Six of the best independent German watchmakers you need to know now

We started this conversation with the Japanese watch brands. We then moved to the French and the English independents, we now turn to focus the German independent watchmakers.

We are very happy to see the robust discussion and reception of our essays on Japanese brands as well as the French and English independents. So today, we present to you our thoughts on independent German watchmakers.

Six of the best independent German watchmakers you need to know now

German watchmakers are perhaps more a mainstream than the English or the French. Generally considered to be similar perhaps with the Swiss and the Japanese. The German work ethic of attention to detail and precision engineering are quite suited to making watches. The historical roots began with Johann Seyffert who was astronomer and surveyor in the Dresden Kunstkammer (1791) and Johann Schumann who was appointed court clockmaker (1808). Both strongly influenced and promoted chronometry in Dresden. Then came Wilhelm Lohrmann and Johann Gutkaes who took the clockmaking in Dresden to the top level, competing with the English and the French of the day. Gutkaes’ son in law was Ferdinand Aldophe Lange who later set up what is known as the Glashütte School circa 1845. Germany became a major player in the global watchmaking arena. Other than his own brand A. Lange & Söhne, this school sprouted the other Glashütte brands like Friedrich Schneider, Julius Assmann, Alfred Helwig and Carl Grossmann. All the German houses were conglomerated under the state owned VEB Glashütte Uhrenbetriebe (GUB) after WW II under the German Democratic Republic. GUB continued with the production of robust mechanical clocks and watches and activities for luxury timepieces ceased.

In 1989, the political situation was changing, and the Communist State was losing its grip. German reunification was eminent. The fall of the Berlin Wall that year was the key to the changes which were to follow. And in 1990, Lange Uhren GmbH was established as a company under the supervision of Günter Blümlein as joint Managing Director with Walter Lange. Lange Uhren bears the trade name A. Lange & Söhne. The other names under the GUB umbrella were eventually purchased by German industrialist Heinz Pfeifer and was reestablished under the brand name Glashütte Original (one of the names within the group). Pfeifer had registered all the GUB names within the group, but perhaps in haste forgot the name Carl Moritz Grossmann. Christine Hutter, who was then working in Lange Uhren, quickly registered the name and held it until she incorporated Moritz Grossmann in 2008. The other brand names still belong to Glashütte Original, which was sold to the Swatch Group in 2000, about the time when Lange Uhren was acquired by Richemont.  Nomos, also in Glashütte, was a new brand, founded by Roland Schwertner in 1990. And Tutima returned to Glashütte in 2005 after moving to West Germany just before the German separation.

With this historical background, Auf geht’s! We do note that we are only including the German independent watchmakers, and thus have excluded from this listicle luminaries like A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte Original and Montblanc (HQ in Hamburg).

Christian Klings

We kick off with the tiny, one man show of Christian Klings. Operating in a small town not far from Dresden, he makes all his watches by hand. His website now shows that he is currently retired and is not accepting orders. We have not reviewed any of his watches, as he is very elusive. One such watch, the Open Version No. 1 was sold at the Phillips Auction XIIV Geneva in November 2023 as Lot 41. It was sold at CHF 225,000.

But we have encountered one of his pieces when one of our friends rocked up to a coffee session with the Open Version. The watch pictured is the Open Version movement No 2. This was a bespoken piece. The dial has chapter rings with a salmon guilloché dial. The seconds sub-dial is slightly sunken with its own chapter ring which overlaps with the larger one bearing the hour markers. The hours are marked in Roman numerals. The hands are Breguet styled complements the dial side perfectly.

The movement is rather special as well. It features a hand wound movement in which the bridges are reduced to tubular steel cocks, enabling the movement gear train and escapement to be fully visible. These tubular cocks are conically shaped, starting with the anchor point where it is attached by screw to the main plate and ending in a beautiful raindrop shaped end which bears the jewel for the wheel trains. The second wheel, bearing more torque is more conventionally shaped as a flat bridge with curved edges also ending in a similarly shaped raindrop at the jewel end. The click is also notable for its long sweeping curved spring. Finishing is exceptionally well done.

Even the case is hand shaped by Christian himself, creating an almost pebble shape which is not defined by technical curves but by eye to look pleasant. Beautiful timepiece.

Moritz Grossmann

We discussed the origins of Moritz Grossmann in the opening paragraphs of this essay. And since they have started production, M. Grossmann has been producing exceptionally designed and finished watches. We have covered their Benu Tourbillon, the ATUM, the Tefnut and Tefnut Twist, the gorgeous Hamatic series of automatic winding watches, the Universalzeit as well as the Tremblage. But from their enormous catalog, our pick is the basic automatic Hamatic in rose gold. Clean design. Simple time only watch. Beautiful aesthetics. And a magnificent movement.

And what a movement. Instead of the ubiquitous rotor found in virtually all automatic watches in recent history, the Hamatic is wound by an ovoid “hammer” that swings like a pendulum. It moves back and forth to wind the mainspring via two click wheels. A gold weight at the tip has the centre of mass of the hammer away from its rotational axis, resulting in high torque. The mainspring is wound even if the hammer moves only five degrees (or a distance of only two millimetres). Intricately crafted end springs in the hammer frame, shaped like a bard’s lyre, act as shock absorbers for excessive deflections of the hammer body. This winding assembly is the raison d’etre for the Hamatic and completely sets it apart not only for the superb engineering and craftsmanship but also in the uniqueness of concept and the visual spectacle through the open case back.

In our view, the brand is still punching way above its price class. And represents good value. The finishings are exceptional and top drawer with good aesthetics.

Lang & Heyne

We have also covered Lang & Heyne is a bit of detail in our recent detailed discussion and review of their latest Friedrich III Remontoir Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition. But we have loved their creations since they first began. The Georg is spectacular with its curved, shaped cocks holding the movement train. Somewhat similar to what Klings has done to his Open Version, but in a different shape. Their Anton Tourbillon is also spectacular. As is the Johann. They currently have 7 model families. This is a huge catalog for a manufacture who makes about 150 pieces a year. Our pick has to be the latest Friedrich III Remontoir Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition.

Again a simple, straightforward time only watch. But with a hidden complication, though plainly visible as a jumping seconds mechanism of the subsidiary seconds hand. The dial is ceramic and silver which tremblage hand finishing. The movement is equally exciting. From the fine frosted finish to the brilliant polished bits and the diamond end-stone in the balance, which is an age long indication of Quality 1A, the highest produced in the Saxony region. Also visible from the open case back is the remontoir mechanism.

Tutima

Next up, Tutima. Born in 1927 as the union of Uhren-Rohwerke-Fabrik Glashütte AG (UROFA) and Uhrenfabrik Glashütte AG, known as UFAG, the brand name “Tutima” emerged, derived from the Latin word for “safe, secure.” Tutima produced military watches for the Nazi war effort, but the owner Ernst Kurtz had fled for Franconia just days before the fall Saxony to the Soviets. Franconia remained in West Germany after the separation, and the brand was thus then based in the west and not part of the GUB group of companies under the GDR regime. The subsequent owner Dieter Delecate then moved the company back to Glashütte in 2008, and reestablished the manufacture there. Their current catalog consists mainly of military styled watches with Swiss movements as well as in-house produced mechanisms. We particularly liked their chronograph which is christened Tempostopp, as well as their time only Patria range, and the military pilot watch which they call the M2.

But the brightest star in the Tutima universe has to be their Homage Minute Repeater. Created as a tribute to the brand’s homecoming, the Hommage Minute Repeater was designed by Rolf Lang – former Chief of Restoration at A. Lange & Söhne and father to Marco Lang, one of the founders of Lang & Heyne. This is a highly complicated watch which is the first minute repeater designed and manufactured in Germany. All other minute repeaters up to then, including the legendary ones from A. Lange & Söhne, had used Swiss origin ébauches.

The platinum version of the watch we reviewed, features a beautifully skeletonised dial. The ruthenium dial in solid gold is mostly hollowed, save for the hour and seconds chapter ring with Breguet styled arabic numerals. The entire minute repeater mechanism is visible from the dial side, and is quite a spectacle every time the command to strike is given by the release of the lever at 8 o’clock on the case side. The racks move smoothly into position and the watch strikes out the time in crystal clear tones.

Flip the watch over, and the frosted finish is plated in rose gold over the three quarter plate. Finishing is spectacular and the balance cock is hand engraved, but in relief. The quaver and clef treble motifs are engraved in relief onto the movement denoting the musical nature of the timepiece.

Kallinich Claeys

And to the newest boys on the block. We just covered their latest, and currently only release to date – the Einser Zentralesekunde.

What else can we say that we have not already just said, barely a week ago. The watch is exceptional, and even more so for two young chaps working on their own. And having the confidence for their own design, their own movement design and finishing, but not afraid to work with top level partners to deliver what they are not able to do better. Like the case, made by RP Uhrgehäuse, the dial collaborating with dial specialist  Cador and engraving guru Helmut Wagner.

We are also equally impressed with the humility shown by these two talented youngsters, which came through as clear as day when we discussed and critiqued their watch. And finally, the sincerity shown by the very reasonable pricing they set. We are definitely looking out for future works from this maison.

Kudoke

Another tiny manufacture in Dresden. Set up as husband and wife team of Stefan and Ev, the small maison has several interesting watches. We liked their K2 Nocturne which we reviewed in detail here. But it is the Kudoke K3 Grüner Wald Sonderedition II which caught our attention to pick it as one of the six on this list.

Though we only carried the details of this watch as a release with commentary, we have had hands on handling of the watch during this year’s Watches & Wonders Geneva when we met up with Stefan and Ev. The hour indication through the chapter arc has a very nice aesthetic, well balanced with the green negative space of the dial cover.

The movement uses the same caliber K1 base as his other creations, but embellished differently. The engraving on the bridges are spectacular, with the relief engraved wheel bridge and hand-engraved balance cock with “oak leaf” motif giving the eye some candy to affix on.

Concluding thoughts

As usual, we seek your views on who else we should include in this list. The other maisons we have considered include Nomos which we actually adore and covered in some detail in these pages. Also considered is Junhans, Sinn, Stowa, Hanhart and Marco Lang as well as Junge. We also thought of including independent watchmakers from German speaking countries like Austria, which would include our friends at Habring2, but decided to leave this to just Germany. And as it turns out, to just Dresden and Glashütte.