Germany, located north of Switzerland, is also an extremely important territory in the world of watches.

Don’t let the impression of “Made in Germany” only stop at famous German cars. In fact, watchmaking has opened up another legend of German craftsmanship. German watchmaking is known for its rigorous work attitude. Basically, it has achieved the soul of German traditional craftsmanship.

1. Zeppelin

If the energy used to build airships were used to make watches, Zeppelin might have a different look.

Yes, Chibolin was originally an airship manufacturing company, and its airships became very popular in the early 20th century. Especially during World War I, the aircraft performance at that time was still very weak. Germany's main work in aviation construction was to cultivate Zebolin airships. For reconnaissance, rescue, and attack, the Zebolin airship was equipped with everything, which caused quite a headache for the British side.

The Zeppelin played a military role in wartime and was used for tourism in peacetime. Of course, ordinary citizens cannot enjoy airship sightseeing, only the upper class and royal nobles. Qibolin officially stated that nobles will also receive a "Qibolin watch", which is a "gift watch" when traveling, which is the origin of its brand.

It is said that the sales of Qiborin watches are very good in Germany. The best-selling ones will definitely not be too high-end. The price of Qiborin watches is relatively close to the people. A mechanical watch can be started at 1~2K, and the overall design style is more business-like. The movement is basically outsourced, so I said at the beginning that if watchmaking can have the independent research and development spirit of building an airship, the status of the Qibolin brand will not stop there.

2. Laco

Laco was founded in 1925. In 1940, it participated in World War II with IWC, A. Lange & S?hne, Stowa, and Wanpu *** B-uhr plan. B-Uhr means "observation table", its main features are: high accuracy and good readability.

Each B-Uhr must pass the military's testing department for strict testing before delivery. As a result, Luculent became famous during World War II. Its original inner and outer rings marked with Arabic numerals are non-reflective. The matt black surface and three hands coated with fluorescent material have become the iconic design of modern pilot watches.

However, if you come out to hang out, you will have to pay it back sooner or later. In February 1945, the Luculent factory was reduced to rubble in an air raid.

Fortunately, with the help of the Marshall Plan, the factory was quickly rebuilt and reached its golden age in the next dozen years. During this period, its own Durowe movements were used. , this movement has also supplied a large number of reliable and high-quality movement products to various watch manufacturers since 1952. To this day, most of Luculent's watch movements use Japanese Citizen movements, and a few models use Swiss ETA movements.

Compared with Qi Bolin's business atmosphere, Luculent looks much "tough". Most of its watches contain a strong military watch style, so it has gained the love of some fans. The entry price of mechanical watches At 2~3K.

3. Stowa

As mentioned earlier, Stowa was also involved in the B-Uhr program used by the German Nazi Air Force. It is an old brand. With the gene of war, some of Stowa’s watches also have a tough temperament. In addition, its Bauhaus style is also impressive.

Stowa Red 12

Stowa has an annual output of four to five thousand pieces. Some of its concepts are relatively avant-garde, including personal customization (the C2B concept that was often mentioned in the past few years), but its development is poor. It is difficult to form large-scale production, and costs cannot be well controlled.

Stowa now mostly uses ETA movements, which is also the most criticized non-purebred German blood. Assembly and design are all handmade in the factory in Pforzheim. There is no symbol of the town of Glashütte, just made in Germany.

To add here, there is a big difference between made in swiss and made in germany. Many products in China can be written as made in germany because there is no law to protect this mark.

The labeling of Made in Germany is not as rigorous as that of Made in Switzerland. Although the German Watch Association took measures and formulated standards due to this chaotic situation in 2014, it still cannot guarantee the "integrity" of Made in Germany.

Overall, Stowa's workmanship and technical strength are not very strong, and it is relatively easy to speculate. The price of mechanical watches is mostly 6-8K. As mentioned earlier, the annual output is not high and the emphasis on customization means that it takes a certain amount of time to wait before you can buy one.

4. Junghans

Junghans was born in 1861. At first, it only produced individual parts. After the parts gradually gained recognition from the outside world, Junghans established a watch factory. Started producing watches.

The legibility of time is the core point of the development of Junghans, so the first impression given by many watches is harmony. In addition, Bauhaus is also its main gameplay.

Max Bill and Master are the two most popular series of the brand. An entry-level mechanical watch can be purchased for less than 10,000 yuan, while adding moon phase and chronograph functions will cost nearly 20,000 yuan.

5. Sinn

The niche brand Sinn does not have mature sales and after-sales channels in China, but this does not prevent many friends from buying it through purchasing on behalf of others. In contrast, the brand's markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan are much more complete, and it has even launched many special limited edition models that are only sold in Japan.

Starting from making pilot watches, to various tool watches and mission watches, Sinn has continuously introduced innovative technologies and materials and created many miracles. Featured technologies include: argon gas protection, sulfate copper tube Dehumidification, resistance to extreme temperatures, safety outer ring, silicone oil filling, Tayhardening treatment, use of German submarine steel, etc.

As a functional watch, everything is based on practicality. Sinn’s watches mostly make changes in function, and the appearance design will not change too much. This is an advantage and disadvantage of the brand. In addition, due to the immaturity of the domestic market, the after-sales service of watches with special functions is not very smooth, and they are generally returned to the factory for processing, which may cause suffering to watch lovers.

Despite the difficulties in procurement and after-sales, and the appearance design has not changed much, Sinn still maintains a certain user base. The price of the entry-level model 556 is around 6K, and the popular diving watches U1amp; U2, T1amp; T2 are also 2W It can be done within.

6. Nomos

In 1906, Nomos? was founded. It did not produce watches, but customized "blue steel screws" similar to the logo of Glashütte town. , three-quarter plywood, gooseneck fine adjustment, gold sleeve" Swiss pocket watch, and then mark it with the trademark "Nomos" and add the words "Glashutte I/Sachsen" for sale.

However, the quality of these pocket watches marked "Glashutte I/Sachsen" is extremely poor, which obviously damages the painstaking work of Ferdinando Adolf Lange and others in the small town of Glashütte after half a century. The reputation of high-quality watches gained after the operation disrupted the market and turned the town upside down.

Subsequently, Lange, Assmann, and United filed a lawsuit and it took several years of legal battles to end the dispute. The court ruled that Nomos? could no longer mark "Glashutte I/Sachsen" and Nomos? Just leave Glashütte.

Modern Nomos? was founded in 1990. The Nomos? promotional materials circulated on the Internet trace the history back to 1906, but do not mention anything about the events that shocked the German watchmaking industry that year. Some people think that it is a bit too much to resurrect the corpse and deny history at the same time.

So Nomos?=Nomos??

Or Nomos?≠Nomos??

You decide for yourself.

That’s it for the history class, let’s talk about Nomos watches. As mentioned earlier, Stowa makes Bauhaus styles, but the brand that takes Bauhaus to the extreme has to be Nomos. Stowa has advantages both in military background and historical heritage. Why can’t Bauhaus style win over Nomos? A big reason is that Nomos only does Bauhaus style.

In terms of movements, Nomos also outsourced them at first. For example, Nomos only polished the classic small three-hand manual movement ETA7001 (discontinued) at first; then, Nomos gradually upgraded 7001 to Alpha (only using sandblasting technology, 3/4 plywood, and replacement of precision adjustment methods). The main plywood of 7001 contains more than 60 self-produced parts); finally, it was announced that Epsilon is self-produced (although it is claimed to be all self-produced, the shadow of 7001 can still be found).

Nomos caught up from behind, and its efforts in movement also left Stowa behind, becoming one of the most well-known German watches. Nomos's Bauhaus has attracted the attention of countless fans, but many people will ignore one problem - it is born with a disability.

For Bauhaus, which pursues simplicity, it is impossible to make watches thick (only making manual movements is also one aspect, manual movements can be thinner than automatic ones), which means that the processing space is small and the parts are small, so Subsequent use will increase the risk of damage and result in a higher repair rate.

Finally, let’s talk about the price of Nomos watches, which are mainly concentrated in 1~3W.