250 years of Beyer

Beyer celebrates its 250th anniversary

Beyer Chronometrie, situated on Zürich’s Bahnhofstrasse, is the oldest clock and watch store in Switzerland. In the course of 250 years and seven generations, the family firm has cultivated the most attractive aspects of time. On doing so, it sets great store by fostering its traditional heritage.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, in the German town of Donaueschingen, Matthäus Beyer laid the foundations for this impressive family history. In 1822, his grandson, Stephan Beyer, brought the name and the company to Feuerthalen, in the canton of Zurich. His son opened the first shop in Zurich, in the Niederdorf quarter, in 1860. Seventeen years later, Beyer Chronometrie moved to the city’s new epicentre, the Bahnhofstrasse. First housed in the building of the Kreditanstalt on Paradeplatz, in 1927 it relocated to premises on the other side of Bärengasse, where it has remained to this day. Since 1996, the company has been headed by René Beyer, representing the seventh generation of the Beyer family. Like all his predecessors, he is a qualified watchmaker.