If you ask to unpick a list of Swiss watch brands. It’s very easy to call some British these days and perhaps throw them into some Italians and some French. But it’s a bit harder to come up with American watch brands. The names don’t go straight away from the language; which is a shame as the USA gave Swiss a run for the money in the late 1800s when the manufacture of precise and accurate timepieces was concerned.
The American watchmaking industry was so advanced that; in the late 1970s, there was a Swiss engineer called Jacques David. He was sent to America to conduct industrial spies in the Waltham and Elgin factories. The study was labeled “secret” and buried, but was not taken into consideration by the Swiss and it started mass production. The failings of the Swiss watch industry were so devious.
Despite the mojo from Switzerland, US brands continued to dominate the domestic market before the WWII devastation. When the US went into war, factory equipment was used to produce shells, military clocks, and instruments of precision.
Recently though, the brands that manufacture watches in the US have revived, leading them on their roads to bring life back to a dormant industry for over thirty years.
The Best American Watch Brands
Hamilton
Yeah, it belongs to Swatch, “Swiss made” on the dial. All its watches have been made in Bienne since 1969. Hamilton’s DNA is basically American. He was born in Pennsylvania and known as the only U.S. watch brand to survive second world warfare because of the high quality of its escapements.
In 1957, Bob Dylan was pre-empted and electrically transported, producing the first watch of this kind, whose move was used in Elvis Presley’s Ventura at Blue Hawaii. Despite its obvious Swissness, this is certainly a brand with a 100% American heart, if not the beat.
Bulova
The Company is most renowned for its tuning fork technology. Founded in 1875 by Joseph Bulova who emigrated from Bohemia, an Austro-Hungarian empire in Europe. Crafted by Max Hetzel, thanks to its senselessness to temperature changes and purity of the sound, assumed that a tuning fork with a resonance frequency of several hundred hertz would keep time better than mechanical and electrical options at the time. This groundbreaking technology was disclosed in the Accutron at the end of the 1960s. It was an integrated portion of America’s space policy – Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong still had to place one on the Sea of Tranquility. The moves are Swiss, Japanese, or Hong Kong, and in Switzerland or Asia, the watches are mounted. Despite the acquisition by Citizen in 2008, however, Bulova still has its head office in the city of New York.
Shinola
Shinola, the Fossil Group founding company Tom Kartsotis and names it after the late Polish shoe brand, is very controversial. There’s plenty of controversy around Shinola. He was accused of dealing with fake America and of capitalizing on the comeback story in Detroit when he built his plant, even though he brought a job. The Federal Trade Commission forced it to discontinue its use of the slogan ‘Where American Made’ due to the use of the Swiss Ronda movements and overseas producers in a caddy, hand, cases, crystals, and buckles. However, amid all that, the first mechanical watch was still powerful and released in 2017.
It seems as if Oscar Wilde was right to speak about it better than not.
Vortic
Set up by friends RT Custer and Wolfe as yet, Vortic blends 3D printing technology with the movements of old American pocket watches to make some very cool vintage-style watches.
Fresh leases for life for printed titanium are issued for old Elgin dials, discarded hands, and redundant caliber. You can buy ready-made, build your own fun, or even have your own pocket watch transformed into an original vortex. This brand is just as American, as everything is manufactured in the US at the Fort Collins brand in Colorado.
Martenero
This New York-based watch company was launched in 2014 thanks to its stunning designs and very simple wallet rates. The Japanese Miyota movements and components are made by John Tarantino who has left a career in real estate to transform his watch designer. The final assemblage and testing are all carried out in New York City.
With the SeedInvest platform that offers crowd financing, people can invest in start-ups and own real equity shares, the brand is boosting. The aesthetics are minimal with design twists that differentiate the models, while the customer can select dial colors to add a touch of individuality. In a world of retro releases and sometimes interchangeable designs it is certainly something new.
Timex
Thomas Olsen, a Norwegian owner of the 2nd WW, who bought the company in 1941, decided to build cheap, quick Timex watchmakers. Timex was founded. It was founded. Model 21 had no titles, no finish, no or very precise jewels. It was not repaired and unbelievably successful because it had been sold by pharmacies, cigarette companies, and discounters.
Since then Timex has become an extensive conglomerate of European, American, and Asian operations. Further East and Switzerland may have moved to produce, but both Germany and the US are focused on technology developed. It has a reputation for producing trendy timepieces at fair prices. But they’re still precise today…
Autodromo
This Brand in Brooklyn is for you if you want car watches. Frustrated with nothing other than costly chronographs and gimmicky fiber-carbon prototypes, Bradley Price wanted to make his very own horn from the 1960s and 1970s based on gauges. The effect is something subtly car-oriented instead of the whole fuel.
Just one model is released each year in limited numbers because of its attention to detail. They are fuelled by quartz, which helps to hold prices to a high level of £1000 (unless you opt for the Monoposto, which is just over, and automatic).