The History of Germany’s Top 5 Watch Brands
How Was Glashütte Original Founded?
Glashütte Original’s early manufacture
Glashütte Original dates all the way back to 1845, in a small valley in the Ore Mountains, Germany. It was in the middle of the 19th century when the first group of watchmakers began to occupy Glashütte, with financial support from the local government.
The Kingdom of Saxony provided a loan to the emerging town, which then began to train their inhabitants. The residents would become independent watchmakers, eventually marking Glashütte as the cornerstone of the Saxon watch industry after gaining a worldwide reputation. To continue this legacy, the German School of Watchmaking Glashütte was established in 1878.
Ferdinand Adolph Lange was the first one to write the letter to the Royal Saxon government in 1843. Moritz Grossman, Julius Assmann, Adolf Schneider, and Ferdinand Adolph Lange are considered the four fathers of Glashütte watchmaking after establishing themselves in the early years. The watch industry in Glashütte started to flourish and watch companies worldwide started to reproduce ‘Glashütte’ branded wristwatches. As a response to this, Glashütte watches started incorporating the word “original” to indicate that they were authentic. This is how Glashütte Original gets its name today.
Following the Second World War, the German Democratic Republic decided to combine all watch making companies into one state owned enterprise – VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB). After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of East and West Germany, GUB became Glashütte Original.
How Was A Lange. & Söhne Founded?
Ferdinand Adolph Lange, who went by Adolph
Following his famous letter to the Kingdom of Saxony, Adolph Lange was one of the first watchmakers in Glashütte, where he eventually founded A Lange. & Söhne in 1845. Before founding A Lange. & Söhne, Adolph Lange worked under watchmaker J. C. Friedrich Gutkaes. Having a clientele of elite clients, Lange had to refine his watchmaking prowess and developed a keen attention to detail, along with a customer focused mentality.
Directly after inception, Lange was already innovating. He quickly developed the three-quarter plate in 1846, which is still used in the companies’ movements to this very day. By 1848, he was asked to become the Mayor of Glashütte and accepted. For the following two decades, he transformed the small valley in the Ore Mountains to a watchmaking powerhouse that continues to this day.
How Was NOMOS Glashütte Founded?
NOMOS Glashütte’s watchmakers
The origins of NOMOS Glashütte go back all the way to the early 20th century (circa 1906), when a man named Guido Müller founded ‘Nomos-Uhr-Gesellschaft Guido Müller & Co’. The company imported and sold fine Swiss watches, marking them ‘Glashütte’ to increase resale prices. Yup, watches from Glashütte were sold at a real premium over Swiss watches at the time.
In any event, A. Lange & Söhne contested Müller’s shady business, forcing the company to shut down by 1910. The ’new’ NOMOS Glashütte has no connection to the other company apart from the name. Like many German watch brands at the time, NOMOS Glashütte was founded by Roland Schwertner in January 1990 in hopes of reviving Glashütte’s watch industry after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Their first timepieces were launched in 1991, they started with 4 models: the Tangente, the Orion, the Ludwig, and the Tetra; originally using ETA/Peseux movements that were modified by NOMOS. One of the main reasons that NOMOS gets so much respect, even as a relatively new brand, is their transition to in-house production. Starting with the above-mentioned modified movements, then naming a modified caliber the Nomos 1T in 2002, to finally developing a legitimate in-house movement: the NOMOS Alpha. The Alpha set the pace for NOMOS’ future and established them as a serious player in the watch market; they also made an automatic movement that year, the NOMOS Epsilon movement.
A Lange. & Söhne and Glashütte Original discussed above, are owned by Richemont Group and Swatch Group, respectively. NOMOS, however, remains an independent watchmaker. Ultimately, you can see how NOMOS laid down the groundwork for many microbrands brands like Christopher Ward to go from outsourcing to in-house and succeed in the 21st century. A blueprint if you will. NOMOS’ mark on horology will be significant as perhaps the only enduring watch brand founded in the last 30 years.
How Was Junghans Founded?
Junghans’ Terrassenbau building / Credit: Monochrome Watches
Junghans origin story goes back to 1861, with the founding of the company in Schramberg, Germany. At the helm of the company was Erhard Junghans, who guided the company through rapid growth producing clocks and watches. By 1903, Junghans was the largest clock manufacturer in the world. The creative inventors of Junghans are responsible for bringing greatness to south-western Germany, and interestingly enough, the company originally started by producing components for cuckoo clocks.
How Was Sinn Founded?
Helmut Sinn (1916-2018) / Credit: Worn & Wound
In the early 1960s, the company ‘Helmut Sinn Spezialuhren’ was founded by Helmut Sinn. Using his knowledge of aviation from his previous experience as a WWII pilot, he started off by producing navigation clocks and pilot chronographs. The brand continued its development over the next two decades and, in 1985, had German physicist, Dr. Reinhard Furrer, wear a Sinn watch during a space lab mission. That mission put Sinn in the public eye – where Sinn remains, being especially highly regarded in the field of aviation.
By: Eric Mulder
Read more:
“History.” Glashütte Original, https://www.glashuette-original.com/en/the-brand-glashutte-original/manufactory/history/how-it-all-began/.
Manousos, Nicholas. “In-Depth The Story Behind The Name 'Glashütte Original'.” Hodinkee, November 2nd, 2015, https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-story-behind-the-name-glashutte-original.
“Junghans World.” Junghans, https://www.junghans.de/en/junghans-world/.
McMillan, Neamh. “The History of Sinn Watches” First Class Watches, March 11th, 2021, https://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk/blog/2021/03/the-history-of-sinn-watches/.