German made

The German watch industry is mainly concentrated in the eastern part of Germany, in a town called Glashütte (sometimes written as Glashuette). The label “German made” or “Made in Germany” does not have the same strict rules as the ‘Swiss made’ label. However, it can be a good indication of the quality of a watch.

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When Germany was divided into two parts after World War II, the watch companies in Glashütte were expropriated by East Germany’s communist government. They merged the companies into a state-owned kombinat, continuing to manufacture mechanical watches and marine chronometers.

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Later, in the 1980s, they only produced cheap quartz watches. After the fall of the German Wall the industry, with about 2,500 workers, dropped. During the years of unification with West Germany, it slowly developed into a new and healthy industry producing about 32,000 high-end watches a year (2016).

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German watchmakers who are based in the western part of Germany never faced a communist government and related ‘challenges’. Some of them even bear the Swiss-made label, like Montblanc, as they produce their watches in Switzerland.

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The most well-known German brands are A. Lange & Söhne, Moritz Grossmann, Glashütte Original and Nomos Glashütte.

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German made watches