Jerger Chess Clock "Olympia", Germany, ca. 1945-1955

Jerger Chess Clock "Olympia", Germany, ca. 1945-1955

Here is a meanwhile rare specimen of a very early Jerger "Olympia", recognizable by the vibrillator in heart form instead of a second hand. Adolf Jerger had already settled as a watchmaker in 1905, after completing his apprenticeship with his uncle Wilhelm Jerger. At a very early time, probably already in the 1920's, chess clocks were added.  The model "Olympia" was always the epitome of the Jerger brand, but was probably not already used at the Chess Olympiad 1936, but only at the Chess Olympiad 1958 in Munich. The very early models had a middle lever instead of the push buttons. Typical for the watch is a metal badge with the inscription "Olympia" on the cover and the tilted base plate.

The watch factory Adolf Jerger KG had its headquarters in Niedereschach in the Black Forest Baar district near Villingen-Schwenningen, a centre of the watch industry in southwest Germany. Since business was particularly good after the war, a branch was opened in neighbouring Deisslingen. The main business was the production and sale of mechanical alarm clocks, whose movements also formed the basis of chess clocks. With the advent of digital watches in the 1970's and 1980's, business with mechanical clockworks declined massively, and the workforce of 400 employees had to be gradually reduced. The cost pressure on the production of the expensive Olympic chess clock increased, so that in the 1980's the Chess Champion, a smaller and cheaper model with a plastic casing, was launched on the market, which was partly also produced for external customers with their company logo, e.g. for Weible and Heuer. But all this did not help to save the company. In 1987, the branch in Deisslingen had to be closed, and in 1988 the main company went bankrupt.
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