Gruen Watch Co.

It was founded in 1894 by German-born watchmaker Dietrich Grün, who changed the spelling of his name to "Gruen" because the letter ü does not exist in English.

Some of their finest movements were made by Jean Aegler, who later became a business partner of Hans Wilsdorf, of Rolex.

These found favor with women buyers, but were not popular with men at the time (who considered wristwatches feminine).

In 1917 the company moved to a newly constructed building named Time Hill, located at 401 East McMillan Street in Cincinnati.

Expanding on the then-current fashion for long, rectangular wristwatch shapes, these models were curved to wrap around the wearer's wrist.

The biggest innovation of the design was the ability to produce a movement which followed the shape of the case, allowing the watch to be thinner and more curved.

During World War II, the Time Hill factory stopped making watches and instead worked exclusively for the U.S. military, manufacturing gauges and instruments for aircraft, ships and submarines.

The company also made precision gauges used for delicate surgical instruments and for radios and other electronic equipment.

It was during and shortly after World War II that many American watch companies began to lose market share to Swiss imports.

The Gruen trademark is currently owned worldwide by MZ Berger, Long Island City, Queens, New York.

A Gruen Precision 510 is rumoured to be the first watch worn on screen by James Bond (played by Sean Connery) in the 1962 film Dr No, and subsequently in From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever.