The famous Dutch physicist Christian Huygens was a watchmaker and inventor of the pendulum.

Shortly before his death in 1695 he had his best pupil, one Edward Higgins, from the English town of Lancaster before him.

On his deathbed, Huygens revealed all the secrets of the clockwork techniques to Higgins.

This made it possible for Higgins to produce smaller clockworks at affordable prices, and he  turned his Swiss watch making workshop into an industrial production company.

Meanwhile, despite all his fame and fortune, the homesickness began to trouble Edward Higgins. He missed his beloved hometown more and more, and that brought him to name his watch-making business after his hometown LANCASTER.

LANCASTER ITALY
The first collections “Swiss Made” watches of LANCASTER Italy came on the market in 1992.

These collections of mechanical watches, in which several new complications were recorded, were made by four Swiss’ Maisons d’Horlogerie “.

LANCASTER changed the production and business tactics completely in 1995.

LANCASTER was hitherto considered a brand with a few models, exclusively produced for and sold on the Italian market. Therefore parent company Alvea took the decision to move to industrial production and distribution.

In just one year LANCASTER managed by switching from mechanical to analog watches followed by a strong publicity campaign, by which it became represented in the Italian market by more than 1,000 stores.

The brand also decided to pursue a new direction in product development and search for new markets.

The Basel Fair 1997 enabled LANCASTER to close distribution agreements with professional parties in Lebanon, Greece, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Spain, France, Colombia, Spain and Egypt.

In 2000 LANCASTER decided to enter the production of ‘Fashion’ collections.

LANCASTER now has developed some trendy collections in the ‘popular’ price ranges, with names like “Non Plus Ultra” and “Trendy”.