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Martin Braun belongs to the hereditary dynasty of watchmakers and does business to which three generations of his ancestors were devoted themselves. Martin was born in Germany, in 1964. His father, Karl-Christian Braun, was a famous watch master and jeweler. During his childhood Martin watched the development of the watch industry and saw all its ups and downs. From 1980 to 1983 he was studying in the watchmaking school which he graduated with honours. Then he entered the university and in 1991 he received the title of the master of the watchmaking art. The modernistic table clock made by him as his diploma, perfectly shows the directions which he now follows: the movement with an 8 hour power-reserve designed completely by him, complicated with a republican calendar, indicators of a date and accurate moonphases, and a time equation. During the education, Martin was filled with the complicated watch mechanics so much that he decided to design seriously unique models. One of his first models not having analogues was the Ammonite table clock equipped, among other things, with the legendary lever escapement that was invented by the famous English watch master Graham. At the same time Martin with his father restored ancient rarities and extraordinary movements for which he made cases. Among them there were movements of repeaters and perpetual calender. In 1998 Martin organized the course of lectures devoted to watch complications. Shortly he won a good reputation – people from around the world attended his classes to enlarge their knowledge in the field of the watch mechanics. And all the while from 1995 he continued to work at the EOS. From all Martin's watches the model deserves peculiar attention. The whole year he calculated time of sunset and sunrise and made the computer program for these computations. The legendary EOS model, very soon become the master's trademark and unexpectedly for all taken first place at the contest of the innovations in 2000, was presented in autumn, 2000. In April, 2001, for the first time Martin took part in the BaselWorld exhibition where presented his EOS model to a wide audience. In 2002 he showed his new Boreas model, an analogue of ESO, modified with an indicator of the equation of time. Just that watch had the greatest success. The watch, also being nominated in the contest of the innovations, ranked first in the USA. The next was the Koronamatik model with a central rotating circle on the dial. The watch is an article of the Korona line presented at the BaselWorld exhibition in 2003 and has already received the third nomination. In 2004, at the BaselWorld exhibition the master demonstrated his revolutionary Heliocentric model that reflected the Earth's position relative to the sun on the dial and a current sign of the zodiac. In 2005, probably, the most complicated Martin's model of watches named Astraios, having both functions of the Heliocentric model and the legendary ESO, was launched. All these complicated additions are unique in the world of watches and protected with many patents. 2008 of Martin's creative lifetime is notable for appearing of the Notos model that is more similar to a chronometric device than to a wristwatch. Indeed, the model contains unique indications such as the declination angle of the sun to the equator or a month indicator marking the maximum and minimum difference between solar time and earth one. Along with these complications the function for equation of time is considered to be ordinary. In 2006 the Martin Braun company was a sponsor for the rally Mercedes team which took part in the famous Paris – Dakar race. A driver of a car was Ellen Lohr, a champion of Germany. Another significant event also took place in 2006: at last a Martin Braun watch workshop was opened in Switzerland. And since then watches of this outstanding original brand are being made with the “Swiss made” mark which all watchmakers were expecting for a long time. In 2007, 51% of the Martin Braun company was purchased by the Franck Muller Group. Martin noticed that the action having been made by the Franck Muller Group meant an important financial pressure falling form his shoulders. He also added that the company was given big advantageous prospects concerning the spread of its production around the world. But in spite of that Martin would continue running the company entirely. Braun concluded that it made no sense to be otherwise, because every brand had to keep its own individuality and so Martin Braun would be who it was. |
