Halda Watch Company made pocket watches — the market evaporated after WWI

The Halda Watch Company was founded in 1887 by Henning Hammarlund in Svängsta, Sweden. The company primarily produced pocket watches, with the first models sold in 1889. In 1893, Halda won two medals at the World Exhibition in Chicago, establishing its reputation as a quality watchmaker.

The company diversified early, also producing typewriters and taximeters. But pocket watches remained the core of the business. Over its 28 years of watch production, Halda manufactured about 8,000 pocket watches.

After World War I, demand for pocket watches collapsed. Wristwatches were gaining popularity, and the economic disruption of the war had shifted consumer preferences. Halda faced financial problems as its core product category shrank.

In 1917, Halda closed its pocket watch production. The company was split in 1920 into separate entities: AB Halda Fabriker for typewriters, and Fabriks AB Halda taximeter for taximeters. The taximeter company later became Haldex AB, a commercial vehicle brake systems supplier. The pocket watch operations were transferred to an employee, Carl Borgström, who founded AB Urfabriken (ABU). ABU made watches until 1926, then switched to fishing equipment, eventually becoming ABU-Garcia.