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Cantador was a Swiss watch brand created in the early 1950s by Heno Watch Co. in Interlaken, canton of Bern, Switzerland. The history of the brand goes back to the Kirchhofer family business: in 1944 Fritz Kirchhofer founded Kirchhofer AG, opening the first specialized watch shop in Interlaken. Around 1950 he decided to start his own watch production and established Heno Watch Co., placing his relative Erich Kirchhofer at the head of the enterprise. Heno Watch became a separate offshoot of the Kirchhofer family business, focused on the manufacture of watches. Already in the first years of activity, Heno registered several trademarks. Among them was the brand Cantador, officially registered on May 31, 1952 by E. Kirchhofer & Cie / Heno Watch in Interlaken. The marking “Swiss Made” on the products confirmed their Swiss manufacture. Cantador was positioned as a sub-brand of Heno Watch (E. Kirchhofer & Cie). At that time the family company had already established a reputation: Heno movements were supplied, for example, to the United States, where for several years the company produced high-quality watches on behalf of the famous Chicago department store Marshall Field & Company. This shows that from the very beginning Heno and its sub-brands were oriented not only to the Swiss domestic market but also to export.
Cantador existed within Heno alongside other registered names. In addition to Cantador, Erich Kirchhofer & Cie (Heno Watch) registered Carina (1956), Heno (1957), and Elmas (1970). Each of these brands was used for certain product lines. Under the name Cantador, the company mainly offered clocks and travel alarm clocks. Known examples include mechanical travel alarms with 8-day power reserve and 15-jewel movements (caliber AROGNO A22N), enclosed in compact cases and often combined with thermometers, barometers and hygrometers as miniature “weather stations.” A model from the 1960s, identical to the Lancel Paris travel alarm, bears the Cantador brand; Heno itself did not produce alarm clocks but branded finished Swiss products with its name. Under the Cantador brand, there are also examples of desk clocks of the period, including electric models from the 1960s labeled Cantador Electronic, showing that the firm sought to keep up with technical progress by embracing electric and electronic technologies. Wristwatches marked Cantador are less common; most likely Heno focused on its main brand Heno for wristwatches, while Cantador was used for specific series or markets. Nevertheless, all Cantador pieces carried the “Swiss Made” mark, affirming their origin.
An important aspect of the brand’s history was cooperation with foreign retailers. As noted, Heno production was often sold under private labels of large stores. For instance, on the American market, Marshall Field’s sold Heno watches under its own brand Ariston, with Heno’s stylized “H” logo still present on the dials. This shows that the Kirchhofer family knew how to adapt their branding for different clients: Cantador could be used as a stand-alone name in Europe, while Heno simultaneously manufactured for overseas partners under their labels. Such flexibility was typical of the Swiss watch industry in the mid-20th century, when many companies released watches under several names depending on markets and contracts.
The Cantador brand was active mainly in the 1950s to 1970s. In 1982 Fritz Kirchhofer handed over the family business to the next generation: his daughter Helen Kirchhofer took over the watch division Heno, and his son Jürg headed the retail shops. Under Helen’s leadership the strategy shifted and the company gradually moved away from producing its own brands. Heno Watch Co., which had become a separate legal entity as Heno SA, manufactured watches until 1988. During this period Heno introduced new brand names such as Equinox and Club, but in the mid-1980s decided to change its business model. After 1988 Heno SA largely abandoned the production of watches under its own labels and turned to the distribution of international watch and jewelry brands on the Swiss market. The first major step in this new direction was the exclusive distribution of GUESS watches in Switzerland, which laid the foundation for the company’s later success.
Today Cantador no longer exists as an independent brand. Its successor is Heno SA, still owned by the Kirchhofer family and based in Thun, canton of Bern. The firm is active in wholesale distribution of watches and jewelry and has become a “house of brands” promoting labels such as Bering, Esprit, DKNY and Rosefield. Historical brands once registered by Heno, including Cantador, Carina and Elmas, gradually fell out of use, but their legacy remains in vintage watches and travel clocks still found at auctions and in collections. Cantador, born in the postwar years, was part of Switzerland’s mid-century horological heritage, lasting several decades and leaving its trace in the form of mechanical timepieces of the 1950s and 1960s.
