Acquisitions are rarely a surprise in this day and age, and especially in this industry, but wed be lying if we said we werent at least a bit surprised to learn that the majority stake of Glycine Watch S.A. has just been sold to the Invicta Watch Group. As pioneers in world-timing aviation watches, Glycine brings over a century of quirky, independent?watchmaking to the Invicta name, which itself was also a longstanding family-operated Swiss brand until later purchased in 1991 by a United States-based investment firm.Speaking to both the past and present, Glycines most significant entry to watchmaking has long been the Airman-a 24-hour tool watch that soared to popularity amongst commercial and military pilots in the fifties and sixties due to its rugged build quality and ability to track multiple time zones with its unique locking bi-directional 24-hour bezel. Little has changed, even in later iterations of the Airman, which are still available with the same bezel and in the original purist 24-hour form preferred by pilots. The brands contributions to horology werent limited to design, but they were largely reserved for the Airman platform, whose earliest iterations were fitted with the Felsa Bidynator-the worlds first automatic movement built around a bi-directional winding rotor. Glycine was also one of the first three companies capable of manufacturing automatic watches on a mass scale-a distinction shared with Harwood and Autorist. Vintage Glycine Airman (Photograph by Eddie Boschma in the book Glycine Airman by Andre Stikkers)Glycine was widely reported to be majority family-controlled since its conception in 1914, but the brand was actually quietly scooped up in 2014 by market expansion group DKSH, with the aim of broadening Glycines reach in Asian territories. So while the story hasnt been met with universal enthusiasm by diehard Glycine fans, it overlooks the fact that Glycine also hasnt been privately held for some time-and the portfolio changing hands is business as usual when it comes to the watch industry. However, Invictas less-than-sterling track record in certain segments of the watch community makes this a trepidatious alignment for longtime Glycine fans.Some current Invicta watchesIn fact, Invictas initial excitement over the announcement was met with a chilly reception on social media from Glycine fans-so much so, that Invictas Facebook and Instagram posts were quickly removed, perhaps indicating a level of sensitivity to feedback from Glycines existing base of fans and vintage collectors. However, Invictas CEO Eyal Lalo has assured fans that he has no intention of disrupting the quality and long history that made Glycine the respected brand that it is today. He went on to say we will support Glycine while maintaining its independence and rich Swiss heritage, but how that pertains to positioning, design, or distribution remains entirely to be seen.Glycine will stay Glycine, says Glycine CEO Stephen Lack. There are absolutely no intentions to have a mixture of the two brands. Glycine will stay a Swiss brand producing mainly automatic Swiss watches at a very attractive price point, he continued, insisting that since the two brands do not share target markets, theres no reason that their marketing or pricing strategies would be shared.?The watch world is no stranger to strategic mergers and acquisitions-hell, some of the industrys greatest success stories stemmed from an acquisition that brought with it all the resources and fresh perspective that only a healthy partnership could provide. Lack fully understands that survival in this industry?has always required, and will continue to require a?dynamic,?modernized brand-a belief reinforced by this partnership. Modern Glycine Airman Base 22 watchesIts obviously far too early to report on Citizens recent acquisition of Frederique-Constant, but for Glycine fans still not convinced, bear in mind that Citizen has already done an admirable?job reinvigorating Bulova-especially if the return of the excellent?Moon Watch is any indicator. And when you survey the watch industry as a whole, youll quickly notice that many of our favorite brands are already amongst the holdings of conglomerates like LVMH (Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer, Zenith), Swatch (Breguet, Blancpain, Glashutte Original, Omega), and Richmont (A. Lange Sohne, Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai) whose portfolios are broad enough to compete with even each other in select markets.The next few moves for Invicta are important ones-nearly as critical for the coming months for the Glycine camp, where we could see a fresh invigoration of the brand, or a relegation to the could-have-been annuls of pre-takeover watchmaking. Either?way, well be keeping a close eye on this one. glycine-watch.ch [...]