The company was foundedby Achille Ditesheim in 1881 in the watch-making town of La Chaux-de-Fonds

In 1892, the brothersLeopold, Achille, and Isidore combined their separate businesses to create"L.A. & I. Ditesheim, Fabricants". This was one of the firstmodern factories in the area following the watchmaking crisis of the 1870s.Having arrived over the course of the century, many Jewish traders, craftsmenand entrepreneurs were less attached to traditional working models, and thusplayed a major role in innovating the Swiss watch industry.

Within 20 years, thecompany had more than 80 employees and was internationally known for its widevariety of pocket watches. Movado began to produce wristwatches, and thecompany expanded again in 1905, now employing more than 150 workers. It was atthis time that it was renamed Movado, which means "always in motion"in Esperanto.

In 1983, the company waspurchased by North American Watch Corp, founded byGedalio Grinberg,a Cuban-bornJew,who fledFidel CastrosMarxistRevolutionin 1960 with his family.

His son,EfraimGrinberg, is the chairman and chief executive officer of MovadoGroup, Inc. The North American President of Movado is Alan Chinich.

On February 23, 1999,Movado Group, Inc. completed the sale of Piaget business to VLG North America,Inc., for approximately $30 million.In August 2018, Movado acquiredwatch startupMVMT, which wasfounded in 2013, for more than $100 million.