Manufacture
small-luxury-world explores the landscape of German watchmaking, questioning its independence from Swiss influence despite the strong Swiss Franc. This article delves into whether German brands can truly stand as alternatives, examining their reliance on Swiss components and machinery while highlighting innovative domestic projects. The author introduces several key players and initiatives that showcase Germany's unique contributions to haute horlogerie.
Two of the well-known player´s belong to Richemont in the case of A. Lange & Söhne and to the Swatch Group in the case of Glashütte Original. Also there is Montblanc which belongs to Richemont as well and is based in Hamburg (Germany), but produces their watches in Switzerland.
Quite a few, to say the least, parts come (still!?) from Switzerland. No matter which German brand we are talking about, quite often they get parts (cases, dials, movements …) from Switzerland. Not to speak about machines like e.g. CNC machines (today a must even for smaller watch companies - more or less) which are coming quite often from Switzerland as well.
Nonetheless there are some interesting activities/projects going on, in Germany and I will try to introduce a few of them - briefly. There is (best to my knowledge) one very important producer of CNC machines and he delivers to at least one brand of each of the big watch groups, some very well-known independent companies and yes most of them are based in Switzerland. The name of the company is Lehmann and later we will see they can do even more than machines.
Let´s have a look on a few examples from Germany …
in every single sense of the word and this even, includes their own Swing System since last year. A little bird told me they also use Lehmann machines from Germany. (Nomos; Swing System) A few watch examples from Nomos and most if not all will have the new parts inside – at least in the long run. Ahoi Atlantik Tangente Power Reserve Metro For some people (even in the industry and from Switzerland) Nomos offers one of the best values for money, today.
In a former post I and Magnus already talked about UWD and it is impressive what they are already able to do today and what they have in mind for the future. The last time we have visited them, we saw prototypes and finishing like this … Just one (movement) example for now, but still I think it is very promising and I liked a lot what I saw and heard about future projects. Parts made (in-house) in Saxony… Their machines are mainly from Switzerland, but the skills needed and the craftsmanship is
Still let me share some pictures of the EZM 13, the latest iteration of the famous EZM watches. Sinn was always well-known for good value for money. Is this still true? It´s up to you to judge.
To introduce the brand and what makes them special I would like to quote one sentence from their homepage: “ When your KUDOKE is finished you will find out what the word UNIQUENESS means. ” Marketing “bla bla” only? No. A few pictures taken by me: Skeletonizing, finishing, engraving, making hands by hand … that is daily business for Stefan Kudoke and his small team. The Mysticum is probably my favorite watch from Kudoke: If you are in the market for something special/unique, which is still relat
which offers also watches for quite some time. Now they are/will be (not sure about the latest developments) the first ones with a movement from UWD and a case by Leinfelder made in Munich. So far I haven´t seen a final product for the market, but this might change in Basel …
Those show some unique design details and technical features. From what I heard, Vianney Halter helped them to develop their own movement(s). On the other side they (CNC Lehmann) helped well-known Swiss brands to develop some of their latest (highly challenging) projects … The watches look kind of classic on the first view, but if you go in detail there is more … and you can start with the crown or the rotor of the automatic movement ; top: 1883px; left: 18px;">
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