Luxury German Watch Brands, Beyond Swiss Manufacturing - Custom Quartz Watches

German watch brands have carved out a significant niche for themselves in the haute horlogerie market. Obviously, when we think of a Swiss Watch Factory of mechanical watchmaking movements, we think of Switzerland, and the fact is that the Swiss country is home to what are still today the best manufacturers in the world, however, in Germany some brands have flourished for decades that have been become a reference.

Germany is currently the fifth largest watch exporting country, behind China, France, Hong Kong and Switzerland. We analyze the main German watch references in this post.

German watchmaking through the centuries

The history of German watchmaking officially begins in the year 1767, at this time, Makgraf Karl Friedrich von Baden elaborates a specific decree for the city of Pforzheim and its incipient watchmaking industry. This city is in the southwest of the country, close to the border with Switzerland.

In this decree the rudiments of watchmaking of the time were explained, and it was a question of drawing up a list with standardization advice for the manufacture of watches.

Over time, the watch industry in Germany moved east to the city of Glashütte in Saxony. Today most of the great German watchmakers are located in this small town.

Like the rest of the German industries, watchmaking had its ups and downs throughout the last century, due to the two World Wars, however, today both Pforzheim and Glashütte continue to be world references in the taste for artisanal watchmaking.

What are the best German watch brands

It is really difficult to determine which are the best German watch brands, because the Germanic country offers a wide range of brands and parts. In any case, those that today are a reference in the luxury watchmaking sector are the following.

A Lange & Söhne

It is one of the first watchmaking Watches Manufacturers, and one of the few that still stands after more than 150 years of activity. A. Langue & Söhne was born in Glashütte in 1845 and since then they have based all their activity on artisanal manufactures.

Adolph Lange had learned to work in watch mechanics in Austria, he opened his workshop in Saxony with 15 apprentices, his main contribution to the world of world watchmaking was the work processes, which allowed him to streamline his production .

Nowadays, to speak of Lange & Shöne is to speak of classicism, of an exquisite taste for design and mechanical details. The most famous models of the brand are the perpetual calendars in yellow gold crown, for example the Datograph model, a true work of art within the reach of very few manufactures in the world.