Gerard (jlux) shares his deep appreciation for German watchmaking, a passion cultivated through personal connection and professional experience in Germany. His extensive collection, showcased in this article, highlights the distinctive solidity, design language, and meticulous craftsmanship that define German timepieces. This feature explores how Gerard's diverse collection, from high horology to artisanal brands, exemplifies the unique appeal of watches from Germany.
There is no denying,I have a soft spot for German watches : the solidity,the design language and the seriousness of the products !
On top,Germany is my neighbour country,I worked a few years over there and I speak the language !!
Over time,quite a few German watches made their way into my collection : from precious metal high horology to small artisanal brands and very affordable (but well made) pieces.
Let's have a closer look :
A German watch collection without a historical inspired Flieger : unthinkable!
Torn between Stowa and Laco I finally went with the latter because of the full customization possibilities that Laco offers for the Flieger Pro series.
Still thinking about adding a Stowa Marine watch.
Real high horology of course with Lange.
I purchased these 2 pieces when Lange was still widely available : nowadays I feel that Lange is too much Richemont !
The other big name from Glashütte is of course Glashütte Original.
I had the possibility to visit them a few years ago and was positively surprised by the very high integration of the manufacture which puts many other brands into shame.
Quite a few excellent small artisanal brands are located in Germany : Dornblüth,Hentschel,Kudoke ...and Benzinger.
I fell in love with the incredible artisanal qualities from Jochen Benzinger's watches whom I also could visit a while ago .
The skeleton pieces may not be for everyone but I love them : all done by hand,no CNC machines !!
Of course Jochen Benzinger also does more traditional watches which celebrate the art of hand-cut guilloche.
Another small not widely known artisanal brand is Tourby located near Dortmund.
They work mainly with highly reworked and refined Unitas movements : top quality for a very fair price !!
One of my favorite brands is Nomos : the design language and their use of colours just speak to me.
Currently having three in my collection with a few others that left for family members.
Hanhart : the masters of chronographs ...with a real heritage !!
And my favorite tool diver from Sinn.
Also ,at more affordable price levels,astonishing quality can be found as with this Mühle Glashütte watch
I am still planning for a few more German watches : one day,given the right opportunity I would like to add a watch from Moritz Grossmann.
And,as soon as my AD receives the newly released Nomos Campus Worldtimer, I want to have a look !
Any other German watches out there ?
Best,
Gerard
