In 1991, the designer Alexander Burhans created the a.b.art watch label in Germany after having opened a jewelry and watches specialty store in Freiburg i. B. a couple of years earlier, in 1989. In retrospect, this first step into the world of puristical design can be seen as the actual birth hour of the watch label. a.b.art grew rapidly.At the end of the 90’s, more than 10 000 a.b.art watches were being sold every year in the two main markets Germany and Switzerland as well as in Belgium, Norway and the USA. Due to this whirlwind development, a.b.art was integrated into fashiontime ltd in 2003, which set the course for international growth. From the beginning, this Swiss private label watch producer, founded in 1986 and located in Biel, the watch capital of the world, had been involved in the production of a.b.art. This take-over by the Swiss made the originally German watch brand a.b.art automatically a Swiss Made label. Besides the production of all a.b.art timepieces, fashiontime is now responsible for their marketing, communication and distribution, too.