Roamer of Switzerland
Roamer is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches, based in Wallbach, Switzerland.
History
Roamer was founded by Fritz Meyer in Solothurn, Switzerland, in 1888.The company originally concentrated on manufacturing cylinder escapements,. Within only seven years, the company grew to sixty employees and started producing complete watches. In 1895, the company developed its first own calibre and named it "Number 38" to commemorate Meyer's 38th birthday.
In 1905, Meyer joined fellow watchmaker Johann Stuedeli to form the partnership Meyer and Stuedeli.. The partnership continued to develop new calibres.
The earliest identified watch is an unmarked lady's pocket watch containing an MST 41 cylinder escapement that has London silver hallmarks for 1908.
In 1917 they purchased fellow Solothurn watchmaker L. Tieche Gammeter. LTG had previously registered the brand "Roamer" in 1908. In 1918 the partnership incorporated Meyer & Stuedeli SA into the company.
By 1923, production grew to one million units. The jewelled lever-escapement watches were sold under the brand "Roamer".
Cylinder, and later pin-lever, watches were sold under the brands Medana and Meda. In 1932 the company started its own dial production line.
In 1945, a representative office opened in New York City.
In 1952 Meyer and Stuedeli officially changed its name to Roamer Watch Co. SA. In 1955, Roamer patented the Anfibio watertight watchcase, which proved to be a commercial success. The company launched its first quartz movement in 1972.
In 2002 Roamer became a member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. The following year Roamer returned to manufacturing mechanical watches.
To mark its 125th anniversary in 2013, the company launched a limited-edition Stingray Chrono Diver.
Christian Frommherz, who had served as CEO since 2003, acquired the brand in 2018.
Expansion of the popular C-Line collection continued in 2020 with the introduction of the C-Line Automatic. With the 120th anniversary of its first in-house MST movement approaching, Roamer began developing an updated version, the MST 2.0, and in 2024 released the Mechano, the first watch powered by this calibre.
In 2025, Roamer achieved a milestone in introducing the first solar-powered dial watch, the Helios Power.