Günaydın,
Clk'nın belirttiği gibi Simon Steinhart döneminde Günther designer olarak firmada bulunuyordu, daha sonra Günther firmayı satın aldıktan kısa bir süre sonra firmaların ortaklık durumu değişti. Biraz daha detay vermek gerekirse önceki yıllarda Steinhart Timepieces markasının Amerika Birleşik Devletlerinde satışı Steinhart US olarak yapılıyordu fakat başka bir firmanın aynı isimde US marka tescil hakkına sahip olması nedeni ile Debaufre olarak satılmaya başlandı.
O dönemlerde outsourcing firma olarak Steinhart Grovana ile çalışıyordu ve Amerika için üretilen modeller Debaufre markalı olarak yapılıyordu. Bir süre bu şekilde devam eden ortaklık daha sonra yolların ayrılması ile son buldu. Geçen yıldan beri her iki markanın modelleri ayrı ayrı yerlerde üretiliyor, Steinhart artık Grovana ile çalışmıyor ve yaklaşık 2 senedir Steinhart Timepieces ile Debaufre markaları tamamen ayrı ticari firmalar.
Steinhart & Debaufre used to be closely associated & therefor sold many of the same watches. Infact Debaufre was known as Steinhart US but due to issues with another company with a similar name the decision was made to circumvent impending legal issues & change the name to Debaufre. However, not long after that is was decided the two would cease their association. It should be noted that all watch designs where by Steinhart.
It is no longer the case that all models are the same. Debs Nav.B line, a Steinhart design has been discontinued early in 2009 for example & will not be re-issued. A few models similar to Steinharts are no longer being made & once they are all sold out at Debaufre will not be re-issed by them. The watches are not manufactured at the same location any longer.
Steinhart has moved ahead & is continuing to introduce great watches now & in the future. Their popularity has skyrocketed quite literally, the same cannot be said for Debaufre since they split a few years ago.
If you do a search there has been alot written about the former association between Steinhart & Deb. As a quick catch up for you, they used to be associated until it was decided to terminate the arrangement a couple of yrs ago. In a nutshell, Steinhart designed all the watches in both the Steinhart & Deb collections & this is where you see the crossover in some models between the two brands. This however has ceased & Steinhart is no longer designing watches for Debaufre