A Chronograph is a watch which includes a function that can act as a stopwatch. That is, it can be used to time how long things take. With a little help, for example using a scale printed on the dial, that time can be translated into other useful measures, such as speed or distance travelled. Mechanical watches often include chronograph functions, known as complications, and they are powered by buttons, or pushers, found on the side of the case. You can often recognise a chronograph by the little “sub-dials” (small circles) on the face of the watch.

For digital and smart watches, the stopwatch functions are often one of many timing functions. Due to the limitations of mechanical stop watches, this function is much more limited than the stopwatches found on digital or smart watches. For electric watches with quartz movements, the chronograph functions are similar to those found in mechanical watches.

There are four types of Chronograph available in mechanical wristwatches (and pocket watches)

The first stop watches had one button to start and stop the timer, and then another press would reset the watch.

A stop watch with two buttons has one button which starts the timing mechanism and stop it, and a second button to reset it to zero.

A fly back chronograph is a further development of this, as you can press a reset button and immediately restart the time from zero. The second hand “flys” back to zero instantly and immediately resumes timing.

A final kind of stop watch is called a split-second chronograph, and has two chronograph hands, allowing the user to time two separate events on the same watch.

For mechanical stop watches, most have a counter up to maybe 30 minutes or an hour. Some were produced to time longer events, especially in the sporting world, and these can also record hours elapsed in some cases. One of the famous sports where this was found useful was in motor racing, and motor rally timing. At the other end of sporting use cases, many watch chronographs that use a sub-dial as a minute timer had additional markings in threes, for boxing rounds, or at the 45 minutes mark, for one half of a soccer match.

In the world of digital watches, far more complicated stopwatch functions are possible. These are easily found on many multi-function digital watches, and can often count many different timing periods simultaneously. They may take some time to learn how to use, but they are widely available.

Stopwatches were invented early in the 19th century in order to time Horse Races more precisely. Many stopwatches were integrated into pocket watches, but it wasn’t until 1933 that the Swiss watch company Breitling patented the idea of using two separate buttons. Before then, all stop watches used the same button to control the functions. The flyback mechanism was patented shortly afterwards. The term chronograph comes from the fact that the very first mechanism dripped ink onto a porcelain surface to mark the time, thus using the ancient Greek words Chrono = Time and Graph = writing. This seems an unbelievable piece of equipment today.

Along with indicators of different commonly used time periods, Chronograph dial design can be used by watch companies to provide many other functions.  The dial of a watch has many different aspects, such as the numbers, the brand, smaller sub-dials, and windows for the date etc. Around the outside of the dial there is often a circular scale. Most of the time this just delineates the 60 seconds in a minute of hour. This helps you read the time or seconds of a stopwatch. In some stopwatches the seconds can be subdivided further, allowing for even more precise readings.

If the dial has two tracks around the edge than this is known as a Railroad dial, and if those tracks are divided into sectors, then it is a Sector dial. These dials often make the watch much easier to read.

Other scales are common. These were developed in the 1920s and 1930s, and have different functions:

A Telemeter scale enables you to immediately read the distanced travelled by a moving object, like a car, over 60 seconds.

A Tachymeter determines the average speed of an object over 1000 metres or feet.

Some Tachymeter scales are arranged as spirals from the centre of a dial. This is a particular style of the 1930s and 1940s and allows for a separate Telemeter scale around the outside of the dial.

A Pulsometer dial allows a doctor to read the correct pulse after counting 15 or 30 pulse beats.

These scales have become features on two of the most important Chronographs today: the Rolex Daytona and the Omega Speedmaster both feature a Tachymeter on their Bezel, or outer ring.

As mentioned earlier, chronographs are particularly useful for timing races in different sports. Swiss watch brand Omega has a long history in connection with the Olympic games, and many watch companies sponsor motor or horse racing events. Chronographs were crucial for pilots needing to time periods of flight in the days before flight computers. Divers have found them useful for precisely timing underwater air use. As a result, chronographs are found in Pilots and Dive watch ranges from many brands.

Another interesting area where a special chronograph was used is in Yacht racing, as the movement has to count down to the start of the race. There is a popular sub category of chronographs called Yachting or Regatta chronographs that perform this function.

Chronographs are one of the most popular types of watch. There are many varieties and a huge number of options for the interested buyer. Here at The Watch Collectors’ Club we do not believe there is a best chronograph to own, but are happy to help you learn more about these and many other watches.

What is a Chronograph and how does it work? What is the history of the chronograph?

Despite all the fantastic watches we have covered recently, we haven’t touched on the many beautiful timepieces that come out of a tiny German town with a turbulent history. Glashütte has been a centre for watchmaking since the mid-1800s and the companies and craftsmen based there suffered through an incredibly dramatic 20th century. Since the 1990s there has been a glorious rebirth.

The resurrection of two brands in particular, A. Lange & Sohne and Glashütte Original, now owned by Richemont and The Swatch Group respectively, have powered this small city to global fame. 

Glashütte is a small city in the state of Saxony in the far East of Germany. The area was famous for mining, but when the ore ran out in the early 19th century, poverty increased sharply. In nearby Dresden, a centre of regional trade for centuries, the court watchmaker saw the opportunity to subsidise manufacturing in the hilly region around the village of Glashütte. This man was F. A. Lange, and he believed that recreating the Swiss model of watchmaking could be tried, creating jobs in the process.

Training farmers and underemployed workers to create watch parts, and specialise in individual components to be assembled centrally was key to Swiss success, and this is what was recreated in Saxony. Astonishingly, it worked. F. A. Lange’s vision and dedication in training a whole new workforce saw him end his life a hero in the region.

By the start of the 20th century, the town was producing thousands of watches a year, A. Lange & Sohne and Union were producing very high-end timepieces that included the most complicated functions possible. By focussing on quality, precision, and even inventing new tools to work with, the village had become a city and was rivalling Switzerland in production standards. 

The First World War, the global depression of the 1930s, and the changes in technology during the move from pocket watches to wristwatches hit Glashütte hard. Many of the watchmaking companies changed hands, but production continued. Nothing however could compare to the disruption caused by the Second World War. In an incredibly unfortunate incident, the Soviets heavily bombed the city on the 8th of May 1945, the day before Germany surrendered.

Having moved to watch and instrument production for the war effort, the end of the war saw the town deep in Soviet Union Territory. The establishment of the Republic of East Germany and the imposition of Soviet systems saw much of the remaining equipment moved to Russia and that which remained combined into a national watchmaking company. 

In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. One of the first people to rush back to the area to restart watchmaking was none other than the great-grandson of F. A. Lange, a man called Walter Lange. His vision was to rebuild a high-end watch company from scratch. In 1994 they achieved this by launching four startlingly original new watches all based on designs from the Lange archive. 

That these watches were so good and from a small town with such a complicated past shocked the watch world. Since 1994 Glashütte has gone from strength to strength. Another early returnee was Roland Schwertner, who had family ties in the area. He founded Nomos focussing on simple designs and creating as much as possible themselves. Manufacturing in Glashütte, they’ve created award winning designs since 1992. 

Today many brands operate in Glashütte and the city is a place of pilgrimage for watch lovers and watchmakers. The focus on the high-end of the market has led to incredible technical breakthroughs, and in-house movement development has meant that innovation has flourished despite the town’s small size.

We at The Watch Collectors’ Club do not believe there is a best brand or watch from Glashütte, we enjoy the fact this renaissance of watchmaking has led to such fantastic timepieces. We encourage you to explore these brands when you get the chance. As we covered in our recent series on Microbrands, many corners of the world now produce fantastic watches, and exploring them is what we are here to do. 

Please join us on Thursday 23rd September at 6:30PM BST to discuss Glashütte and other brands at our Virtual Showcase event. Just reply to this email to get the Zoom details. If you liked this introduction, please tell your friends, and please make sure you are following us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

A Short History of Glashütte and the watch companies based there

Glashütte, the home of German Watchmaking

In 1931, one man’s specific need for a new piece of sporting equipment helped invent the largest and most popular category of watches sold today. The combination of a clever client, a talented case engineer, and a brave watch manufacturer led to the creation of a hit right from the start; the world’s first sports watch was the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso.

The rectangular shape, beautifully proportioned case size, and turn over mechanism means it stands out from its round and square peers. This week’s blog post will explore the origin and design of this fantastic timepiece.

Sports watches are one of the most common types of watch. We did a deep dive into the category here, and have talked in depth about Diving watches, Explorer watches and held a virtual showcase earlier this summer. Despite this wide coverage, we never mentioned the sport that led to the creation of the Reverso; the so-called Sport of Kings, the sport of Polo.

Polo is a sport involving two teams of four horse riders competing to use mallets, or sticks, to hit a ball through an 8 metre wide goal at one end of a large field. It has been played for over 2000 years and was seen as an ideal game for horse riding soldiers to play to practice their skills on a horse. 

César de Trey was a Swiss businessman who was also a passionate watch collector. When he heard about this interesting demand from these athletic army officers, he knew where to go for help. Jacques-David LeCoultre was the head of the famous LeCoultre watch movement company, a large and successful Swiss watchmaker founded way back in 1833. He had good relations with Edmund Jaeger, a high-end watchmaker in France. Together they asked engineer and designer Alfred Chauvot to solve this problem. 

The solution was both clever and elegant. Chauvot produced a case that had multiple parts. It meant that the whole watch could be turned over, protecting the glass inside another steel outer case. If anything were to knock the back of the watch it would only hit the steel case back. The rectangular design and simple dials of the first models were a perfect reflection of the Art Deco style that had taken over Paris at that time.

The company soon found it had a hit. Selling at first under the Tavannes and LeCoultre name, the company combined with Jaeger to produce the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso from around 1934 onwards. Its practicality and high-quality movements, or mechanisms, from LeCoultre, made for a very popular watch. 

Fashions change and the watch fell out of style in the 1950s and production ended. The company reintroduced it for ladies in the 1980s and then in 1991 relaunched it for men. Since then they have offered a large variety of designs, made it more water-resistant, and included many fascinating functions, or complications. Today you can buy two different sizes for men and women, and in recent years Jaeger LeCoultre has designed the watch to be seen as a dress watch rather than a sports watch. It has many options and complications, comes with precious metals cases, and the options to engrave or create pictures using enamel on the back of the case. This option is very popular.

2021 is the 90th anniversary of the Reverso. The company has produced a range of special editions to commemorate this milestone, in particular a beautiful red version, and an incredibly complicated version which even manages to have a function that predicts eclipses.

We are big fans of the Reverso, and we love the distinct looks and Jaeger LeCoultre’s ambition to match classic styling with interesting complications all in a rectangular case. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club do not have a favourite dress watch, but love all the interesting options created by brands like Jaeger LeCoultre, who are as innovative and today as they were in 1931.

If you are interested in exploring classic watches from great brands like Jaeger LeCoultre, please join our next virtual Showcase on September 23rd at 06:30pm BST. If you liked this blog post, please tell your friends about it, and make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for more.

A Short Introduction to the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso

The World's First Sports Watch - The Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso

A Short History of the Reverso

Over the last few months, we have highlighted Microbrand watches and explored the world’s largest watch groups and what benefits they bring to watch lovers. We hope you have enjoyed exploring many of the amazing watches these companies produce. This week we bring you a short update on The Watch Collectors’ Club and what we are planning next. 

Here in the UK, the restrictions over social events are coming to an end and we are preparing to return to in-person events. This has always been the core reason the club exists, and we cannot wait to get started.

We are planning to host one in early November, somewhere in central London. It will be a relaxed evening for you to come and explore some fantastic watches, share your watch stories, and learn a little from us as we give a couple of short engaging talks. We will send all the details out via email, but also please keep an eye on our Events page.

We are hosting another Virtual Showcase, on Thursday, September 23rd at 6:30pm, and we encourage you to get involved with a watch from any brand from the large watch companies. This covers a long list of some of the most famous brands in the watch world, and we are really excited to see some of your examples. 

If you have a watch from one of these brands you would like to talk about, please let us know as soon as possible via email or on our social media channels. As usual, it will be a relaxed session where we get to share the stories behind our watches, how we got them, and what we like about them. You can read about some of the watches featured in prior events here and here.

You should notice an uptick in our Social Media activity this month. We will create more informative posts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn based on our blog posts and advertising our events. You should also look out for a new weekly roundup of five awesome articles from around the watch world. They will highlight the most interesting content from magazines, blogs and news outlets that will help make the watch world simple. Expect a wide range of topics, watches and viewpoints, all brought to you by us. You will start to receive this automatically but will be able to opt out if you’d like.

We at The Watch Collectors’ Club are here to educate, entertain and help. We are so excited to be hosting events again and hope you are excited to join in. The more we can help you the better, so please keep sending feedback, ideas, and any issues you have, so we can keep making the club something more people will want to be a part of.

If you have any ideas for events you’d like to come to or want to know more about what we plan to do, please get in touch! If you know anyone who might like to come along, please make sure they follow us either by signing up to our email list or on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Club progress and plans in September 2021

The Watch Collectors' Club Progress September 2021

Club plans and a return to in person events!

An Update on Club Progress September 2021

This is the final blog in a short series on the world’s largest watch groups. We’ve explored the Swiss giants:  Swatch Group and Richemont here, and LVMH here. Last week we explored one of the two Japanese watch making conglomerates, Citizen Watch. This week we will learn about one of the most recognisable and innovative watch makers from Japan – Seiko. 

A Short history of Seiko – What Does Seiko Stand for?

2021 is Seiko’s 140th Anniversary. It was founded in Japan in 1881 by Kintaro Hittori. The word Seiko can be translated as either “exquisite” or “success”. Like many watch makers founded in the 19th century, its story has lots of ups and downs, having survived two world wars and many natural disasters. 

The theme that is constant throughout Seiko’s history is innovation. One of those innovations permanently changed the watch making industry: the release of the Seiko Astron in 1969. This was the world’s first quartz watch. Previously, watches had to be wound up, or relied upon movement to charge a spring. Quartz watches could be powered by batteries. The Astron ran for 1 year, or 250 times longer than most automatic watches. It was also accurate to 5 seconds per month, which was 100 times more accurate than any other watch available at that time. The release of this quartz watch nearly killed the automatic watch market, and is referred to as the quartz crisis. 

Other world’s firsts attributed to Seiko include: the first 6-digit LCD quartz watch and the first multi-functional digital watch, which had a chronograph, a light, and a lap timer. Seiko also released the world’s first TV Watch, voice recording watch and computer watch, which could store telephone numbers and addresses as well as a diary or schedule for up to one month. 

Seiko’s list of achievements is fascinating. If you want to learn more, a great overview of their innovations is available on their website, here. Seiko now make a wide range of automatic, quartz, and solar-powered movements for their watches. 

Like many watch groups, Seiko has multiple brands, producing watches at a very wide range of price points. Seiko’s watches are priced between $49 and $500,000. Some of the brands use the name Seiko but have very distinct brand identities focused on a particular type of watch or market. These include: Astron, Prospex, Presage, 5 Sports, Premier, Coutura and Velatura. Others brands within the group have entirely separate names and brands, and are focused on lower-end watches: Lorus, Pulsar, and Alba. There is also a stand-alone high-end brand, which is called Grand Seiko, and one brand, Credor, is so expensive and exclusive that it doesn’t even have a website. We’ll explore some of our favourites. 

Prospex is Seiko’s diving and explorer watch brand. If you want to learn more about these types of watch, we’ve written a blog, here. Prospex makes watches for both recreational and professional divers and explorers, and has been doing so since 1965, when it released Japan’s first divers watch. Divers watches have to be easy to read, robust, and reliable. Seiko Prospex watches are all of those things. They have either automatic, solar or quartz movements, and range in price from £300 for an entry-level model, all the way up to £5,000 for a professional diving watch. 

The first Seiko 5 Sports watch was released in 1963, and was called the Sportmatic 5. It was the first automatic day-date watch produced by a Japanese company. The number 5 refers to the 5 key attributes that every watch by the brand has: automatic movement, day-date display at the 3 o’clock position, water resistance, recessed crown at 4 o’clock position, and a case and bracelet built for durability. These watches are designed to be worn everywhere, and offer high quality for between £250 and £500. 

The Presage brand makes mechanical watches, priced between £300 and £3,000. This brand combines traditional Japanese aesthetic, with Seiko’s high-quality craftsmanship to make visually attractive dress watches. Many of the watches by this brand have bold coloured dials, with striking finishes. 

Grand Seiko was established in the 1960’s as Seiko’s high-end brand. Every watch has a lion on the caseback – as Grand Seiko want to make “the king of watches”. Prices range from £2,000 to £70,000, and compete directly with the large Swiss luxury brands on quality. Grand Seiko make some high-quality quartz watches, but most of the brand’s watches have either mechanical movements, or a hybrid movement called the spring drive. The spring drive movement is proprietary to Grand Seiko, and is half mechanical, half electric. If you want to find out more, you can here. Grand Seiko make beautiful watches, all of which follow 9 design principles, and we encourage you to find some to try them out.   

The name Credor comes from the French phrase Créte d'Or. This translates as ‘’the ultimate of the gold”. Credor is Seiko’s ultra-high-end brand, and has been making watches by hand since 1974. The watches look either very simple or very complicated, and use very expensive materials, such as platinum. The watches are made by hand using difficult manufacturing techniques, such as enamelling. The watches are made in very small quantities, and are quite difficult to buy – Credor doesn’t have a website, and isn’t even mentioned on the Seiko website. You’ll be lucky to see one of these watches, but if you do, we are sure that you’ll be very impressed. 

At The Watch Collector’s Club, we love exploring the many brands that are available from watchmaking groups around the world. Like our explorations of Swatch, LMVH, Citizen and Richemont, this one has shown that even within a watch group, there is huge variety to suit all tastes and budgets. If you enjoyed this Blog Post, please make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and please send it to any friends who may be interested.

Seiko and Their Brands

A Short Exploration of The World’s Largest Watch Groups - Seiko

This month we have been looking at the world’s largest watch groups, covering the Swiss giants Swatch Group and Richemont here, and LVMH here. While these three groups sell the majority of the world’s high-end timepieces, and own some of the most famous brands, Japan produces both watches at the very high end and for the mass market. The two giants of Seiko and Citizen produce a large range of watches under their own brand, plus an enormous number of moments used by other manufacturers. This week we will focus on Citizen, for many decades the world’s largest watchmaker by volume.

The largest brand the company sells is the Citizen brand. This is a mid-to-low price mass-market brand, although there are sub-brands within it that sell much higher priced watches. While this can be confusing, but the range of models is large and they have worldwide distribution. You can find a watch for all occasions and uses. They cover just about every kind of watch and have a deserved reputation for efficiency and build quality.

Even more remarkably, Citizen can do everything itself. It has built the capacity to produce all the required parts, the electronics for the electrical watches, and the case and bracelet manufacturing. This vertical integration is unusual in the watch world but is common in Japanese watch companies. It also allows the company to sell movements and components in very large volumes. The sales of movements (the bit that makes the watch run), particularly for quartz watches, go to a huge number of different brands all over the world.

Despite being a mass-market manufacturer at scale, Citizen has been a technology pioneer and innovator of the highest order in the watch industry, especially for electronic watches. Their invention and development of the Eco-Drive, an extremely efficient mechanism powered by light, is at the core of their main brand offering and delivers an exceptionally reliable movement at a great price. Their obsession with improving the quartz movement, the workhorse of the watch world, has seen them achieve unrivalled accuracy. 

Since the world of watch collecting is more focused on mechanical movements rather than quartz or electric watches, these achievements are often overlooked. This is a great shame, and we encourage you to explore further if you are interested, especially the story of the Calibre 0100, a movement accurate to 1 second per year.

As well as their own internally developed excellence, all of which is conducted in Japan, the group has acquired a selection of other brands that are famous and notable in their own right. 

The largest is Bulova, a large American watch company that is extremely famous for developing electric watches in the early 20th century. There are decades of interesting watches from both a technical and design perspective to explore in the Bulova back catalogue, and fortunately many have been refreshed for sale today. 

Alpina is another Swiss watch brand that has had a strong following and some famous designs for many decades. Today they specialise in Swiss made timepieces with a sporty heritage, at mid-range price points.

These two brand names are very old, but the companies that have resurrected them are relatively young and have been owned by Citizen since 2013. They specialise in hand-made, complicated wristwatches, with a focus on design and engineering excellence. Arnold & Son watches often contain unusual designs of complicated functions, such as a Perpetual Moonphase, while Angelus focus on interesting Chronographs, or stop watches. They only make and sell a few hundred watches a year, but their technical expertise is admired both within Citizen Group and across the watch industry. Citizen Group has used the design expertise from this organisation to launch a new high-end watch brand in Japan called Campanola.

Miyota is not a watch brand, but a movement manufacturer. From 1986 until recently it was the largest movement manufacturer in the world, and rather wonderfully has a Guinness World Record for the highest number of the same movements manufactured; they produced over 1.7 Billion Calibre 2000 Quartz watch movement in the 1990s! Today they supply a range of mass-market movements to watch companies all over the world. 

The benefits of buying from Citizen Watch Group

Our earlier exploration of Swatch Group, Richemont and LVMH talked about the benefits of integrated watch manufacturing groups able to share technology, expertise, and distribution across their brands. This is true for Citizen, and Citizen is even larger than the other three in terms of watches sold. This means you can get your watch serviced more easily, and simply see many more watches in stores close to you. Their massive manufacturing footprint means they can produce high-quality timepieces at reasonable prices, and their Eco Drive range is a fantastic example of this. At the High end, they are a leader in movement design and innovation, and the industry is better off for it. 

We at The Watch Collector’s Club do not favour particular brands, styles of watch, or watchmaking groups. We love exploring all kinds of watch, understanding how these fantastic timepieces are created, and what makes good value for money. This short exploration of Citizen has shown that there are many fantastic options to explore across the Brands from this large watch group. If you enjoyed this Blog Post, please make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and please send it to any friends who may be interested.

World's Largest Watch Groups Citizen Watch

Citizen Watch and their brands

A Short Exploration of The World's Largest Watch Groups - Citizen Watch

Last week we explored the two largest Swiss watch groups, Swatch and Richemont. You can read that article here. This week we will explore a household name, which is the third-largest Swiss watch group: LVMH. Next week we will finish the series by looking at the two large Japanese groups: Citizen and Seiko. 

LMVH Stands for Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. It is the world’s largest luxury goods company and it is also the third largest Swiss Watch Group. Bernard Arnault, the CEO, is currently the world’s richest man. Arnault took control of LVMH in the 1980’s and during the 1990’s turned it into the first Luxury goods conglomerate by aggressively buying up luxury goods companies from the founding families. This business model was so successful that it was copied by Richemont, the second-largest watch group, and Kering, which owns brands like Gucci, YSL and Balenciaga. LVMH is organised into 75 different “Maisons”, or houses, for its brands. These maisons operate mostly independently from one another, and are organised into the following categories. You will probably recognise some of the brands that they own:

Wines & Spirits – includes: Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Glenmorangie and Cloudy Bay

Fashion & Leather Goods – includes: Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Dior and Marc Jacobs

Perfumes & Cosmetics – includes: Fenty, Aqua di Parma, and Benefit

Selective retailing – includes: Sephora and Bon Marche Rive Gauche

Other activities –includes: luxury hotels and newspapers

Watches & Jewellery – includes: Tiffany & Co, and the watch brands below

LVMH owns 7 brands which make watches. There are four high-end brands: Zenith, Bulgari, Hublot and Louis Vuitton. Tag Heuer is the mid-range offering. Chaumet manufactures high-end jewellery-focused watches, and Dior sells fashion watches. We’ll focus on the first five in this blog.

Tag Heuer is the largest watch brand owned by LVMH. It makes approximately 400,000 watches a year and has a history of being involved with motor racing. You can read more about that here. Tag Heuer watches are priced between $1-10k, with a wide range of designs to suit most tastes. 

Zenith is the oldest watch brand that LVMH owns, being founded in 1865. It is very unusual in that it is one of the few watch companies that still make its own movements. Most brands outsource movement manufacture to a specialist company (such as ETA - owned by Swatch) as it is very expensive to develop in-house movements. Zenith is famous for the El Primero movement, which has a fascinating story. You can read it here. A Zenith was strapped to the wrist of Felix Baumgartner when he became the first human to break the sound barrier. 

Bulgari was founded in Greece in 1884, and did not start making watches properly until 1977, when they released the Bvlgari Bvlgari watch. Bulgari now sell 44,000 watches per year. Bulgari accelerated its watch-making in the early 2000s by acquiring Gerald Genta – the brand controlled by the famous designer of some of the most popular watches available today- the Patek Philippe Nautilus and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Bulgari’s most popular watch is the new Octo range – incredibly thin, comfortable watches with an unusual case shape. The Octo Finissimo Tourbillon was the world’s thinnest automatic watch, thinnest tourbillon, and thinnest automatic tourbillon when it was released in 2018. 

Hublot is LVMH’s youngest watch brand, founded in 1980. Hublot is French for “porthole” – a design feature that is common to many of the brand’s watches. As well as having a recognisable case design, Hublot was the first brand to use natural rubber to make watch straps. Rubber straps are now very common in high-end sports watches. The brand’s watches are often seen on the wrist of sports-stars and has been a key sponsor for football teams such as Manchester United, PSG and Bayern Munich. They have just been announced as the official timekeeper of the Premier League. Former CEO, Jean-Claude Biver, used partnerships with sports clubs to launch the “Big Bang”, which transformed the young brand’s profile. Read on to find out more about this legendary figure of the watch world. 

Louis Vuitton is best known as a leather goods and fashion company. However, it has also been selling watches since 2002. In 2008, it transitioned from making fashion watches to higher-end pieces, by partnering with La Fabrique du Temps, which they acquired in 2011. Their watches are high-quality, often colourful, and always feature unique designs. 

Jean-Claude Biver is a legend in the watch world, and is a key part of the success LVMH’s watch division. Before his involvement in LVMH he: revived Blancpain from the quartz crisis in the 1980’s; and turned Omega into the giant brand it is today, including putting an Omega on the wrist of James Bond. He built Hublot and sold it to LVMH, and has served CEO of Zenith and Tag Heuer. He is one of the most influential people in the watch world, and is incredibly passionate about watch collecting. This video explores some of his collection. 

At The Watch Collectors’ Club we love exploring all aspects of the watch industry, and don’t have a preference for watches made by the big groups, or the small independents. Hopefully this blog will encourage you to find out a little bit more about the brands that you love. If you like this article, please share it with friends, and make sure you follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for more.

Which watch brands do LVMH own? What does LVMH stand for?

Which watch brands do LVMH own?

The third largest Swiss watch group

A Short Exploration Of The World’s Largest Watch Groups – LVMH

We have spent the last few weeks covering Microbrands from around the world, and regularly mention different watch brands and companies. We covered the most famous of them all, Rolex, and looked at why they are so dominant here. Now we will spend some time looking at the very large watch companies from Switzerland and Japan, and explore what they offer to watch lovers today.

All five of these companies are conglomerates, or groups, of different companies, built over the course of decades. They do not include Rolex, a standalone company with only two brands, Rolex and Tudor, that sells around 1 Million watches per year. This week we will look at the two largest watch groups based in Switzerland, to examine some of the interesting benefits that exist because of these business structures.

These five watch companies are the largest watch companies in the world by value of watches sold: 

This is the largest Swiss watch company and currently has 18 brands, 17 parts or assembly companies, and a variety of engineering divisions for timing systems. There is also a large distribution arm, including 2 Multi-brand networks of shops called Tourbillon Boutique and Hour Passion. 

These are all watch brands and together produce over 8 Million watches per year. Longines has the highest production of Swiss luxury brands, selling around 1.4 Million, and Omega produces 600,000 pieces a year. Many of the other brands are substantial players in their price bracket. 

The other important thing to know about Swatch Group is that they own the movement manufacturer ETA. This company was created through the combination of many Swiss manufacturers over the course of the 20th Century. They are now the largest supplier of Swiss movements to hundreds of watch companies, including many of the microbrands we have profiled this summer. 

The Swatch Group is able to share its knowledge between brands. So while the styling and design of each brand are very different, common parts, manufacturing techniques and material development are used between brands. This is especially true for the more expensive watches from the brands such as Omega, Breguet, Harry Winston and Jaquet Droz. For the mid-tier brands such as Longines, Rado, Hamilton and Tissot, there are many shared manufacturing and distribution efficiencies. 

For their customers, Swatch is able to produce high-quality timepieces and distribute them worldwide, giving many people the opportunity to try them on. Their large range also provides interesting options at every price point. The CEO of the Watch Collectors’ Club is currently torn between a new Longines or a new Rado, both at similar price points between £2-3,000. Which do you like best? 

The second-largest Swiss watchmaking group is Richemont, a France based watch and jewellery group. This group was built out of their largest brand, Cartier. Today they own 10 watch brands, all run separately and focussed at the high-end of the market, creating luxury and complicated timepieces. They have no low-end brands or mass-market brands. They sell fewer watches per brand than the Swatch group, with their largest, Cartier, estimated to sell around 500,000 a year, and the next largest IWC follows at around 130,000. This is still a lot of watches but far fewer than Swatch, or even the Rolex group with Rolex and Tudor.

Richemont has a large network of their own boutiques for these brands. As you can see in the image below, they also own multiple online luxury goods sales platforms such as Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter, and The Outnet. These networks allow for worldwide distribution while maintaining control over the brand image and quality. This means that customers are able to see the watches in more places, and use trusted online retailers able to serve them globally. We wrote more about buying a watch online here.

Watchfinder is the world’s largest online second-hand watch seller. Their acquisition in 2018 by Richemont shows that the group as a whole is taking the second-hand market very seriously, which further empowers customers to appreciate and trust the quality of these brands. 

They also sell watches Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, and Montblanc, with Cartier being their largest watch brand overall in terms of production.

At Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, they combine their jewellery making expertise with great innovation, as can be seen in this ladies jewellery watch featuring a mystery dial. This is the name given to a watch where the hand appear to float. If works by rotating two clear sapphire disks from the side: 

Both of these companies offer their customers an impressive offering of high-quality watches across a range of price points with global distribution and a large and accessible servicing network. Their ongoing size and reach allow them to invest in innovation particular to their brands, whether it is in the Master Chronometer certification of Omega, or in the ever more impressive jewellery watches from some of the Richemont brands. Their customers can find them easily, often because they are well represented in airports and holiday locations, especially in Europe and the USA. 

We encourage you to see these brands as having an advantage over many smaller brands in that you are more likely to be able to find them to try on, are more likely to find something you like, and they can carry large ranges. Crucially, you are more likely to be able to get the watch you want, as they will not have waiting lists.

We at The Watch Collectors’ Club do not have a favourite brand or prefer larger brands to smaller ones. We are keen to explore all aspects of the watch industry and help you understand what the differences are and what they might mean for you as a buyer or owner. We hope that understanding a little more about the very largest watch groups will help you find the watches you like most. If you like this article, please share it with friends, and make sure you follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for more.

Introducing The Swatch Group and Richemont

A Short Exploration of the World’s Largest Watch Groups – The Swiss Giants

Our recent series of blog posts has covered a range of microbrand watches from around the globe. Many of these brands are very young – only a few years old. However, one of the brands we have mentioned is 175 years old. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club love learning watch brand history. How they were started, and their journey to get to today. Today we are going to explore the oldest microbrand that we have written about in the past few blogs – Fears. If you want to know even more, the company released a biography this morning, available on their website.

Switzerland is the country that is now most commonly associated with watch-making, but that has not always been the case. The UK has a long history of watch making, in fact, it was responsible for around 50% of Global watch production in the early 1800’s. The largest watch brand founded in the UK is Rolex,  and we wrote about them here. Over two centuries, the size of the industry declined, as manufacturers of automatic watches in Switzerland, and quartz watches in Japan and China grew to dominate the market. Over the last two decades the  UK watch industry has grown in size and variety.

Microbrand watch companies such as Farer, Garrick and anOrdain are relatively young, and making high quality watches, at a variety of price points. Bremont is another young company that is directly competing with the likes of Breitling, Tag Heuer, and Longines. They make luxury watches, influenced by both the British military and British feats of engineering. 

Christopher Ward and CWC are British brands which make watches in high quantities, but for different reasons. Christopher Ward sell a wide range of high- quality, practical watches, with most of the range priced between £500-1000. CWC have supplied watches to the British military and the general public, since 1980. 

Smiths is another famous British watch brand that made watches for the British military during the second world war. One of their watches also went to the top of Everest with Edmund Hillary. Ed wears one of his Grandfather’s Smiths Watches Regularly. You can see this watch in the picture below. Unfortunately, Smiths no-longer makes watches, having switched to manufacturing car and airplane parts in the 1980’s. 

Vertex started making watches in the UK in 1916, and made watches for British soldiers during the first and second world wars. After a period of inactivity, the brand was relaunched in 2016 by the Great Grandson of the founder. You can find out more about Vertex here. 

Fears, the brand we are focusing on today, also faced a period of inactivity, and has recently been relaunched by a relative of the founder.

Fears was founded in Bristol in 1846, by Edwin Fear. Their first workshop and showroom was located on Redcliff Street. The first watch from the relaunched brand was named after the street. Redcliff Street was also home to E.S. & A. Robinson at the same time. Robinson became one of the largest stationary and packing companies in the world. Within 20 years, Fears had expanded to a second location on Bristol Bridge. This was to be the headquarters of the firm until the 1940’s.  

The 1920’s and 1930’s were a pivotal time for not just Fears, but most watch-makers. Rolex invented the first waterproof and dustproof wristwatch, the Oyster, in 1926 which was a key driver in wristwatches becoming more popular than pocket watches. Fears also started making wristwatches around the 1920’s. Fears watches from this period are characterised by striking case shapes, including the cushion case that they use frequently today. 

 Having survived the first world war, and the transition to manufacturing wristwatches, Fears was faced with the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Watch sales fall dramatically during modern recessions, as many people now think of watches as luxury items. However, before the invention of digital clocks, watches were a necessity for most people. The 1930’s saw Fears not only survive, but also thrive. They ended the decade exporting watches to 95 countries around the world. 

Like all good stories, Fears’ history is full of twists and turns. As the world started to recover from the economic turmoil of the 1930’s, Great Britain was dragged into the second world war. All of the Fears buildings were damaged, if not destroyed, during the blitz. The brand survived the second world war, and operated until the mid 1970’s. The 1970’s saw the quartz watch revolution, and was a very difficult time for the mechanical watch industry. You can read more about this period here. Without anyone to continue leading the family business, and in the face of intense competition from Japanese Quartz watch manufacturers, Fears closed its doors.  

Fears was relaunched in 2016 by the Great-Great-Great-Grandson of the founder, Edwin Fears. His name is Nicholas, and you can follow his story as he reinvigorates the brand here. 

To fund the development of a new mechanical watch, Fears launched a range of quartz watches named the Redcliff – a nod to the first Fears workshop and showroom. 

The first mechanical wristwatch that the revitalised company launched was the Brunswick, in 2017. You’ll notice the cushion-shaped case – inspired by one of the first wristwatches that Fears manufactured in the 1920’s. The Brunswick has firmly cemented itself as the core of the Fears range, and is available in a variety of dial colours and case materials. 

The Fears story reflects the ups and downs of watch-making in Great Britain over the past 175 years. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club love both the story of Fears, and the watches that they make. The Watch Collectors’ Club is a place for our members to learn more about the amazing world of watches and the stories of the brands that make them. Now that shops are starting to open up again, we encourage you, when you feel safe, to go and see some of these watches to bring the stories to life. If you are interested in continuing to explore the watch world with us, please make sure you follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

An introduction to modern British Microbrands and a Short History of Fears Watches of Bristol

British Watchmakers - A Short History of Fears Watches

Last night we held a virtual event exploring some of the amazing microbrands that our members own, or would like to own. If you want to learn more about these small manufacturers of interesting watches, we have written a variety of blogs.  You can read about  what Microbrands are here, the different types here, some from large watchmaking nations here, and from unusual locations here.

Hamish, our CEO and Co-Founder, has been tempted to buy some watches from microbrands in the course of writing our blogs over the past month. Last night he showed off the first one that he bought - the Undone x Popeye watch. This watch has quite a few notable features. The case is bronze, with a combination of matte and brushed finishes. This will start to patina, or age, as soon as you take it out of the box.  The crown is on the left hand of the watch – which is quite rare. Instead of traditional watch hands, the time is displayed by Popeye’s arms. A clear case-back allows you to see the automatic movement. This is a visually striking, fun and well-designed watch – which Hamish has been wearing almost constantly since it arrived. To make that arrival even more special, the watch came packaged in a tin of “spinach”, green paper shreds, as a homage to Popeye’s favourite food.

Ed, our Co-Founder talked about a microbrand that he has owned for 5 years – Gorilla. This brand was set up to make hardy watches influenced by the designs of motor racing. This watch is a Fastback – the first model that the brand made. The case is made from carbon fibre, and the bezel is ceramic – both tough materials. The numbers on the dial are inspired by Nascar racing, but he finds the combination of skeleton hands, on a dial with lots of swirls makes it a bit difficult to read the time. However, he wears this watch whenever he is hiking and on holiday, as despite its large size, it is very comfortable to wear. 

Paul, who joined us from the US, shared a very beautiful watch with the group – Kudoke 2 Grüner Wald Sonderedition. Kudoke is a high-end microbrand from Saxony, in Germany, which hand-makes watches in very small limited editions. This watch has a unusual and stunning 24-hour day-night indicator at the 12 o’clock marker. This little hand-hammered globe rotates with the time – with a little golden triangle indicating whether it is day or night. On the picture below you will see the time is 10.10pm, and the little gold arrow is pointing to 22 hours, and the silver night scene is on-top of the sunny gold scene. The green dial represents the Grüner Wald forest that surrounds the Kudoke manfacture. We are excited to start events in person again to see this watch in real life. 

The final part of the call was spent discussing some of the Co-Founders dream microbrand watches. Having spent a lot of time researching Japanese microbrands, Hamish has fallen in love with Minase. This company makes every part of the watch, excluding the movement, by hand. This includes hand-stitching the leather straps! There are some very special features on this watch – including floating indices. This means that the indices that mark the hours are attached to the case, rather than the dial, which they float above. The metal bracelet, case and dial are finished to the standard that you would find on a swiss watch costing 4 or 5 times as much – this watch fantastic value for the money. Hopefully you will see one in his collection before long. 

Ed’s dream watch from a microbrand is a GoS Skadi. Named after the Norsk Goddess of Winter, the dial has a striking ice-blue dial, the back of which is painted with luminescent paint so that the whole dial glows like ice under moonlight. The watch is also covered in Damascus steel – which is folded on itself many times during the forging process. This makes the steel incredibly tough, and results in a rippled effect. You see this steel used in expensive Japanese kitchen knives. Ed thinks the watch is a very unique take on Norsk mythology and watch-making – two of his favourite things. 

The Watch Collectors’ Club aims to make the watch world simple and accessible to our members, and these virtual events are a great way to explore the variety of the watch world. Our events are designed so that members can share their passion, and hopefully learn something interesting. Make sure to keep reading our weekly blog so that you don’t miss out on our next event.  

If you know anyone who might be interested in learning more, or has some great watches to share, please let them know about us. Communities are always better when they have lots of members.

The stories from our watch collectors event, covering microbrands from around the world

Limited Edition Watches From Microbrands

What We Learned

This next instalment in our exploration of Watch Microbrands considers brands from places you might not expect. They are from countries with no historic watchmaking industry, or little fame for fashion, design or jewellery making. We consider brands from Singapore, China, Scandinavia, and even one from Malaysia. The earlier parts of this series of Blog Posts covered what Microbrands are here, the different types here, and some from large watchmaking nations here.

It is fun to research all these brands, and the common challenges they face are brand building and getting people to believe they are a quality proposition. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club encourage you to explore these areas, we remind you to look at online reviews, make sure you understand the taxes and import duties if the watch is coming from overseas, and remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. We wrote a whole post about buying a watch online here.

Singapore has a large number of watch enthusiasts and collectors, many of whom have started their own brands. There is a great variety of microbrands, despite the country having no history of watchmaking at all. Many of these brands sell the majority of their production in the US and Europe, so there are plenty of online reviews and most offer free shipping if you see something you like.

Boldr is a relatively young microbrand that used the Kickstarter crowd funding platform to get going, but now has a large and loyal following. They mainly focus on “rugged” watches, and you can see much of their inspiration comes from famous sports or tool watches of the 20th century. They use Swiss movements and study materials, and their range is well worth exploring. 

This small company focuses on exquisite watch dials first. They hand make these dials using special old fashioned machines, in a process called Engine turning. Each watch is limited to a small batch number, and sell out quickly. They use a Mecha-Quartz movement, which is battery powered but has a mechanical chronograph. These movements are at the high end of quartz-watchmaking. Despite this, the watches are very affordable. This is a great example of a microbrand doing something different, and producing quite beautiful watches because of it.

This series could not miss out on one of the most famous microbrands to explode into the watch world in the last few years. It is based out of Malaysia, a country even less famous for watchmaking or collecting than Singapore. This company shows that successful watch companies can start anywhere.

Designed in Kuala Lumpur but made in Switzerland, this company is a perfect example of what is possible in modern watch-making. The first couple of models were so unique, with simple styling  and radical dial design, that they were massive hits. The company immediately acquired long waiting lists and disappointed customers. There is a whole series of apologies on the website from the founder. However the company manages its future success, its already made quite a splash, and well worth exploring for yourself.

China holds an interesting place in the watch world. It is famous for making a very large number of watch movements, as Japanese companies outsourced component manufacture and movement assembly to the country some time ago for their lower cost models. Also a large number of components used in Swiss watches are made in China. There is a huge watch company called Tianjin Seagull, who make branded models and also movements for other companies. There are some microbrands who focus on very affordable homage watches, inspired by the designs of famous watches in history. In Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region of China, there are many watch collectors and enthusiasts, and some have started microbrands that have been very successful, such as Undone. 

This company was founded by a vintage watch collector in Hong Kong in order to produce made-to-order customisable watches at very affordable prices. Their great success has come from this ability to allow unusual designs, as well as finding create partnerships with brands in other areas, such as animation, super heroes etc, to create limited edition models. They have many limited-edition watches and plenty of variety to explore. 

This Chinese company produces homage dive watches. They offer people very affordable versions o famous dive watches of the past century. Their success comes from their ability to keep the quality standards high at very low prices. Their range covers many famous styles.

Scandinavia is comprised of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and is another area of the world with little tradition of watch manufacturing, but many new and exciting microbrands. While there are many focussing on what people might regard as “Scandinavian Design” styles, with simple lines and interesting complementary colours, there are of course other brands making radical and unusual models, as we have seen so often already in the world of microbrands. 

Nordgreen is a good example of a founder-led and design-led brand selling classic Scandinavian simplicity at affordable prices. Based in Denmark, their multi-strap options offer customers a good deal for very straightforward and versatile timepieces.

Bulbul take this simple design language even further, with some interesting shaped watches, and highly unusual blank dials. They are so simple they stand out a mile. 

In stark contrast to the two prior examples, GoS produce handmade watches drawing on the region’s heritage. This Swedish company makes its own movements designed by the country’s top watchmaker. They also create unique Damascus Steel dials and cases, which are very rare in the watch world. While these watches are expensive, their startling styling makes them a very interesting microbrand from the high end of the watch world.

Hopefully this small selection of Microbrands from different countries not usually associated with watchmaking has helped demonstrate just how much the watch world has grown in the last few decades. We at The Watch Collectors’ club do not believe there is a best microbrand, and hope we can help you explore and learn more about the many fantastic young companies out there. We are hosting our Microbrand Virtual Showcase on Thursday 22nd July at 6:30pm BST so if you would like to take part, let us know. If you like this series of articles, please make sure you follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, and let anyone else how might be interested know how to find us.

Microbrands from Asia and Scandinavia. Learn about the best microbrands from Scandinavia and Asia. Read about high end microbrands and the best cheap microbrands from Asia

Microbrands Everywhere - Brands from Surprising Places

Brands from Surprising Places

The nature of modern manufacturing, marketing and ecommerce means that people can establish new brands wherever they are in the world. In the last 10 years, this trend has come to the world of watches with full expression and enthusiasm, leading to the creation of a large number of new watch brands we call Microbrands. We have already examined different Microbrands by type of watch, Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. This week we will look at some by country. We hope that exploring this fun area will inspire you to join our Virtual Showcase celebrating Microbrand watches, which is on Thursday July 22nd at 6:30pm BST.

When we think about important centres of watchmaking, we might think of Switzerland, Germany, Japan, or the United States. This week we will review microbrands from these countries.

Next week we will explore brands from countries not as well-known for watches, who are now creating fabulously diverse and interesting timepieces.

Now this is a bit of a complicated topic. Many microbrands all over the world use Swiss watch movements, so in fact, many of the other watches we mention in this series of posts have Swiss machinery at their hearts. We do not think these are Swiss microbrands. For that to be true, they have to be designed, manufactured, assembled and marketed from Switzerland. This may be controversial to some of you, but we feel this is the best way to look at it. Switzerland is not only a source of high end luxury timepieces, but has lots of innovative smaller companies to explore.

Straton have made waves in a similar way to the US based Autodromo we mentioned last week; they make fun and striking watches inspired by motor racing. Despite Switzerland not having much of a motor racing past, the watches take inspiration from classic racing watches in history, using up to date movements and colour schemes to provide a wide selection at a variety of prices.

As a Collectors’ Club we particularly like brands that are taking the time to build their own community. DWISS came up with something remarkable, and built a paid-for members club to design their watches! The latest model is called the M3 and is designed by members voting on their preferences. In return for their membership fees and input they get a discount on the finished watch. We think this is a fantastic idea for those interested in helping out innovative brands. The company uses the very best movements and fascinating styling to create really differentiated watches. You can learn a lot more about what they are doing here.

Much of American watch production ended after the Second World War as lower cost competitors from Japan entered the market. In the last few decades many entrepreneurs have started new watch companies, and there are plenty of options for American designed and assembled timepieces.

One of the most successful microbrands anywhere is based in Florida in the United States, called Dan Henry. Dan himself is a famous collector, and he decided he would design and sell watches closely based on his own favourite models he had in his own collection from the last century of watchmaking. This idea is wonderfully specific. It allows customers to get a watch of modern size and quality at a reasonable price that closely resembles something from decades ago. 

We at The Watch Collectors’ Club love vintage watches, but recognise their fragility and features may not suit modern needs. Dan Henry’s solution is admirable. His timeline feature is an education in itself, so the website is well worth exploring.

This is a design-led watch company. They are trying to look different and funky. Combined with decent quality and rave reviews, Brew has been a big success in the last five years. New York based, we think it is a good example of what modern Microbrands can offer to those looking for something different. 

The titans of Seiko, Citizen and Casio are world-renowned and responsible for manufacturing the movements of the majority of watches sold worldwide, both in their own models and by supplying other brands. Their large ranges and global distribution make them common in watch shops worldwide. There are plenty of other brands in Japan, and many focus on Japan’s famous reputation for quality and craftsmanship.

This extraordinary brand contains all of the signs of what people think of when they think of Japanese craftsmanship and tradition. Their watches are almost entirely hand finished, including even stitching the leather straps themselves. The company grew out of making machinery for other watch companies, and they have a range of radical designs. Ultimately, they provide very high quality at a very reasonable price. We believe that in terms of quality for the price, there are probably no other watches close to this level available anywhere else in the world.

This brand is a great example of how fast modern microbrands can get going. Started in 2020 by a young graduate who fell in love with classic vintage watches while studying in London, they now ship very affordable small watches from Japan. By focussing on design and styling, assembling to order, and offering a large range of options, they are already struggling to keep up with demand.

 Germany is a country with a long history of watchmaking, and some very old brands. While some of these may be small, we do not count them as Microbrands, due to their importance and stature in the watch world. For example, check out Junghans, once the largest clock manufacturer in the world. Due to the complicated history of Germany in the 20th century, including the partition into East and West, some of today’s brands are very old but have been resurrected in recent decades. If you are interested then check out A. Lange & Sohne or Glaschutte Original to see some very fine watchmaking. Today, there are many micro and not-so-micro brands selling from, and in some cases manufacturing every part, in Germany. 

A watch company born from a case manufacturer. An example of a proud extension of engineering and manufacturing, similar to that seen earlier with Minase from Japan. These watches are all historically inspired, and highly customisable.

One of most remarkable and successful microbrands of the last 30 years, MeisterSinger focuses on watches with only one hand. This simplicity of design style is derived from scientific instruments, and the colourful dials stand out a mile. Reading the time is surprisingly easy. 

We hope that some of these designs and styles excite you. The world of watches is about more than Rolex or other famous names. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club don’t have a favourite type of watch or brand. There is innovation going on all over the world in companies large and small, and we will help you explore it. If you are interested in talking about microbrands, join our Virtual Showcase on Thursday 22nd July at 6:30pm BST to learn more. If you liked what you’ve read today, please make sure you follow us and make sure to tell anyone else who might be interested. Sign up to our mailing list, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

microbrands from USA, Switzerland, Germany and Japan

Highlighting Microbrands From Countries Famous for the Big Brands

We are delighted to announce our new website is up and running. You can see our new colours, logo and layout here. We hope that you like it. 

The Watch Collectors’ Club exists to bring people together to learn, explore, and share their passion for watches. We aim to add more resources over time as we grow, and as we ramp up our events we will have lots of interesting material to share. Here are the new highlights:

The Blog page is now fully searchable and categorised by topic. This will make it easier for you to find what interests you.

We’ve created a Dictionary, or Glossary, of the most important watch terms so you can master all the basics. The pictures are simple and clear, and we have tried to make the definitions as straightforward as possible. We want to make everything in the world of watches easy to understand and accessible, and our website will be a great resource for our members.

We have a new Events page, where we will list all upcoming events, both Virtual and In Person. If you miss what we are up to via our social media or email, then check here to make sure you can be involved. Soon we will also make it so that you can register directly on our website.

An Introduction to the Chronograph

Glashütte, the home of German Watchmaking

The World's First Sports Watch - The Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso

An Update on Club Progress September 2021

A Short Exploration of The World’s Largest Watch Groups - Seiko

A Short Exploration of The World's Largest Watch Groups - Citizen Watch

A Short Exploration Of The World’s Largest Watch Groups – LVMH

11 Facts That Explain Why Dive Watches Are So Popular

Why Are Steel Sports Watches So Popular?

What to Look for When Buying a Watch

A Short Exploration of the World’s Largest Watch Groups – The Swiss Giants

British Watchmakers - A Short History of Fears Watches

Watch Microbrand Showcase Event Round-Up

Make the watch world simple