Feature: The best watch brand from each country
Shut your eyes, stick a pin in a map of the world and there’s a decent chance it’ll land on a country with some kind of watch industry—be it large factories churning out cheap quartz models or a gaggle of one-man artisans with a lathe in their garage. Yet just a handful of countries are home to multiple mechanical luxury watch brands with a truly global presence. We’ve chosen what we consider to be the best brand from each of these countries.
Switzerland – Rolex
Switzerland has spawned more luxury watch brands than there are components in a minute repeater. Yet despite ferocious competition, Rolex is still the country’s perennial ace in the pack. While its watches may not have the detail, finishing and even prestige of some of its rivals, it’s the brand that’s most synonymous across the world with luxury watches and claims over 30 per cent of the market share, with annual sales of around $10 billion.
Rolex is still Switzerland's most visible luxury watch brand and arguably its best
Buying top models like the GMT-Master II, Daytona and Day-Date still requires joining a waiting list, and certain vintage Rolex watches are still among the biggest hitters at auction, along with Patek Philippe. Just don’t remind the Swiss that Rolex began life in London’s Hatton Garden.
Germany – A.Lange & Sohne
Germany, Switzerland’s next-door neighbour and watchmaking rival, is home to some remarkable brands, old and new. Glashütte in the eastern state of Saxony is the spiritual home of Teutonic timepieces, and it’s where you’ll find the incredible A.Lange & Söhne, which has spearheaded the near-miraculous revival of traditional watchmaking in this picturesque town.
A.Lange & Söhne leads the way in high-end German watchmaking
Relaunched in 1990 after several dormant decades—having been nationalised and assimilated into a larger company after Soviet occupation in 1948 —it’s now known for an aesthetic characterised by asymmetric dial designs and intricately engraved movements, made in the finest materials. “Lange” is indisputably one of the world’s greatest watch brands and gets most collectors salivating with admiration.
Japan – Grand Seiko
Originally part of the Seiko group, Grand Seiko unveiled its first watches in 1960, and although they were enjoyed in its native Japan for decades, it wasn’t until 2010 that the watchmaker began distributing them elsewhere. Finally, the whole world could enjoy the exceptional craftmanship behind every Grand Seiko watch.
Grand Seiko is now a global force when it was once sold only in Japan
Highlights from its line-up include the Inspired by Nature series, a selection of watches that resemble the landscapes surrounding the watchmaker’s manufactures in Iwate and Shinshu, as well as the Masterpiece Collection, home to the incredible Kodo Constant-force Tourbillon. Its movements, including the hybrid Spring Drive, mechanical Hi-Beat and quartz movements have all amassed acclaim. Considering Grand Seiko’s name is from the Japanese word for precision (seikosha), we’d expect nothing less.
France – Yema
If you’re a regular hunter of affordable vintage dive watches, you might be au fait with the French brand Yema. Founded in 1948, the brand was exporting 400,000 watches worldwide by the mid-1960s, making it France’s leading watch seller. Back in French hands since 2009 after a couple of decades under the Japanese Seiko group, Yema has been ticking all the right boxes in recent years, coming up with some great designs and even unveiling its first in-house movement in 2023.
France's best-known brand is Yema, whose contemporary range is better than ever
France may lose some of its biggest watchmaking talent to Switzerland—Francois-Paul Journe and Richard Mille, founders of their eponymous brands, are French born— but Yema is flying the Tricolore for its country and doing a fine job with its current range, which caters to every taste.
USA – RGM
Watchmaking owes a lot to the USA. In the mid 19th century it was a boom industry and a pioneer in mechanized watch production, providing the Swiss with a blueprint on scaling-up. These days, although lacking the infrastructure of Switzerland, the US boasts a range of watchmakers, from small independents to the likes of Shinola in Detroit, who in 2012 opened the first new watch factory in the country for half a century. But our vote for best US watch brand goes to RGM, founded by Roland Murphy in 1992.
RGM leads the way among the new generation of US watchmakers
Murphy paid his dues in Switzerland before returning home to set up his own brand, which has depended mostly on Swiss movements and those from old pocket watches made by Hamilton, back when the brand was still American. That said, Murphy’s Caliber 801 was the first high-grade mechanical movement made in series in the US since Hamilton became Swiss in 1969. It was a milestone for 21st century watchmaking in the US.
UK – Christopher Ward
Twenty-five years ago, the UK wouldn’t have made this list. The watch industry in the land that brought us such watchmaking greats as Thomas Mudge, John Arnold and the co-founder of Rolex, Alfred Davies, was in the horological doldrums. Besides the genius of George Daniels squirrelled away on the Isle of Man, there was little to brag about. Thankfully the UK now has something approaching an industry, but it’s still heavily reliant on other countries for parts.
Christopher Ward's Bel Canto has been a spectacular success
Christopher Ward has been transparent from the beginning about the fact that it relies on Swiss movements, yet that hasn’t stopped it gaining a clutch of well-deserved awards in recent years. With attractive designs, affordable prices and a few surprises—its Bel Canto chiming hour watch was an instant winner—Christopher Ward is currently the most talked-about British brand and it’s making promising inroads into the huge US market.
China – Atelier Wen
Remember when the words “Chinese” and “watches” would usually appear in the same sentence as “fake”? While fake watches are still being made in China, it’s now home to a number of brands who have been forcing people to rethink the stereotype. Atelier Wen has been the stand-out name in China for the past few years and is on a mission to elevate the global perception of craftsmanship in the country.
Atelier Wen is helping to dispel the stereotypes around Chinese watchmaking
The brand was actually founded by two French nationals—both with strong attachments to China—who were irritated by their European friends’ dismissive attitude towards Chinese horology. They responded by founding their own Hong Kong-based brand, and with models like the Perception—a stunning yet affordable take on the integrated sport-luxe genre—it’s made the world sit up and take note.
