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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Grenchen, Switzerland

Orfina

Partially verified

High-quality waterproof watches, calendar watches, and chronographs

History

Roland Rüefli established his watch factory in Grenchen in 1922, initially navigating unfavorable economic conditions that led to name changes to Fabrique d'Horlogerie Jorin in 1927 and Finora in 1929.

The firm collaborated with Porsche Design starting in 1975 to produce automatic chronographs, including models featuring PVD-coated black cases and bracelets. Following the death of Roland Rüefli Jr. in 1982 and the conclusion of the Porsche Design partnership, the company struggled through the quartz crisis and vanished in 1995.

The extended history summarises the open references listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited passage. Confirm key dates in period documents before relying on them.

Current watchmaking & later fate

  • Nearly twenty years after the firm ceased operations in 1995, the brand was re-established by Schifferle & Schifferle GmbH Swiss Classic Watches.
  • The current Orfina collection consists of the Military Mark II and Fire Master Chronograph models.

As stated in the references listed under Sources, retrieved 2026-11-03. Ownership and collections change; check the maker's own announcements for the latest position.

Key models

Porsche Design Chronograph 1
Introduced in 1975, this automatic chronograph was developed in collaboration with the Porsche Design studio.

Known markings

  • The brand name Orfina was registered in 1932.

Serial numbers

No serial-number system for this maker is recorded in the cited references.

Collecting significance

The catalogued pieces listed on this page show the kinds of objects auction houses, dealers and museums attribute to this maker; each attribution is the source's own.

In the object catalogue

5 catalogued objects are recorded under Orfina. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

Diagram

driving wheelcoupling clutchcolumn wheelpusher
Schematic: chronograph control. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. Orfina, Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  2. Orfina SA, Watch-Wiki, retrieved 2026-11-03

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.