Debaufre and Steinhart - Connected?

Hey there, please pardon my ignorance.

In my Flieger hunt I couldn't help but notice the similarity of the Debaufre and Steinhart offerings.
Specifically the Triton, Csar, and the Nav-B.

What's the connection?
Who owns who?
Who came first?
Is one necessarily better than the other?

Thanks

This may not be entirely accurate, but i am doing so fo memory...

Steinhart was first and they started out in Europe, when they came to the United States, they had a legal issue with the name, so they Started a sister company of sorts, Debaufre, to sell the products here in the states.

Up unitl last year some time, they were still connected, but since then have parted ways, and I know Debaufre is now under new ownership as well. From what i have heard, you will be seeing new designs coming from both companies this year and next and most likely they wont be the same designs for both companies , as they are trying to distance themselves from each other.........

If I have got any of this wrong, I apologize, but this is the jist of it from what i have read .....

Think Chef has it right...

...all I know is I have a Debaufre and love it!

Top quality all around!

the info is correct.steinharts in switzderland. Debaufre's new 2000m dive watch is the full swing case.
steinharts new triton 1000m is their own design.looks pretty good to.Steinhart also produced the robert brand and afew others.

This thread has some good history on Steinhart: http://www.timetechtalk.com/view_topic.php?id=7330&forum_id=1

Here is the press release regarding the name change: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/08/prweb544171.htm

Thanks Guys - Very interesting.

tattoo chef wrote:

This may not be entirely accurate, but i am doing so fo memory...

Steinhart was first and they started out in Europe, when they came to the United States, they had a legal issue with the name, so they Started a sister company of sorts, Debaufre, to sell the products here in the states.

Up unitl last year some time, they were still connected, but since then have parted ways, and I know Debaufre is now under new ownership as well. From what i have heard, you will be seeing new designs coming from both companies this year and next and most likely they wont be the same designs for both companies , as they are trying to distance themselves from each other.........

If I have got any of this wrong, I apologize, but this is the jist of it from what i have read .....

Yep. There was a thread here a while back, brought over from an auto racing fans board, where the new President of Debaufre was looking for input on what race fans would like/ do like to see most in the design of a watch.

Always liked Debaufre and Steinhart ! They make some quality watches
for a nice price imho. Can't wait to see what the two of them have up
their sleeves for us in the future ! ..Thanks for the back story, and
info guys !