of automatics.
Neither to be forgotten is the 1957 Laco-Chronometer. A unique
movement was developed especially – the manual wind
630 (13 lines) – with which Laco aimed to repeat the
success of the aviator watches. Exactly how many Laco-Chronometers
were produced is not known, but the number is unlikely to
have been great.
Later Durowe brought out the slimmest German automatic ever
(1963-4).
The "Planomat" – 11 ?? lines, 600 cal. –
checked in at a mere 4.6 mm, while the model featuring a date
function (610 cal.) measured 4.75 mm.
Laco
goes Global
By this time, Laco-Durowe had already been owned for some
years by the U.S. Time Corporation, better known as "Timex".
As a result of a slump in sales, Ludwig Hummel sold the company
to the American watchmaking giant on 01.02.59, Timex being
particularly interested in Laco-Durowe's
advanced research into the possibilities of electrical and
electronic timepieces. With the emphasis heavily on this aspect
of the business, the "Laco-electric" was to appear
in 1961 - Germany's first reliably functioning electric watch.
An attempt by a Mr Epperlein of Ersingen to introduce the
first electric watch onto the market in 1958 had been largely
unsuccessful, owing to design flaws. So here too, it was Lacher
that was to set the technical pace.
The company did not remain long in American ownership. On
01.09.1965, the Swiss firm Ebauches S.A. took over Durowe
– however, Lacher & Co. and the brand name Laco
were not swallowed up. The Swiss, who from now on wanted Durowe
to produce only mechanical movements for ladies' and
gents' wristwatches, acquired easy access to the markets of
the then E.E.C.- today's European Union - through the German
company. Durowe remained a dominant producer – in 1974,
a total of 550,000 movements were manufactured.
However, the Japanese quartz revolution was to mean that even
the once mighty Laco-Durowe concern soon sank into oblivion.
Laco Reborn
Fortunately, during the 1980s someone at Erich Lacher Uhrenfabrik
– which all these years had continued to exist and produce
as Laco's "little sister" – still remembered
the two companies' joint beginnings, and the prestige of the
Laco name. Consequently, on September 8th 1988 the managing
partner Horst Günther acquired the rights to the Laco
name and logo, which enabled the company to start producing
a modern range of high-quality Laco watches. Even today, some
of these watches are still mechanical – but they now
tick with a Swiss "heart", just as in the early
years of the Lacher business. The fortunes of the firm lie
in the hands of Andreas Günther, the
sixth management generation. |
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