American Watch Tiers
For those of you who are not familiar with Fantasy sports, next month the National Football League in the United States will begin its season and millions of men and women will organize and draft teams of players. The statistics of those players will be weighted against each other in a Fantasy match-up. Usually, the winner of a Fantasy League wins money. This may be America’s most popular form of gambling. To prepare to draft your team many people find it useful to rank players in tiers, each of a similar value.
There are too many Swiss brands to apply this method to its industry. There are too few Japanese companies for this to be fun or meaningful. So, instead of doing anything productive, I decided to rank American watch brands into tiers. These are historical rankings. Most of these companies don’t exist anymore, some are now Swiss or Japanese. Microbrands and newer companies are underrepresented and ranked lower than their quality would suggest. They are rookies whose present and future performance will bring them up in rankings. Very few of these brands were entirely made in the United States. The industry was such that the importation of Swiss and later Japanese movements was essential for there to be an American industry. Usually, the watches were cased and regulated in the United States, just like the microbrands of today.
Tier One
1. Hamilton – until the early 1950’s this could have been any of the top five, then Hamilton made more than a decades’ worth of watches that were unmatched in design beauty. They also ushered in battery technology.
2. Bulova - my personal favorite.
3. Elgin – this was the Chevrolet of American watches.
4. Gruen – shared movements with Rolex for a brief time, maybe the best made early 20th century watch on this list.
5. Waltham – more known now for pocket watches, they were part of the big three until WWII.
Tier Two
6. Benrus
7. Timex – displaced Elgin as the quintessential American brand.
8. Wittnauer – movements by Longines or Revue.
9. Wakmann
10. Illinois – an early giant.
Tier Three
11. Helbros
12. Hampden – there have been three companies that have borne this name.
13. Ball – they would be top five for American pocket watches.
14. Croton
15. Brew
Tier Four
16. Weiss
17. Shinola
18. Fossil – this was the American watch of the 1990’s.
19. Welsbro
20. Islander
Tier Five
21. Clinton
22. Hallmark – if you buy a Waltham from 1958 until about 1970 it is really a Hallmark.
23. Jaro – the first American microbrand.
24. Westclox – dollar watches for the working man.
25. Baylor – the best store brand (Zales).
Tier Six
26. Gotham
27. Lathin
28. Seth Thomas
29. Ingraham – novelty dollar watches.
30. Santa Fe – the Stauer of early railroad pocket watches, they tried their hand at wrist watches.
Tier Seven
31. Cincinnati Watch Company
32. Berman
33. Vortic
34. DuFrane
35. Oak and Oscar
Tier Eight
36. Armitron - in its day it was top five in the American market.
37. Vaer
38. Monta
39. Texas Instruments- this was a dark time.
40. Jack Mason - Crunchers.
Tier Nine
41. Orvin – store brand (Sears)
42. Sturhling
43. Dorset – store brand (Montgomery Ward)
44. Andre Bouchard – store brand (Kmart)
45. Stauer
So, who have I missed? Who did rank too low? I have tried to collect American brands (it is one of my areas of interest along with generic Swiss and Soviet watches) and I now have 19 watches representing 16 of these companies. I have not listed the entry level brands for each (Westfield, Caravelle, Sovereign, Vantage, etc…) I guess that Invicta is American now. The Swiss can keep them.
Edit: I added some of my oversights. The smallest companies, one guy selling four watches a year, just will not make the list.
Restitutor Orbis. Aristocrat of beauty. Autocrat of time. (Trying to perfect trolling over at theescapementroom.com)
Where would you put Tornek Rayville?
Also curious about Nodus.
Where would you put Tornek Rayville?
Also curious about Nodus.
The original Tornek Rayville was just 1,000 imported Fifty Fathoms to get around Naval procurement regulations. It's not like you could buy them. The new ones are a niche brand. Let's see if they survive the predicted microbrand contraction. I have never seen one.
Nodus should have made the list. I would rank them near Weiss.
For brands like this I only know what the internet tells me.
Very interesting discussion piece and great job on digging deep on the brands represented. I have a bunch of new brands I need to look up!
Too high? Perhaps you think that Shinola or Fossil would be a better fit there?
RGM: https://www.rgmwatches.com/history
You already have Vortic, but worth noting they have a very cool concept and make unique pieces.
https://vorticwatches.com
I love that you framed this idea of a fantasy draft and then listed all these out!
I am having fun pretending these are the available prospects to pick from for a draft. Thoughts below.
- If I got to pick 1st would I still go with Hamilton like this "mock draft" suggests? lol
- How does my draft go if I pick 20th? What's left on the board?
- Is there anything I could trade before, during, after the draft to get a better pick or prospect?
- Trying to interview the "coaches" and "staff" of the Tier3 and below to see if I can get any insight into who might be the real sleeper pick with a ton of potential upside.
- Can I see anything on "film" that suggests maybe they haven't really played anyone and might be a big bust?
Ok I will stop now. I could keep this going way too long lol.
I wish Ball had a more reasonable msrp in general. I just really like the design of these watches but it's hard to argue with the placement
I love that you framed this idea of a fantasy draft and then listed all these out!
I am having fun pretending these are the available prospects to pick from for a draft. Thoughts below.
- If I got to pick 1st would I still go with Hamilton like this "mock draft" suggests? lol
- How does my draft go if I pick 20th? What's left on the board?
- Is there anything I could trade before, during, after the draft to get a better pick or prospect?
- Trying to interview the "coaches" and "staff" of the Tier3 and below to see if I can get any insight into who might be the real sleeper pick with a ton of potential upside.
- Can I see anything on "film" that suggests maybe they haven't really played anyone and might be a big bust?
Ok I will stop now. I could keep this going way too long lol.
It would obviously need to be an auction draft. A snake draft would give you too much differentiation of quality, even in a small league. A seven jewel Gotham is always going to be on the bench.
I wish Ball had a more reasonable msrp in general. I just really like the design of these watches but it's hard to argue with the placement
Ball, Illinois, Santa Fe, Elgin and Waltham were essentially pocket watch companies (Hamilton, Hampden, and Bulova made them too). Illinois, Elgin, and Waltham transitioned to wrist watches and Elgin, especially came to dominate the market. Ball and Santa Fe never really had a wrist watch following. There are very few vintage Ball wrist watches out there because very few were made relative to other brands. Today, their Hong Kong ownership and Swiss manufacturing give them a broader reach than they ever had in Cleveland, OH.
Fantasy team name: patrick mahamiltons
Thanks, mostly agree with the list. However, being the proud owner of a Stauer (it was a gift), why isn’t it ranked 46th? 🥴
Thanks, mostly agree with the list. However, being the proud owner of a Stauer (it was a gift), why isn’t it ranked 46th? 🥴
That. sir, is a chonky boi.
Wow! As a fellow Cruncher and brand owner, I am honored to have made this list 🙏 Jack Mason started 6 years ago and we went through many phases of the business. Lots of lessons learned especially on the entrepreneurial front, but those lessons have built resilience to grind on. Most importantly, our customers have allowed me to dream bigger and the future of Jack Mason is exciting. We want to establish ourselves as the premier Texas watch brand with goals of one day being assembled in-house here in Dallas. Sorry for the overshare but thought I would put it out there into the universe! ✨
Wow! As a fellow Cruncher and brand owner, I am honored to have made this list 🙏 Jack Mason started 6 years ago and we went through many phases of the business. Lots of lessons learned especially on the entrepreneurial front, but those lessons have built resilience to grind on. Most importantly, our customers have allowed me to dream bigger and the future of Jack Mason is exciting. We want to establish ourselves as the premier Texas watch brand with goals of one day being assembled in-house here in Dallas. Sorry for the overshare but thought I would put it out there into the universe! ✨
You are ranked above Sturhling, Stauer, and a few anonymous store brands of mostly defunct stores so you still have your work cut out for you.
You are in the arena, doing what many of us would like to do. You are not going to reinvent watchmaking. You really have to bring out quality product and be around for the inevitable warranty issues. It is the staying power that most of the little guys don't have. Six years isn't nothing though.
Texas is big, but you can't just be the biggest in Texas. Dallas is a good place to start. It is the only city where I have eaten lunch in a restaurant where everyone wore a watch more expensive than my car.
Haha Dallas definitely has pockets of affluence where expensive watches are out in the wild.
I don't think we are trying to reinvent watchmaking. I think the emergence of smaller brands has pushed the industry into a great place where brands and customers have more of connection. Technology and watch forums like this have allowed that to happen and I think it's really great. I believe that brand experience is where the future lies for the ones that want to create something more than a commodity.
We actually started the business in the wholesale space at all the luxury department stores and hundreds of boutique shops all over the country. In 2020 we pulled out of all stores and switched to 100% direct to consumer due to the lack of control over brand and experience at the store level. It was the best move we ever made and has allowed us to continue to evolve and shape the brand and product to better fit the needs of our customers.
We certainly have work to do, but I hope to move up those rankings!
Where's Ingersoll?
Where's Ingersoll?
Bankrupt by 1922, the dawn of the wrist watch age, by 1930 it is a British enterprise. Other than Mickey Mouse watches sold by Timex they made hardly a ripple in the world of wrist watches in the United States. Passable cheap pocket watches however.
Fantasy Watching - I'm intrigued since I'm not in any football leagues this year.
Could make teams where type of watch is equivalent to football positions.
For example:
QB - GADA (Needs to do everything)
WR - Pilot's Watch (They travel a lot!)
RB - Chronograph (Gotta go fast)
TE - Diver (Durable, and often the big guys)
D/ST - Beater (Takes the most hits)
K - Dress (can't let them get hurt!)
Bench - Crazy, Occasionally Useful Watch (for the Antonio Brown in our collection)
Also learned a lot about American watches in your post, good write-up!
Fantasy Watching - I'm intrigued since I'm not in any football leagues this year.
Could make teams where type of watch is equivalent to football positions.
For example:
QB - GADA (Needs to do everything)
WR - Pilot's Watch (They travel a lot!)
RB - Chronograph (Gotta go fast)
TE - Diver (Durable, and often the big guys)
D/ST - Beater (Takes the most hits)
K - Dress (can't let them get hurt!)
Bench - Crazy, Occasionally Useful Watch (for the Antonio Brown in our collection)
Also learned a lot about American watches in your post, good write-up!
I like your thinking (and thanks).
I feel like Ingersoll was missed. They began as an American watchmaker in 1882. A badly battered -- and probably super radioactive -- Yankee I inherited:
Also -- you consider Vortic a watch company? I don't. All they do is re-case watches made by others.
Just found this. Great post. Would you consider re-ranking after a year?
Just found this. Great post. Would you consider re-ranking after a year?
I would. When is a year I wonder.
I would. When is a year I wonder.
I assume the post was written October of last year.