For the best wristwatches, you need to look beyond Switzerland to German and Japanese brands

Mint

19-07-2025

In my last column, I had written about the importance of the Junghans Max Bill wristwatch and its ties with one of the most important design movements of the 20th century—Bauhaus design. Writing it got me thinking about the diversity of world-class watchmaking outside Switzerland, specifically in Germany and Japan.
When we think of watchmaking, we (rightly) immediately think of the Swiss. That is historically fair, since Geneva has been a hub of the manufacture of timepieces since the 16th century, including the establishment of a watchmaking guild in 1601. The industry became even bigger with the Industrial Revolution.
However, in this, the Swiss weren't alone. Since the 16th century, at various points, watchmaking has flourished in Germany, France, England and the US. Whether it is Nuremberg in Germany in the early 16th century, or Blois in Renaissance-era France, the art of watchmaking has had many founding centres.
England made significant strides in the 18th and 19th centuries in precision timekeeping, and the US experienced a watch manufacturing boom in the mid-19th century, with new industrial processes posing a serious competition to Swiss manufacture for a while. And then there is Japan, where some of the best watches in the world are made these days.
For watch lovers, Japanese high-end watchmaking, particularly that of the country's two powerhouses, Seiko and Citizen, has always been more about purpose than flex.
Seiko has been making watches since 1892, and since the 1960s, it has been at the forefront of some of the most meaningful innovations and changes in global watchmaking. From the everyday Seiko 5 line of budget automatics to legendary dive watches like the Turtle and the Willard, Seiko filled every niche. It then beat the Swiss at their own game by releasing the world's first quartz watch in 1969, the Astron, causing the 'Quartz Crisis", where mechanical watchmakers either had to innovate or perish.
Meanwhile, the brand continues to offer mechanical pieces that punch far above their price point. Seiko's crown jewel has been Grand Seiko, which began life in 1960 as the manufacture's attempt to make high-end wristwatches. It is perhaps the most precise articulation of the Japanese approach to craftsmanship. Created to rival the very best Swiss chronometers, Grand Seiko watches are not really about flash, but embody the Japanese principle of monozukuri—making things with a deep sense of pride and precision.
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Grand Seiko movements—whether mechanical, quartz or the uniquely hybrid Spring Drive—are built entirely in-house, often by individual watchmakers. A Grand Seiko always tells a unique story, and in the narrative-driven world of wristwatches, that is no mean feat.
Meanwhile Citizen, which has been making watches since 1924, took quartz movements and spun out excellent watches—from legendary quartz divers to the class-leading solar quartz watches using the Eco-Drive technology. But this isn't all that Citizen does; it also creates the widely used Miyota automatic movements. Moreover, its high-end quartz watches are ridiculously accurate. The Chronomaster is accurate to within five seconds a year, while the Caliber 0100 is accurate to within one second per year!
I started this column talking about the Junghans Max Bill. Well, Junghans is a storied old German watchmaker which began making timepieces back in 1861. In 1903, it had the largest watch factory in the world, and even till the 1950s, it ranked only behind Rolex and Omega when it came to manufacturing high-accuracy chronometer movements.
But these days, when it comes to high-end German watches, you have to look to the secluded Saxon town of Glashütte, where you'll find some of the most lionised watch manufactures outside of Switzerland: A. Lange & Söhne and Nomos Glashütte.
A. Lange & Söhne makes watches that are spoken of in the same breath as Audemars Piguet or Patek Philippe. The company's history dates back to 1845, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange set up shop in Glashütte to bring precision timekeeping to the Kingdom of Saxony. The company was nationalised after World War II and disappeared behind the Iron Curtain, only to be spectacularly reborn in 1994 after German reunification. It has since become one of the most respected names in global haute horlogerie.
Lange watches are unapologetically German: sober, precise, almost architectural in their beauty. Think of the Lange 1 with its off-centre dial and outsized date window—an instant classic when it debuted, and still one of the most distinctive watches in the world. Or the Datograph, widely regarded as one of the finest chronographs in production. Every Lange movement is built, then dismantled, then built again—a double assembly process that ensures perfection. And their hand-engraved balance cocks, unique to each watch, are like signatures whispered rather than shouted.
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At the other end of the Glashütte spectrum is Nomos. Where Lange is baroque precision and gravitas, Nomos is Bauhaus minimalism and youthfulness. Founded in 1990, Nomos is a modern brand with old-school ideals: in-house calibres, precise engineering, and clean, thoughtful design. Nomos watches like the Tangente or the Neomatik don't try to dazzle—they sit on the wrist like well-cut clothing. And beneath that stripped-down aesthetic lies serious horological ambition. Nomos designs and manufactures its own escapement—the 'Swing System"—a feat few watchmakers in the world attempt.
When it comes to Japanese and German watches, these four brands make an incomplete list. Which goes to show that while the Swiss are the leaders in the world of watchmaking, they are certainly not alone in making the best watches in the world.
Handwound is a monthly column on watches and watchmaking.