Classification and ranking of ancient and modern watch brands

(The Chinese name or new name of the brand in brackets in the text, the old ranking of three categories or less)

One category, one Etc.:

IWC International (IWC): Today’s scale is much stronger than that of the past. It has its own core and is in the field of top-level complex watch production.

ROLEX: If it is still ranked today, its position is rock solid, with all self-made movements.

First class and second class:

LONGINES: reduced to a mid- to low-end brand without its own core.

OMEGA: The grade has dropped, mainly modified with ETA core, with its own technology, and timing cores provided by FP and LEMANIA.

First class and third class:

CYMA (Sima): reduced to a low-end brand, mainly quartz products and low-grade ETA products.

ETERNA (Qinianhua): Acquired by the German Porsche Group, the ETA core was transformed and manufactured for the PORSCHE DESIGN brand. The quality of its own brand watches is average and mid-range.

JAEGER-LE COULTRE: It insists on making high-end watches, including top-level complex models, all with self-made movements, and provides basic cores for use by some high-end watch manufacturers.

MOVADO: mid-to-low-end, mainly ETA mechanical or quartz products. The watches focus on a certain classic design, follow the fashion line, and occasionally purchase complex watches in limited quantities.

ISSOT Tissot: the lowest-end brand of Swiss origin, ETA mechanical or quartz products.

TUDOR (Tudor): Rolex’s sub-brand, mid-range, modified ETA core products, and is now developing its own core.

UNIVERSAL Universe: Suspected to be acquired, does not have its own core, mainly ETA quartz products, low-end brand.

ULYSSE NARDIN Athens: A high-end brand, with top-level complex watches, insisting on moving into new technology fields, and mainstream watches are improved with ETA2892.

Second class first class:

EBEL: A mid-range brand, mainly ETA core. The automatic timing core 137 modified from LEMANIA has its own technical components and adheres to the traditional style design.

HAMILTON (Hamilton): formerly a famous American brand, it is now acquired by the Swiss SWATCH Group as a bottom-line brand, ETA core.

JUVENIA Zuowana (Zunhuang): acquired, low-end brand, ETA core products, following traditional classic style design.

MARVIN: A mid- to low-end brand that has gradually become low-key. After running out of antique cores in stock, it began to use ETA products. The quantity is not large and the price is not low.

MIDO: low-end watch. In recent years, it has launched high-profile and low-priced ETA mechanical products.

WALTHAM: Formerly a famous American brand, now acquired by foreign countries. It mainly produces low-end fashionable quartz products.

Class 2, second class:

BULOVA: acquired by foreign countries, low-end brand, mainly ETA quartz products.

GRUEN: German-Swiss low-end brand.

VULCAIN: A mid-range brand that uses its own traditional manual alarm movement. It has good quality and good reputation. It also has a limited edition with enamel surface.

WITTNAUER: low-end brand, mainly fashionable quartz products.

ZENITH: A high-end brand with all self-made movements. It has been highly publicized recently and has been fully upgraded. It has complex styles and is mainly high-frequency automatic chronograph movement products.

Category II, second class).

Below three categories (in alphabetical order, including French, German and British brands, no Japanese and Russian brands):

AERO (5): mid-to-low-end brands, still focusing on mechanical products Mainly (ETA), there are quite a few pocket watch products, as well as high-end antique core limited edition works.

ARISTO (5): A low-end German brand, mainly cheap ETA mechanical products, with a sports line and its own small pendulum automatic movement.

ATLANTIC (5): Low-end brands have returned in recent years, mainly ETA mechanical products.

AUGUSTE REYMOND (formerly known as ARSA ARSA, V): a low-end brand, taking the fashion design route, mainly ETA quartz products.

BAUMEamp; MERCIER (Mingshi, 4): Mingshi is a good mid-range brand (the original ranking was low). Now it mainly transforms ETA machinery and quartz cores, and insists on fashionable watches. A fine tradition of design.

BOVET (BOVET, 4): BOVET has gone through a process of mid-level pocket watches - low-level watches - high-end watches. In recent years, it has been heavily packaged into a high-end brand. The design has the legacy of pocket watches and has complex functions. It mainly relies on outsourced movements. Enamel noodles are a very distinctive variety and are quite lethal to Asian watch fans.

BREGUET (Breguet, 4): One of the few top brands in this ranking was in decline back then, but its ranking in China was still too low (because no good models had been introduced at that time. What comes in is just stuff packed into shells with a general-purpose rough machine). Today, Breguet is not what it used to be. It is also the most glorious period of the development of its watches. It bought LEMANIA as its royal movement factory. It produces a considerable number of complex styles, all of which are first-class workmanship and first-class products.

BREITLING (4): Breitling’s ranking was also low back then, for the same reason as Breguet. After its rebirth, it cooperated with top technical watch manufacturers, mainly focusing on the traditional characteristics of flight watches. It is a mid-to-high-end watch brand that produces a full range of sports watches.

CANDINO (Cardianon, V): a low-end watch brand, mainly ETA mechanical quartz products.

CERTINA (IV): A low-end fashion sports watch brand, mainly ETA mechanical and quartz.

CONSUL Minister (3): low-end fashion brand, ETA quartz products.

DELBANA (4): low-end quartz brand.

DOXA (3): low-end brand, ETA mechanical quartz products, launched mechanical diving watches in recent years.

EBERHARD (EBERHARD, III): A mid-range but promising unpopular mechanical watch brand. The long-power research and development trend that was popular in the past few years was started by this small brand. Another The masterpiece CHRONO4 chronograph is also refreshing. Historically, Ibak’s technology has not been weak, and it is rare to maintain strong creative power for so many years.

EDOX (IV): low-end fashion brand, cheap machinery or quartz products. There have been classic world timepieces in history, but unfortunately in recent years, replicas have used quartz cores.

EMKA (5): A low-end German brand, mainly ETA mechanical quartz products, focusing on watch design.

ENICAR (4): Hong Kong acquires and assembles low-end brands, and ETA mechanical quartz products are the most well-known to the Chinese both in the past and now. Yingnag's quality back then was quite good, and compared to Plum Blossom, he was ranked lower in the fourth category.

ERNEST BOREL (3): Mainly ETA quartz, it is an early brand operated in Hong Kong.

FAVRE-LEUBA (4): It seems to have been bought by the Netherlands. It’s not clear what it does.

FORTIS (4): In terms of the quality of its sports watches back then, it ranked low in Category 4. Now it is a mid-range brand that still focuses on sports watches, with ETA chronograph cores as the mainstay. It has made great achievements in the field of flight watches. The alarm chronograph developed in cooperation with independent watchmaker PAUL GERBER is the world's first and a rare new mid-range movement technology in recent years.

GIRARD-PERREGAUX (Girard-Perregaux, III): After the quartz trend, Girard-Perregaux quickly rose to prominence by rebuilding the three-gold bridge tourbillon. In recent years, it has made great achievements in the field of movement development, except for a small amount of timekeeping. The core needs to be outsourced, but is basically completely homemade. The complex functional designs are often jaw-dropping, and it has become an out-and-out high-end brand.

GUINAND (5): This brand is now in the hands of Mr. Helmut Sinn, the founder of SINN in Germany. It should be a low-end brand mainly focusing on ETA mechanical sports models.

HANHART (German Category VI, second class): This brand was a very good brand in West Germany at that time. It had its own timing technology and alarm technology, etc. It was also a watch frequently purchased by the military and intelligence agencies. . Now it belongs to the mid-range. It mainly transforms the ETA chronograph movement to reproduce the World War II flight watch. It retains the original faucet design and is very addictive for military watch fans.

HEBE (5): A low-end small brand, custom-made some ETA mechanical quartz watches, pocket watches and the like. It is not easy for such a small company to fail.

HEUER Luxury (TAG HEUER, 3): Luxury was once the most famous sports watch brand. After being acquired by TAG, it increased its publicity efforts. It is a mid-range brand that produces a full range of sports watches. Mainly based on ETA cores, it also cooperates with Zenis and other manufacturers. In addition to watch design, it has also gradually begun to try the development of movement.

INVICTA (4): A low-end brand acquired from the United States. It focuses on diversified designs and is very marketable. It is gradually forming its own creative style.

OWISSA (3): low-end fashionable quartz brand.

JUNHANS (German Category 6, second class): JUNHANS was once the soul of West German watchmaking. Now Germans are still full of praise when mentioning it. In the past, it had its own technology and participated in competitions with Swiss watches. Competition, many and comprehensive product series. After the quartz trend, they have become low-end brands, mainly quartz products, and occasionally some replicas of classic mechanical watches (low-end ETA core). Radio time-corrected atomic watches are currently the main featured varieties.

KIENZLE (Germany Category 6, second class): It has always been famous for its clocks. Its alarm clocks can be found everywhere in German flea markets. They are typical mass products, and their watches are also average. At present, it is still a low-end brand, mainly quartz.

LIP (French Category VI, second class): Generally speaking, the quality of LIP’s old watches is not high, but they are the owners of the most classic and avant-garde designs. You can write a book just by studying it. Nowadays, LIP is a low-end fashionable quartz brand. Of course, there must be replicas of the most classic MACH 2000 watches.

MILUS (5): Low-end fashionable quartz brand, mostly women’s jewelry.

MINERVA Goddess of Wisdom (V): How unfair it was that it was ranked in the fifth category. This brand has very good quality and excellent timing technology. Among the five categories, it is probably the only one that currently has its own core. TIMEZONE gives it a high rating. After all, in the era of "global movements are universal", it is really rare to have its own technology, a mid-range brand.

MONDIA (4): French low-end fashion sports brand, ETA mechanical quartz products.

NIVADA (5): Asia acquires and assembles low-end brands, mainly quartz products, which are only common in China.

NOBEL (Nobel, 5): low-end goods assembled in Asia.

OGIVAL (Ai Qihua, IV): Asia acquires and assembles low-end brands, ETA mechanical quartz products.

OLMA (4): Asia acquires and assembles low-end brands, ETA mechanical quartz products.

ORFINA (5): mid-to-low-end brand. In the 1970s, he was famous for making watches for Porsche Design, which were purchased in bulk by the military. The original idea for the shape of the pilot watches currently used by the German and NATO air forces came from this.

After the partnership ended in 1978, PORSCHE DESIGN formed an alliance with IWC. Alfina independently focused on manufacturing sports military watches, and created the ROYAL NAVY brand, using LEMANIA or ETA movements. In addition, the trademark LOGO was found to belong to another former Category 5 brand ROFINA.

ORIS (Oris, 5): mid-range brand. In the past, Oris's self-made movements had a good reputation and were also good at holding observatories. In recent years, it has been relatively high-profile in the mid- to low-end range. It is famous for its transformation of ETA2836. The product style is very unique and has always been regarded as a good choice for entry-level mechanical watches. The move to upgrade will inevitably give people some unaffordable feelings.

PIERCE (Pierce, 5): His quality was good back then, but his ranking was low. Now it is acquiring low-end brands in Asia, mainly quartz products.

PRONTO (5): A low-end brand assembled in Asia, mainly low-end ETA mechanical products, with no new styles.

RADO (5): A mid-range fashion brand, it is one of the most thoroughly reformed Swiss original brands. Mainly ETA quartz products, taking the avant-garde design route, and is famous for its use of high-strength space ceramic materials in the watch case.

REVUE THOMMEN (REVUE THOMMEN, (3): A mid-range brand, with ETA movement and flight watch style as its main features. In the past, it also used the Wolu Jian Nao movement originally belonging to the same group. At present, Gradually developing and exploring traditional in-house movements

ROAMER (3): A low-end brand that has made a high-profile comeback in the past two years. After being acquired, it has been producing low-end ETA movement watches, and now it is using some antique movements in stock ( The grade is not high), and the style has also been significantly improved.

RODANIA (four): low-end fashion quartz brand.

ROTARY (rotary, five). : Low-end fashion brands, low-end ETA mechanical or quartz products.

SANDOZ (4): Low-end brands acquired and assembled in Asia, mainly low-end ETA mechanical products, with lack of new styles and mostly imitations.

SIGMA (IV): low-end brand, ETA mechanical or quartz products, elegant watch design

STOWA (Germany Category VI, second class): mid-range mechanical watch brand. In addition to using ETA movements, it also uses German stock antique DUROWE manual movements, with traditional flight watches as the main features, because the most glorious event in the history of STOWA was to become one of the five manufacturers of the B-UHR watch for the German Air Force in World War II. One (the other four are LANGE, IWC, WEMPE, LACO)

SWIZA (five): mid-to-low-end brands, in addition to using ETA mechanical quartz cores to make watches, they mainly produce clocks with their own cores. Technology, the more famous is the 8-day chain mechanical small travel clock (with calendar, moon phase, gong, alarm function)

TIMEX (Timex, 5): low-end fashion brand. , quartz electronic products focusing on pop culture.

UNION (5): This brand should have nothing to do with the current German brand. The German one was pioneered in the pocket watch era, and the level of Glashütte watchmaking is high. It is not comparable to a Category 5 watch. I don’t know whether GO has negotiated a deal with the Swiss brand after it was reborn. The only thing I know is that there is only one UNION, and it is listed here as a secondary brand, mid-range. Completely in-house mechanical movement, including high-end and complex watches.

WEST END WATCH Co. Gas needle (LOWAR, four): low-end brand, ETA mechanical quartz product (three): low-end fashion brand. , mainly ETA quartz products, taking the design route

YEMA Mustang (French Category 6, second class): a low-end fashion quartz brand, which was not a good watch at the time.

ZODIAC. Asia (3): The United States acquires low-end brands, ETA mechanical or quartz products, retaining the traditional rough sports style (the Seawolf diving model of the year is really classic), and in the past two years, it has attempted to take the lead in the field of mechanical watches