A person in a green jacket holding a camera, taking a photo outdoors.

Carl Suchy & Söhne – Purveyor to the Royal Court since 1822

200 years ago, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire there was only one address for luxury watches: Carl Suchy & Söhne. The watchmaker and accredited purveyor to the court stood for perfect quality, precision, and timeless elegance. Aristocrats, artists, industrials, and even Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I, were amongst his customers. Now, we are celebrating the comeback of this exclusive brand.

Carl Suchy, born in Prague in 1796, soon takes a life-changing decision: he becomes a watch- making apprentice. After seven wandering years in Germany, Suchy returns to Prague and opens a clock manufacturer in 1822. His goal, associating his passion for precision and design with his name, is achieved with the help of his four sons. With their entry into the business, Carl Suchy & Söhne soon becomes the most important watchmaker of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The oldest son Carl Suchy Junior establishes a pocket watch factory in the Swiss Watch Valley “La Chaux-de-Fonds,” while his younger brother Hans opens a store in the historical center of Vienna. Suchy watches are desired objects across Austria’s borders, delight visitors and the press at world fairs such as Paris, and are essential accessories at the royal courts, aristocratic estates, and the salons of Austria’s intellectual elite. Carl Suchy & Söhne is firmly positioned as Austria’s leading watchmaker before an involuntary creative break that started around 1914.

In 2016 Carl Suchy & Söhne is reestablished – the only luxury watch brand that combines Viennese elegance and Swiss precision.

A confident woman standing with arms crossed, smiling against a dark background, wearing a black blazer and round glasses.
Black and white portrait of a man with a serious expression, mustache, suit, and bow tie, likely from the 19th century.
A black and white photo of a man in Renaissance attire, wearing a large hat, jewelry, and a velvet robe, standing next to a wooden bench with intricate carvings, in a room with a decorative wall backdrop.

Kaiser Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria — imperial poise and romantic legend

Carl Suchy Jr. attending the 20th wedding anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and his wife, Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) in 1879.

Black and white photo of a man and woman in formal 19th-century attire, standing side by side. The man is dressed as a king or nobleman, with a sash, medals, and a sword. The woman is in a voluminous gown with lace and flowers in her hair.

Carl Suchy

Black and white portrait of a woman with long, curly hair adorned with star-shaped hair ornaments, wearing a pearl necklace and a dress with ruffled sleeves.

Two of Carl Suchy’s most famous clients were Austrian Empress Elisabeth—affectionately known as Empress Sisi—and the renowned Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

Black and white photograph of an older man with a beard and mustache, dressed in a suit, holding a cigarette in his right hand, and looking at the camera with a serious expression.

Combining
Viennese Elegance
and Swiss Craftmanship

Suchy was the most important reference for watch aficionados of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the intellectual elite of Fin de Siécle Vienna. Now the long legacy of Carl Suchy & Söhne is brought back into the present.

Did Sigmund Freud look at his Suchy pocket watch when he wanted to know how much longer he would have to listen to his patient’s childhood memories? Did Gustav Klimt’s work inspire the beauty and perfection of Suchy clocks? Did the Suchys, after having closed their shop for the night, join the Viennese coffeehouse literati to enter into philosophical discussions?

Fact is, Carl Suchy & Söhne lived in exceptional times of industrial innovation and artistic creation. We too, strive for a mindful design that can serve both functional and emotional purpose.

“Waltz No 1” follows an elegant and minimalistic design aesthetic with an emotional twist, by seamlessly combining sophisticated materials and a passion for the latest technology.

Open gold pocket watch showing intricate internal gears and mechanisms.
A vintage pocket watch with a gold case and chain, showing the time as approximately 9:59.

  • Carl Suchy & Söhne look back at a rich history filled with outstanding accomplishments and awards

  • 1796

    Carl Suchy is born in the historical centre of Prague.

  • until 1812

    Suchy completes his apprenticeship as a watchmaker at the famous German watchmaker Franz Lehner.

  • 1812–1819

    Years of traveling through
    Germany and Switzerland.

  • 1821

    Carl Suchy marries Josephine Kroupa in Prague.

  • 1822

    26-year-old Suchy opens his watch shop in the centre of Prague. His technically advanced pendulum and wall clocks lead to rapid success.

  • 1827

    Birth of their first, son Carl Suchy Junior.

  • 1830

    Birth of their second son, Johann Anton, as well as the birth of Franz Joseph I, the future emperor of Austria.

  • 1844

    Carl Suchy is appointed as the first and for many years the only “Watch Purveyor to the Royal and Imperial Court” due to the fact that “his watches exceed highest expectations in regard to elegance and technical perfection”.

  • 1845

    Suchy’s sons Carl and Hans complete their apprenticeship with the famous Czech watchmaker Josef Kosek. During their years of travel, they study with the best watchmakers in Switzerland.

  • 1848

    The coronation of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

  • 1849

    As Suchy’s sons join the parental business, it is renamed „Carl Suchy & Söhne” and becomes Austria’s most renowned clock factory.

  • 1853

    Carl Suchy Junior founds a pocket watch factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the hometown of Le Corbusier. The factory doesn’t only supply watches to the family business, but they are also exported to Great Britain.

  • 1855–1873

    Carl Suchy & Söhne clocks are regularly displayed at the world fairs in Paris, London and Vienna. The trade press recurringly announces them to be the best Austrian products.

  • 1858

    The Austrian menswear label “Knize” was founded.

  • 1862

    Artist Gustav Klimt and writer Arthur Schnitzler were born – both will have a tremendous influence on Viennese art
    history.

  • 1863

    Suchy’s second son Hans opens a workshop in Rotenturmstraße 6 in the centre of Vienna. Johann Anton takes over the store in Prague. He is also appointed “Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court”.

  • 1865

    The Viennese Ring Road is opened. Austria’s first horse-drawn goes from the Viennese Schottentor to the suburb Hernals.

  • 1866

    The carpet manufacturer Eduard Haas builds Vienna’s first department store in the immediate neighbourhood of Carl Suchy & Söhne’s store.

  • 1866

    The founder Carl Suchy dies at the age 70. His youngest son Emanuel takes over the workshop in Prague.

  • 1867

    The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauß has its premiere in Vienna.

  • 1870

    The famous architects and designers, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann, were born.

  • 1872

    Emanuel Suchy founds and manages Prague’s first volunteer fire brigade.

  • 1879

    Carl Suchy Junior attends the famous Makart procession on the Ring Road, celebrating the twentieth wedding anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth. Suchy is proudly dressed as a watchmaker from the sixteenth century.

  • 1886

    Sigmund Freud opens his practice in Vienna and develops the method of psychoanalysis.

  • 1891

    The „Young Vienna Movement“ coins what is still known as the Viennese coffeehouse literature – the meetings and discussions of artists, writers and intellectuals in Viennese cafés shape the literary movement in and around Austria. Some of the most renowned members are Peter Altenberg, Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal and Stefan Zweig.

  • 1894

    Emanuel Suchy receives the prestigious Knight’s Cross of the Imperial Order of Franz Joseph I for his great support of the Prague fire brigade.

  • 1895

    Otto Wagner, one of the most influential architects of his times announces the end of the ornamental historicism – Jugendstil takes its place. Under the banner of modernism, philosophy, literature, music, art, design and architecture blossom.

  • 1898

    Death of Hans Suchy. His widow, Therese, takes over the shop in the Rotenturmstraße in Vienna. She is also honoured as Purveyor to the Royal and Imperial Court.

  • 1907

    Adolph Cervinka is the new owner of „Carl Suchy & Söhne“ in Prague. The store moves to the exclusive address Na Příkopě in the center of the city.

  • 1918

    With the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Carl Suchy & Söhne temporarily takes a creative break.

  • 2017

    Revived by Robert Punkenhofer, an internationally renowned art and design expert, the Viennese legacy watch brands returns in 2017 to Basel with the Waltz N°1, whose skeleton version is presented in Basel in 2018.

  • 2021

    Release of the Table Waltz, a new generation table clock, developed over the course of two years. This object d’art was designed by Rainer Mutsch and its CS-T1 in-house movement was engineered by Austrian master watchmaker Therese Wibmer.

  • 2022

    Carl Suchy & Söhne celebrates its 200th anniversary at Vienna's Belvedere Palace and launches the Table Waltz Jubilee.

  • 2023

    Launch of the Belvedere collection inspired by the world-famous Belvedere Palace, which stands in the heart of Vienna and was once the residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy.

  • 2024

    With the launch of the Table Waltz Tourbillon in Geneva, Carl Suchy & Söhne reaffirmed its dedication to rare Viennese craft, presenting a highly complex complication conceived by master watchmaker Therese Wibmer.

  • 2025

    With the VIENNA, designed by Eric Giroud, Carl Suchy & Söhne presents a timepiece that is an homage to Viennese Modernism.