Sicura's key dates and phases
Sicura’s heritage stretches back more than a century to the Roaring Twenties, when young Italian artisan Johann Gobber made watchmaking his future. In 1939 he registered the Sicura brand in Grenchen at the foot of Switzerland’s Jura mountains, where it graced the dials of pin-lever waterproof watches for men and women, including an ingenious calendar model. In 1955 Johann was made president of Montres Sicura SA, alongside two directors, one of whom was Swiss Army officer Ernest Schneider.
At the dawn of the Space Age, Sicura began a new chapter under Ernest Schneider’s leadership. The 36-year-old army officer gave up teaching at the elite army signals school to take control of the brand, transforming it with his leadership, technical skill, and strategic vision. With the personal motto, “Be satisfied only with perfection!’ he expanded Sicura’s production, improved efficiency, invested in research, and built the foundations for future success.
By the mid-1970s, Ernest Schneider had left the army, earned his pilot’s license, and enjoyed major commercial success. Flying between Sicura’s four assembly plants, a case factory, and a jewel factory, he oversaw 450 employees producing over a million watches a year. With 100 models sold in Europe and the U.S. and thriving third-party contracts, Sicura became known for adapting to consumer trends while maintaining Swiss manufacturing standards.
When the 1970s quartz crisis wiped out most Swiss watch brands, Sicura adapted. Using his electrical engineering expertise, Ernest Schneider embraced the new world of electromechanical, quartz, and solar-powered movements. Tapping into mass-market mail order catalog sales, Ernest’s flexibility kept Sicura afloat amid industry turmoil, establishing him as a rare leader capable of bridging traditional manufacturing and modern technology.
Affordable Swiss watches were under pressure from foreign competition, and Ernest Schneider wanted to invest in a top-end brand. Willy Breitling had closed his factory and was looking for someone he could trust to resurrect the famous aviation brand name. Brought together by a mutual acquaintance a deal was struck in 1979 and the Breitling and Navitimer names passed to Sicura. When Willy died weeks later, Ernest honored his promise to revive Breitling’s chronograph heritage, using his Sicura experience to ensure the brand’s revival.
Ernest Schneider managed Sicura and his new purchase with separate production lines but equal flair. He launched the quartz Sicura Stunt in 1984 at the same time as Breitling’s breakthrough Chronomat mechanical chronograph, and it was the Stunt that became a best seller first. Sicura’s production fell back as Ernest kept his promise to restore Willy Breitling’s brand. In1993 the Sicura name was quietly laid to rest. Until now ...
Sicura's iconic vintage models
This is a variant of the celebrated Superwaterproof 400 family with a rare additional feature: a tricolour 24-hour inner bezel, typical of travel and night-time complications, paired with a double crown. Year of production: 1968. It appears in an advertisement for the X Olympic Winter Games held in Grenoble that year, worn by ski champion Fernande Bochatay, bronze medallist in the giant slalom.
Hailed by dealers as Sicura's most important watch. A 41mm cushion case houses manual cal. EB 8021 driving simultaneous GMT and NYT hands plus a fixed 24-city ring, under a red/blue "Pepsi" bezel. Vacuum-tested water resistance adds tool-watch credibility. Its direct link to Ernest Schneider's later Breitling takeover makes it a key piece in Sicura's brand history and arguably its most desirable reference.
The crown jewel of Sicura collecting. A 47mm cushion case packs manual Bettlach EB 8800/8806 chronograph, two internal rotating bezels plus an external slide-rule scale across a wild blue/red/orange dial. Its computational, cockpit-like complexity epitomizes peak 1970s design ambition. Genuine examples are scarce, making it the brand's rarest and most highly valued vintage reference among serious collectors.
Instantly recognizable for its crown and pushers mounted at 12 o'clock, the rare "bullhead" layout shared by only a few iconic 1970s chronographs. Manual Valjoux 7734 movement, reverse-panda dial with two sub-counters and date at 12, fixed tachymeter scale, 43mm cushion case. Strong racing and motorsport character makes it one of the most coveted vintage chronograph designs among collectors today.
Sicura's most astonishing creation: the only watch in the world with a fully functional folding Victorinox knife built into its angular, lug-guarded steel case. Automatic 17-jewel movement, bidirectional dive bezel, two-tone blue/black dial with contrasting orange hands. Beyond its bold 1970s looks, the Safari's sheer conceptual uniqueness, with no equivalent from any other brand, makes it a true grail for adventurous collectors.
A playful take on the jump-hour complication pioneered by Cartier in the 1930s. The chrome TV-screen case shows hours jumping in an "H" window, date in "D", minutes sweeping an orange arc, and seconds spun by a central propeller hand. Powered by automatic cal. BFG 158 or manual BFG 866. Nicknamed "Saltarello" by Italian collectors, with blue dials common and red dials genuinely rare finds.
Sicura's pure dive watch, the model that built the brand's sporting reputation. Black glossy dial with luminous tritium teardrop markers, black unidirectional bezel, single crown, rated to 200 or 400 feet and "Vacuum Tested". Historically significant as the direct aesthetic ancestor of the Breitling SuperOcean, launched after Ernest Schneider, Sicura's owner, acquired Breitling in 1979.
