When production of the first Czechoslovak watches started in Nové Město nad Metují after the war, Prim watches became a symbol of domestic precision and craftsmanship. However, after 1989 the brand split and two companies fought over its name for more than two decades — Elton hodinářská, which preserved the manufacture production, and MPM-Quality from Frýdek-Místek, which produced more affordable models with imported movements. Two different watches bore the same name on the dial and neither was willing to share it.
This year, that conflict was finally resolved. MPM-Quality purchased Elton hodinářská from the CSG group, and after more than twenty years both companies merged under one management into the hands of the Hanek family. They founded their own watchmaking company in Frýdek-Místek in 1993, while the history of the Elton enterprise, formerly known as Chronotechna, dates back to 1949.
When Barbara Hanková, the new owner of Prim, describes the first day after the acquisition, she uses words like “shock” and at the same time “relief.” “The contract was signed on Friday and by Monday we were already standing in front of the production staff. It was necessary to explain that Elton is not closing down,” she says.
In the spring of this year, one of the longest-running disputes in Czech industry came to an end. After long years of parallel existence, a unified Prim brand emerged with one logo, one management, and two production plants that now cooperate after years of conflict. We visited both plants to hear how the unified Prim ticks.
Among lathes and Damascus steel. At Elton, the air smells of metal, oil, and grinding paste. The workshops house dozens of machines, some of which still remember the days when the Orlík model was produced here for the Czechoslovak army. Their modern versions — precise and specialized CNC machines — now process titanium, platinum, or zircon with micrometer precision. “This is where our Damascus composite cases are made, which we forge in cooperation with a Czech forge,” says Renata Červenák Nývltová, CEO of Elton, showing one of the unique models with blue tempering. After the merger, she agreed to hand over the company’s management but continues to stay on.
Preserving handmade production has been a major topic for all Czech watch enthusiasts since the acquisition. “All mechanical movement production stays in Nové Město. But I’m saying that now — I can’t promise what will happen in ten years. And the assembly of battery-powered, i.e. quartz watches, will move to Frýdek-Místek,” explains Hanková. In the coming years, Elton will therefore continue to produce limited editions such as the legendary Prim Orlík or Traktor, whose prices reach up to hundreds of thousands of crowns.
In Frýdek, Swiss movements keep ticking. At the other end of the country in Frýdek-Místek, production has an entirely different feel. There is a sense of newness here, and you won’t find historical machines. It’s not a manufacture but a modern facility that uses purchased Swiss and Japanese movements. As a result, the prices of watches born here range from several thousand to tens of thousands of crowns.
We enter a large IT studio from which graphic designers send data directly to production. “In Frýdek we have a complete design studio. This is where dial designs, visuals, and gift editions for companies or other customizations originate,” explains Jiří Vratislav, production director of MPM-Quality. In the future, the majority of automatic and quartz models — which make up a significant part of the offering — are to be assembled here. While the Nové Město nad Metují manufacture produces watches in hundreds of pieces per year, the Frýdek facility can produce up to five thousand pieces. After the merger, however, they are not meant to compete but to complement and support each other. The new owners also plan to increase the production of mechanical watches at Elton to up to two thousand pieces per year.
The goal is also for the teams from Nové Město and Frýdek to stop calling each other “us and them” and to function as one Prim. According to Renata Červenák Nývltová, the merger was a very sensitive topic: “People at Elton somewhat expected that the acquisition would go in the opposite direction, so it was a shock. But I think everything has settled now,” she adds. Barbara Hanková therefore looks forward to the day when no one will ask her whether she is from MPM Quality or from Elton: “Hopefully within two years people will understand that there is simply one Prim.”
Teams from both cities are working to fulfill this vision, communicating daily and gradually unifying processes. According to management, both companies are careful at every step also because many brand fans and regular customers perceive the merger sensitively. “We call ourselves partners and we can’t treat each other in a dictatorial way. One side tries to cooperate with the other and to understand each other,” explains Jiří Vratislav, and Barbara Hanková adds: “For nearly 25 years we weren’t exactly the best of friends and we need to bring the team together.”
Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. Hanková sees the production in Nové Město nad Metují as very complex and at the same time traditional, with many successive steps that require both precision and time.
The common denominator of all planned changes is therefore to be greater fluidity and efficiency of work. New machines are already heading to production, including a five-axis CNC center that is to speed up prototyping and reduce the load on the busiest workstations. “I don’t want a watchmaker to spend half a day looking for a screw,” says Barbara Hanková. The change is also to be reflected in work organization — employees will begin training across professions so they can fill in for each other.
The next step is to be digitalization and the construction of a new hall. “The current premises in Nové Město are in an older building and don’t allow for smooth operations. I would like to build a modern hall that connects all phases of production and creates a clean environment befitting the watchmaking tradition,” plans Hanková. She has set a five-year target.
Modernization also brings the unification of information systems. Handwritten spreadsheets and the current form of accounting will be replaced by digital tools for records, calculations, and planning. Data from both plants will be shared in real time so that production can be tracked from the first design to dispatch. At the same time, both teams are expected to exchange their know-how.
One Prim, one logo. The unification also concerns the visual identity. After two decades of dual identity, the brand is returning to its original logo — the arched, rounded Prim lettering. Watches with their own movement will also be labeled Prim Manufacture, while others will simply be called Prim. The first collection with the new logo was launched this autumn. At both Elton and Frýdek, this means new molds, stamping presses, and packaging.
Prim wants to remain a traditional domestic brand with history, but at the same time plans to reach younger customers. “We won’t sustain this on nostalgia alone for another twenty years,” says Hanková, who intends to focus on new colors, editions, and collaborations with young creators. The company is already building a new website and strengthening online sales: “In the world, even watches costing 100 thousand are sold with a single click. And we need to be ready,” she adds. The plan also includes expansion abroad — first to European markets such as Poland and Germany, and later to the USA, where the brand wants to reach the Czechoslovak community.
Last year, Elton had revenues of around 100 million crowns, while the Frýdek company had roughly 70 million. Management’s ambition is a combined annual turnover of 150 million. “I know that buying a company doesn’t make one plus one equal two. We won’t achieve that with all the changes this year,” explains Hanková’s sober estimate, according to whom the path to the dream revenue is precisely the increased production of watches with handmade movements: “That’s why we simply have to modernize.”
The entire Prim group has over a hundred people in total, and many of those in Frýdek-Místek have known their boss since childhood. “In Frýdek there are people who used to push me around in a stroller and now they work with me,” describes Hanková. She considers the family atmosphere to be one of the brand’s greatest strengths and intends to preserve it even after the unification of both plants: “I believe that the employees in Nové Město will also understand that we truly want to preserve and develop the Prim brand.”
Source: E15.cz – https://www.e15.cz/byznys/konecne-sjednoceni-casu-zatim-jen-pro-fandy-hodinek-prim-frydek-mistek-a-nove-mesto-uz-tikaji-jednotne-1429161 – 20.12.2025