18
T
he story of Halda is a long and steady one – a story
of evolution, rather than revolution – that started
almost 130 years ago, when Henning Hammarlund
(who created his first watch out of wood as a teenager
and went on to become a watch engineer) set out to
create the perfect watch. Rapid progress followed, and
If in today‘s world, in which life is determined by excess and
speed, a company‘s goal is an annual product volume of only
300 units, these must be very special products. The Swedish
luxury watch manufacturer Halda’s motto has been “Never
compromise on quality” since 1887. No wonder they found a
congenial partner in Oerlikon Balzers – on earth and in space.
Hammarlund was soon famous for his watches: even the
Swedish King Oscar II owned a Halda watch, bearing
his portrait on the casing. Hammarlund‘s perfectionism
soon drove him to design tools and machines precise
enough to meet his sophisticated demands – accurate
to 1/100 mm.