Described as a symbol comprised of words, images, and colors used to identify a brand or product, a good logo is the foundation of a company’s identity. It grabs attention, separates you from the competition, fosters brand loyalty, and is expected by your audience.
The watch world is full of brands with different logos and we thought it would be a bit of fun to look at a few, see what they’re all about, and where they came from.
Omega
The logo of the legendary watchmaker was created in the middle of the 19th century and stayed almost untouched throughout the company’s history. The simple yet extremely elegant composition, where the thin and delicate emblem is placed above company name in capital letters is recognizable across the world and synonymous with quality.
The Omega logo is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet. It signifies a grand closure, like the conclusion of a large-scale event.
Rolex
If you know one watch brand logo, it’s likely to be the unmistakable crown of Rolex — and it kind of says it all. The crown (or “coronet”) motif works equally well to represent the company’s undisputed industry dominance or as an elite status for its wearers.
The original design, trademarked by Wilsdorf and Davis in 1925, saw the crown in gold above Rolex in green text with a gold outline. The logo embodied the company slogan, “A Crown for Every Achievement” and the chosen colours were meant to symbolize the brand’s excellence in watchmaking.
There have been two major updates in the brand’s history – in 1965, the crown was changed from gold to bronze and the text to a pewter blue, but in 2002 Rolex reverted back to its original color scheme.
Tudor
Hans Wilsdorf created Tudor in 1926 to offer an affordable alternative to Rolex. Tudor was originally created by Hans Wilsdorf in 1926 to offer an affordable alternative to Rolex. Named after one of the United Kingdom’s most famous royal dynasties, the story goes all the way back to a Welsh nobleman named Tudur Hen from 1250 AD.
The company’s first logo was simply the brand name before a shield with the Tudor rose insignia was added, in 1936. The rose design proved so popular that, in 1947, the shield was removed and they used the double petal rose on top of the brand name.
Things changed again in 1969 when Tudor introduced the distinctive red shield as they believed it better represented their reputation for making durable watches for practical and athletic people.
TAG Heuer
Founded by Edouard Heuer in 1860, TAG Heuer is a prominent brand with a long history and a reputation for innovative watchmaking techniques.
Heuer created his logo to look like an angular version of a traditional family crest, much like a compressed shield. Super modern for the time, the black background of the emblem was balanced by a thick white frame with the white “Heuer” inscription in capitals placed inside the crest, repeating its contours.
When Techniques d’Avant Garde purchased Heuer in 1985, the TAG Heuer S.A. Manufacturing Company came to life. A new logo was needed that reflected the new name and fitted into the hyped-up aesthetic of the 80’s. It wasn’t a complete case of ‘out with the old, in with the new’, though. The original five-sided shield shape stayed in place, albeit with the word ‘TAG’ placed in a green rectangle above it. The end result was a much more colorful, striking statement than the logo of old, and one that TAG Heuer clearly believed better fitting for their new image and identity.
Breitling
Born in 1860 Leon Breitling is often referred to as a Swiss watchmaker, but he was originally from Germany. As a young man, he moved to Switzerland along with his parents and found work as an apprentice in watchmaking where he learned the skills that saw him establish his own business, in 1884.
Breitling’s first logo was simply the company’s name in an elaborate script. There are no exact timelines for subsequent changes, but the next modification, in the 1940’s, saw the name in a much simpler font, with the script “B” above it. In the early 1950’s wings were added to the logo, reflecting the relationship the brand had forged with the Royal Air Service as a result of their innovative pilot watches.
In the 1980s, Breitling also added a ship’s anchor to the logo, which passed through the stylized “B”, with the wings on either side. With this change, the company sought to communicate that its watches were for use on land, air, and sea.
Fast forward to 2018 and the company decided to go back to the logo of a simple “B” in a cursive script. The change was made as Breitling wanted to be recognised as a general watch brand, not just as a maker of aviation-themed watches.
Panerai
Giovanni Panerai opened his business, in 1860, on Ponte alle Grazie in Florence. Now known as Officine Panerai, It served not only as a shop and workshop but also as the city’s first watchmaking school. Their watches have a unique style with a larger-than-life aesthetic making them instantly recognisable and easily spotted from a distance.
For many years, the Panerai logo was simply a wordmark that said “Officine Panerai”, but in the late 1970’s the company began experimenting with a rounded design. By 1980, a joint effort between the Architectural Office of Florence and the Panerai Technical Department had created the classic OP emblem surrounded by the company’s name. When the Cartier Group purchased the Panerai company in 1997, they removed the emblem, and the logo reverted to a simple line of text.
Jumping ahead to 2003, the company slowly reverted back to using the original classic logo with the letters “O” and ”P” having arrows pointing in opposite directions. The arrow on the “O” points up, while the arrow on the “P” points down. The arrows are meant to represent Panerai’s two historical areas of manufacturing expertise – up in the air and down in the sea.
We hope this gives you a peek at what’s hidden behind the logos of a few big-name watch brands that we all know, and how it is an essential element of their visual identity.
