Festina Watches

Descending from a Swedish and Spanish heritage, Festina offers an impressive line-up of stylish and sporty watches. The brand was founded in the early 20th century. Their traditional methods of watchmaking are visible in Festina’s timepieces even today. Festina does not hire other companies to manufacture their watches. Every watch is produced in their own factories. 

The watch brand focuses on reliability and customer satisfaction. This is the reason why every Festina watch is made of superior quality components. These watches are also designed innovatively and include features from the latest technological advancements. Although Festina qualifies as a designer watch, it is more accessible to people on a budget than other premium brands. 

Interestingly, Festina is the official timekeeper of the world-renowned cycle marathon Tour de France. To handle the demands of an intense sporting event like this, Festina has come up with a range of chronograph watches. These sporty watches are not only sturdy and water-resistant but also allow the wearer to perform other functions, like using a stopwatch. Mixing elegance with high performance, the Festina watches are among the best timepieces in the current market. 

Apart from manufacturing watches for sporting events, Festina also makes sophisticated wrist watches for both men and women. As a salute to vintage art and style, the watch brand also makes pocket watches and dress watches. There are many more retro watch models which nod to the vintage culture. These include collections such as Automatic, Boyfriend, Classics, Ceramic, Mademoiselle, Chrono Bike, Prestige and Petit. A collection called Junior aims specifically at kids. While the Festina Connected is a range of hybrid wristwatches tailored for sports enthusiasts. 

The history of Festina watchmakers spans over a century. In 1902, the brand foundation was laid in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. In the year 1984 a company called Lotus acquired Festina. The Lotus company was formed in the 1980s in Barcelona by a man named Miguel Rodriguez. When Lotus took over Festina, they changed the latter’s name to Festina Lotus SA. After some years, however, the name was changed back to Festina. 

Lotus has expanded its business over the years. Eventually, the company acquired many watch brands like Candino, Jaguar, Kronaby, Calypso and many more. Under Lotus's tutelage, Festina now owns luxury brands such as Perrelet and L. Leroy. Not willing to stop, Festina went on to acquire the watch movement maker giant Soprod. Owing to its success and rampant expansion, Festina was chosen as the official Timekeeper of Tour de France in 1994.

Festina has truly revved up its production capacity by strategically collaborating with its partners. There are many Festina subsidiaries spread across the European market as a result of Festina’s perseverance. Now, the watch brand has amassed global appeal thanks to its intriguing designs and sturdy built.

Festina has launched many different watches in its collection. Each watch is unique and suits a particular function. But as with everything else, some watches were better than the others. Here is a list of Festina’s best watches so far:

1.    Festina Chrono Sport

The watches in this collection use quartz movements to power up. Chrono sport watches are chronograph watches made of stainless steel. They come in a wide variety of case sizes, ranging from 43.5 mm to 44.5 mm. Fitted with mineral glass, the Chrono sport watches are water proof. The ideal target audience for these watches are sports and outdoor enthusiasts. 

2.    Festina Chrono Bike

As the name suggests, the Chrono Bike collection is meant specifically for cycling purposes. Their reliable sturdiness and comfortable design makes this collection a favorite among the cycling community. Composed of a 316L stainless steelcase, the Chrono Bike comes in two diameter options – 44.5 mm and 45.5 mm. A graduated exterior bezel and crown guards further emphasize this collection’s usefulness in sports. These watches also resist water up to a depth of 100 meters. 

3.    Festina Automatic

This collection consists of timepieces which have self-winding mechanics. Miyota Japanese technology powers these watches. Apart from sleek sport watches for men the Automatic collection contains some classic dress watches. The classic dress variety consists of an upgraded guilloche dial, a three hands display and a window to show the date. There are also some skeleton models in this collection. These models boast a sapphire crystal on top and bottom of the watch.

4.    Festina Boyfriend

The Boyfriend collection aims at Festina’s women audiences. The collection contains some sporty watches designed for women. Boyfriend’s overall appeal is very minimalistic, but it does come with external rotating bezels. Just because the watches in this collection are sporty doesn’t mean they cannot be stylish. Some Boyfriend watches incorporate Zirconia gemstones to add an additional flair of dazzle. 

5.    Festina Mademoiselle 

This collection is on the higher end of the spectrum. Mademoiselle watches are adorned with Swarovski Crystals in their hour markers and bezels. The dials come in a variety of colors and shapes, from bi-color to gold-tone. Despite their delicate and elegant looks, these watches resist water up to 50 meters deep.