120 YEARS OF HISTORY

Constantino Cottet, manufacturer of glasses at the family-run company Fabrique d’Horlogerie & de Lunetterie Jules, was born in the city of Morez (France) and moved to Barcelona for the Universal Exposition in 1888. What started as a way to spread the word about the optical production of Cottet Frères became love at first sight when he reached the city. So he decided to open a shop in Barcelona and it quickly grew into an institution.

1902

Founded in 1902 by Constantino Cottet, the original location on Portal de l’Àngel in Barcelona was the company headquarters and its most emblematic shop. It was the largest optical shop in Europe, with 2,000 metres of floor space.

In truth, Cottet was much more than just a shop, given its great dynamism, importing products that were unprecedented in the optical sector and offering precision devices like binoculars and telescopes, and in the early years even some items for a new art form that found great followers in Catalonia: photography.

1930

Constantino Cottet died in 1915 and his three sons had to take over the company. A few years later, the youngest, Renato, moved to Madrid because the dry air of the Meseta was better for his asthma. In 1930, he opened an establishment at Calle Príncipe 15 while the other two brothers relaunched the brand in Catalonia.

In 1937, because of the Civil War, all three Cottet brothers moved to Seville and started up a small company called Industria Nacional de Óptica, which would become Indo.

1950

Cottet saw a boom in the fifties and sixties, partially due to the increased quality of life in the country, and the brand incorporated fashion into its offering in response to the interest in glasses from big-name designers, led by Christian Dior, who started to create their own models, some of which were frankly quite daring.

Our customers came from all over Catalonia to the Portal de l’Àngel shop, which became the benchmark optometry centre. It was so deeply rooted in the local community that it was known popularly as “Can Cottet”.

1956

In 1956, a huge thermometer was inaugurated on the outside of the Cottet building, owned by the family. The thermometer was (and still is) five storeys tall with a 570-metre neon structure, weighing 2,000 kilos. The thermometer became a symbol of the city among residents, recognised by the Barcelona City Council in naming it a social monument.

1995

In 1995, Cottet implemented a new business concept, imported from the US, with shops specialising in sunglasses. So, at Barcelona’s Maremagnum shopping centre, a new business line was born: Cottet Sol.

2002

In 2002, the brand celebrated its 100th anniversary, with the promise of a hundred more.

2018

The fourth generation takes over at the helm, with Javier Cottet as president and Álex Cottet as vice-president. They have worked to professionalise and modernise the brand in order to improve management through innovation and technology, maintaining and improving on the company’s most salient aspects: professionalism, quality products and services, customer service and post-sales service, plus a unique, exclusive product range.

2021

The fourth generation has brought fresh air to the company, with a new brand concept based on more modern, technological shops, to give customers a unique experience through continuous interaction with their environment. Always with customers in mind.