FESTINA

FESTINA

Festina is also known for its sponsorship of the Festina cycling team from 1989 to 2001. During the 1998 Tour de France the team was at the center of the doping scandal which became known as the Festina affair. In reaction to this, the cycling team reorganized itself and Festina set up the Foundation

 D’entreprise Festina whose mission was to promote the fight against doping

HISTORY

Festina is a watch company. It was founded in 1902 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The manufacture's motto was Festina Lente (Latin for 'Hasten slowly'). In 1984, Spanish industrialist Miguel Rodríguez, already owner of Lotus watches, bought Festina and created the group Festina Lotus S.A.. Since this takeover, the company headquarters have been located in Barcelona, Spain. Their watches are exclusively assembled on Citizen Watch Company Japanese movements, in their most popular watches, while its high-end watches are crafted entirely from its factories in Barcelona and Toledo. Festina owns now Candino Watch Company in Bienne, Switzerland, the seat of their Swiss distribution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

ü  Lotus

ü  Festina

ü  Calypso

ü  Candino

ü  Jaguar

ü  Perrelet

ü  Soprod - produces Swiss-made mechanical and quartz watch movements