Morten Linde and Jorn Werdelin, two Danes, founded the watch and instrument company Linde Werdelin. The concept originated from a skiing mishap in 1996 when avid off-piste skier and mountaineer Jorn Werdelin got caught off guard during a spell of bad weather, skied off a cliff, and broke his back. He and Morten Linde collaborated on the concept in 2002: a luxury sportswatch that could be coupled with a digital instrument to give information for diving or skiing when needed. The first Linde Werdelin watch collection hit the market in 2006 after five years of research and development around the concept of the "watch-plus-instrument." The only luxury watch manufacturer making digital diving and skiing instruments is Linde Werdelin.