Titoni Watches
In the year 1851, the watch-making industry was introduced to the small city of Grenchen, Switzerland, where many famous watch companies were founded, helping to make Grenchen an important part of today's Swiss watch business. Titoni was founded by Fritz Schluep in 1919 in Grenchen and the company is still in the hands of the Schluep family. Titoni is one of the few remaining independent watch enterprises and has made a significant contribution to the history of watchmaking.[citation needed] Today, the Titoni company is in its third generation of family ownership. New to the US market, Titoni has concentrated on the far east and near east markets for over 50 years. While many watch brands have focused over the last twenty-five years on quartz watches, Titoni has continued in the niche it has always occupied: watches equipped with self-winding mechanical movements. All Titoni watch components have to fulfill rigorous quality standards. The components for automatic movements, such as jeweled lever escapements, main springs, jewel shock absorbers, etc., are individually selected. This is claimed to assure better quality in contrast to other watch companies who buy complete movements. The assembly and integration of movements, as well as finishing and final control of the complete watches are handled at the Titoni factory in Switzerland. Standard Titoni features include sapphire crystals, water resistance from 30 meters up to 200 meter, solid bracelets, buckles with two push-pieces and the stones on the dials are individually set, not glued. The modern Titoni factory makes use of manufacturing technology including extensive automation.