Maurice Lacroix was founded in 1975 as part of Desco von Schulthess of Zurich, which dates back to 1889. In 1961, Desco acquired an assembly facility in Saignelégier where it produced private label watches for third parties. However, by 1980, Maurice Lacroix was successful enough for the Saignelégier facility to cease producing third party watches in order to focus on the brand. In 1989, the casemaker Queloz S.A. was acquired, and Maurice Lacroix soon became very well known for its Masterpiece line. With the launch of the fully in-house hand wound caliber ML106 in 2006, Maurice Lacroix was elevated to manufacture status. In 2011, the brand unveiled its first in-house automatic movement.