German Watches: Best Watchmaking Secret? 17 Brands Covered!

[@tockingwatches2377]

Stefan Kudoke made a Kudoke 2 Gold for me about two years ago called the Kudoke 2 Rhododendron. He did a completely custom ¾ plate featuring a 50% reduction of the plate with hand hammering throughout but for the relief engraved rhododendron to represent the commonality between Dresden and the High Country of North Carolina. I’m hoping to have a second piece created next year but in the K3!

[@threethrushes]

The Kudoke Starry Night is so beautiful that I wanted to acquire it almost immediately within laying eyes on it. Of course it sold out in nanoseconds...

[@matthewreiner1972]

Great overview of German watches. I got into the watch hobby last year and currently own six German watches. I'm proud of my German Heritage and will continue to support German watchmakers.

[@ollik8192]

I do miss your videos. Just like this one, you make really well researched quality independent content.

[@christopherlowe2200]

Excellent,informative ,well thought out video , a real change from the endless KZbin Rolex , Rolex , Rolex videos . Keep up the great content .

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for the kind comment but I'm afraid I'm not gonna beat the KZbin algorithm with German brand videos though lol.... I may have to do a Rolex one soon to get those views up!

[@jaegermeister1968]

I live in Austria, I collect watches and I know all the brands shown and your video is probably the best video about the various German manufacturers that I have ever seen. it is factual, informative, short and still made with enthusiasm. Subscription and like is fixed

[@TOKKANTE]

Thank you! German watches are not the most loved by the general public and such videos won't get the most views (not Rolex, duh!) so this means a lot to me! Merry Christmas!

[@Bob_In_Thailand]

I agree with the above comment this is the best video I have seen regarding German watchmaking. I own two German brands a Sothis and a Hanhart.

[@baoloc1160]

Gentlemen this is the best video about German Watch Making in general. Thank you for a very informative video.

[@TOKKANTE]

Glad you enjoyed it! At some point I'll make another one about all the other brands I could not mention.

[@felipeucros]

Fantastic video. Learned more in these 15 minutes than in 100 other watch videos I've seen. Liked and subscribed!

[@TOKKANTE]

Oh thank you! I'll do a Part 2 at some point, there are more brands to discover!

[@Hardjoe888]

You have succeeded in making a “thought provoking” video. It is especially good for folks discovering artisanal watch makers in the German horological world. As the grey market is crazy now in May 2022, more and more people are looking at alternatives-discovering independent brands, as well as, non Swiss offerings. I guess, just like coffee houses, most of us avoid Starbucks after a while | for those who really love Gourmet coffee. Explore in good health. Thank you so much for this insightful video and keep on making more!

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for the kind comment and for watching it! German watchmaking can be an acquired taste but if one can look beyond status then there's a lot to discover indeed.

[@dnlmoretti]

I definitely have a huge soft spot in my heart for German watches - thanks so much for shedding a little light on Benzinger and his brands, I’d never heard of him before 🙏

[@TOKKANTE]

Besides the fact that I butchered his first name, at least several people told me they discovered him with this video. If you like real hand-made Guilloché, then you gotta check him out!

[@AnonZero0]

*Thank you for this show--the content was excellent!*

[@danielfrancis3660]

1st time I've seen this. Excellent video. I have 3 Sinns and a Muhle glashutte on order.

[@kestonwright9881]

Excellent video

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for watching it!

[@marczekowski753]

Thanks so much. I have been exploring German watches recently and your video is a great summary.

[@TOKKANTE]

And there are quite a few more I wanted to mention but the video would be way too long! German divers

[@forceforgood4669]

Great video introducing German horology & some of the great watch making independents.

[@threethrushes]

So many ridiculously beautiful watches. I started the 'hobby' with an ORIS 20+ years ago, and in the last year or so, I've gone down a rabbit hole.

[@Tuneitupful]

Excellent video- new watch brands now on my list of consideration.

[@TOKKANTE]

Life was simpler when I didn't know any of these brands... then I didn't have to consider them and they didn't haunt my dreams!

[@Tuneitupful]

@@TOKKANTE Ha ha. I started with Nomos and the now with a Glashutte Original - Panoreserve. I hope to some day add the other brands you mentioned.

[@GroovBird]

Nice Meistersinger lamp hood in the background!

[@mm-pe5rx]

Junghans are not on your list, why?

[@orchardwatchandclockrepair8346]

My grandfather / father said German watchmaker s are very underrated. They were both Horologist

[@TOKKANTE]

Yeah German brands mostly tend to stay small-ish and never get the attention they deserve but maybe that's for the better... with size comes constraints and group ownership and investor ROI etc...

[@nacimsadaoui3923]

Great video thanks a lot.

[@vfp16]

Very good vid bro, learnt a lot

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for watching it! I'll do a follow up at some point with some brands I left out.

[@ianwooding3443]

Great video 👍

[@smoothacceleration437]

Great video

[@rogerwilliamson7161]

Well made video! Greetings from Germany!

[@TOKKANTE]

Oh thank you! Means even more coming from a German! This video has done surprisingly well, I should do a Part 2!

[@SingPure]

Your cat just did the best video bomb of the year! Also good vid in general thanks.

[@TOKKANTE]

Sometimes as soon as I set up the tripod and he knows I'm about to shoot a video, he gets up onto the cabinet! He's the attention seeker and he should be running this channel.

[@yermanoh]

that lange and heyne movement is so pretty

[@pilotgak1]

Another Good Video, keep it up.

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks a lot for watching!

[@mehtabbhogal5591]

Agreed fully. I actually just sold my Zeitwerk and am in the process of ordering a custom Benzinger. He offers some of the most value for the $ in watchmaking IMO.

[@TOKKANTE]

Oh, lucky you to experience some of the best watchmaking! Ordering a custom piece must be a really special experience, worth going to his workshop in person to take delivery!

[@AuslanderY]

Im not even close to have a German heritage jaja But love German watch makers . People are so mainstream that they dont even whats good and what's commercial watches. Dpnt ever compare German watches with the the brand that almost everyone believes is a good watch. This is the first video that ive seem from you but it was what i was looking! Thank you!

[@CokeWithIceAndLemon]

Excellent work Ben.

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for watching it!

[@MarcJ2]

Hi, thanks for your video, loved it. I’m actually in the market to purchase L&H Georg. I wish you went into their boutique and tried that watch. It would’ve been an amazing experience. Thanks again, Marc!

[@TOKKANTE]

Oh lucky you! We don't have a L&H boutique in HK but there is a store importing independent brands that carries L&H. I once saw a Goerg in the window but when I went back to try it, it was gone...

[@ollit.4251]

​@@TOKKANTE do you refer to The Lavish Attic? The offer amazing watches and besides L&H I think they also import watches from Marco Lang or Haldimann. Outstanding craftsmanship!

[@splootan]

Nice video, but what about Wempe!? In my option better than Nomos and Glashutte original

[@TOKKANTE]

hmmm... Wempe makes good solid watches for the price but in recent years they tend to have less than original designs and don't have their own in-house movements, which is fine if one likes their watches but I'm not sure that would qualify as better than NOMOS and GO? In what way?

[@CaptCanuck4444]

Did you mention Union Glashutte? They make some beauties.

[@TOKKANTE]

I did not and there are indeed enough brands to make a Part 2 of this at some point!

[@Theultimateclimber]

Great review thank you 🙏🙏🙏

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for watching it! Germs brands need more love!

[@voltarengulsen2628]

Great stuff mate 😀

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for watching!

[@whatevs1700]

Great video. Thank you. I want one of each :)

[@TOKKANTE]

So do I! But alas....

[@frankmastromauro5630]

Great video. Thanks for the links to the brands. Regarding buying some of these secondhand, I’d like your thoughts on what you think the best sites are.

[@TOKKANTE]

Try CHRONEXT which usually has a better selection of pre-owned German brands because well, CHRONEXT is a German site, and also ZEITAUKTION (also German as you can tell by the name).

[@eugenejohnson7755]

I like German watches. You are right about A. Lange & Sohne. Its finish is better than Patek Philippe. ALS should replace AP in Holy Trinity.

[@TOKKANTE]

Ha! But the Holy Trinity only accepts Swiss members i'm afraid.... ALS will always have to be the secret 4th member of the Holy Trinity hahaha

[@PowerControl]

My holy duo next to the trinity would be JLC and Lange & Söhne!

[@harrislam]

Yes, good video overall. Huge German watch lover here. Very ironically, I was just shopping for a good looking watch to pair with my clothes, and it was Daniel Wellington that brought me to Nomos, and GO, and ALS. 3 of my top favorite brands. I wish Nomos would have a physical store here in HK. ALS though, I've heard it's blowing up. It already has a boutique in 1881 and is also going to open a new store inside a mall very close by? Or maybe the brand is swapping location I don't know. But yeah it seems GO and ALS are picking up in popularity and I'm not sure if I like it lol. Moritz Grossman..... aesthetic-wise it's great.... (aligns with Nomos Ludwig and GO Senator well), but I just can't justify the price versus what I'm looking at.

[@TOKKANTE]

See how insidious this hobby is... you start with DW and end up lusting after ALS in no time!! You can find NOMOS at Oriental on Queen's Road in Central but yeah, I'd like a boutique to have the full experience and really talk with them. ALS is picking up indeed, you can see the pre-owned prices going up (it's a shame, pls don't start a bubble!). I remember maybe a year ago you could find a pre-owned Lange 1 at Ken's Watches for about HKD120k, try it now....For Moritz, I think it's something you get to appreciate once you've already reached the ALS level, it's really up there. Lange & Heyne is even better finishing than ALS. But you know, I was just looking at some macro of hand stacks from Horomariobro (follow on IG) and the NOMOS is better finished than some much more expensive watches! Nomos and GO is really where the value is at.

[@Dip_Life]

Amazing video, thanks so much!

[@TOKKANTE]

Thanks for watching!

[@mjtaven]

Junghans deserve a mention!

[@TOKKANTE]

Yes, that's true and I also wanted to talk about MeisterSinger but I couldn't fit them all or the video would be even longer... Later I'll do brand focus videos.

[@kevinwagner8697]

excellent!!!

[@markbowman7240]

Love getman watches. Real quality.. Awaiting my hanhart 417 es... Have had a junkers titanium eta since the early 2000s..its been a fantastically reliable watch. Had a zentra too which I sadly lost.. Would recommend German watches to anyone

[@TOKKANTE]

Oh lucky you, I love the 417es, so classic! I haven't seen one in person, I can't find them anywhere in Hong Kong but I can find a few other pre-owned Hanhart. Pretty rare brand over here.

[@markbowman7240]

On order from hanhart.. Love classic style watches., and German make some of the best.. Great reviews.. Keep up the good work

[@donschloth5785]

Meistersinger!

[@UncleDiddles]

I actually prefer the German brands to the Swiss at this point. Muhle Glashutte is a fantastic entry option that flies so far under the radar. Lange is the grail at this point.

[@kevinwagner4076]

Wow!! Excellent - didn’t even know these companies exist- time yo roll up the pennies!!!

[@TOKKANTE]

You may wanna roll the quarters, it'll go faster especially if you shoot for Lang & Heyne!

[@dnlmoretti]

What’s insane to me is that you can pick up Glashutte Original Senator Navigator with the caliber 39 in great condition for just under 5k - amazing value for truly great watches

[@TOKKANTE]

Yes, GO on the pre-owned market is so undervalued, a bit like JLC here in HK. Pre-owned shops will give you amazing deals on JLC and GO just to get rid of them I guess (wonder why they sell them in the first place then). I've seen GO Sport Evolution GMT at 4k also with the calibre 39 and I'm sure that was even negotiable!

[@dnlmoretti]

@@TOKKANTE sport evolution is so much better than any Rolex in its category! it’s criminal how under appreciated they are - that said, I might have to make a run to HK to get a JLC and a GO 😂

[@TOKKANTE]

@@dnlmoretti If you can deal with the unbearable 21-day quarantine!!!

[@luxstation7283]

Pls how can I get a good German watchmaker, I want to share an idea

[@mentalplane]

Lange finishing and decorating beats Patek. Many agree with you. Just compare the 1815 chrono vs the Patek 5170. I don't think it's close. Lange is way cheaper too.

[@TOKKANTE]

Right, but I was recently reading and also noticed here in HK that Lange prices are starting to slowly go up on the secondary market (even for more entry level pieces) and I heard of waiting lists now at Lange retailers! Could things be about to change?!

[@marczekowski753]

Maybe you can answer a question. In my research on German watches, I stumbled across a brand that has a seconds reset function on what I believe was a modified Unitas pocket watch movement. I, however, cannot seem to find the name of that brand. Does anything come to your mind? Thanks.

[@TOKKANTE]

I have heard of a Precista B-Uhr flieger (Type B) watch limited to 50 pieces that had a "zero reset" function on a Unitas 6498 movement, although the brand itself is not German I believe but ... British? German flieger style though. When you pulled the crown, the second would keep running until it hit the 12 o'clock mark then stop, quite cool. There are German brands like GO with a flieger (Type B) dial and a zero reset function but on their in-house movement not Unitas (love it with the open caseback, I know it's not historically correct but that movement!)

[@johnayres2303]

Great video thanks, just ordered a Dornblüth one year waiting list now. I am a big German watch brand fan but there was a few I had not heard of. You did not mention Union Glashutte and a few other smaller brands. I am bored with Rolex, Tudor and others, they get too much exposure.

[@TOKKANTE]

Yes there are quite a few more but maybe in a next installment... like for example Archimede which many people are suggesting I take a good look at. I just handled a Dornblüth last week and will probably make my next video on it, love it! What model did you order?

[@johnayres2303]

@@TOKKANTE I have ordered the caliber 99.5. I like to have a date complication on a watch and this will be my first watch with a power reserve. The central second hand has a unique circular counterbalance which is attractive. I took time to decide between the Dornblüth or a Glashutte Original Senator Observer, which looks similar.

[@TOKKANTE]

I like a power reserve on a manual wound watch too and the 99.5 is the original design I believe that Dieter and Dirk had designed. The wait would be killing me!

[@johnayres2303]

@@TOKKANTE I might buy a Stowa or Tourby whilst I am waiting.

[@TOKKANTE]

Did you see that Stowa was just acquired by Tempus Arte Group? No longer an independent after 90 years!

[@drewsleyy3836]

gotta also throw out Tourby and Dekla! they both make excellent watches for under $5,000

[@kevinwagner4076]

What about the Junghans chronoscope!!! Did they go out of business?

[@TOKKANTE]

Jughans is very much still around no worries, but yes there are brands I had left out of course and I will probably revisit this topic in 2022.

[@Nefville]

My one German watch, a Damasko DS-30 has a Swiss movement. I'm from a German family, I'd love to have a real German watch, they just do things uh.... sturdier. Look at the gears on a Datograph next to a 5270p and you will see what I mean. The ALS looks like it was built to last millennia, not generations.

[@TOKKANTE]

Yes I think that's why most people will find German watches to be less "romantic" but more appealing from an engineering point of view!

[@Alexander-zs5rj]

My Favorite Brand is Lehmann Schramberg

[@adiands850]

Dornblueth & Sohn are fantastic, except that their cases look a bit cheap.

[@donautaler6646]

German watchmaking did not start in the 17th century in the Black Forests. It started before 1511 in Nürnberg, Bavaria, by the famous Peter Henlein, a blacksmith and watchmaker. He was the first who made small and wearable watches.

[@andrekeller6161]

You could also look at Felipe Pekkulik, incredible value for money from an indie.

[@TOKKANTE]

I was not aware of this brand, thanks for sharing and will check it out. But is it German?

[@andrekeller6161]

Yeah, from Berlin

[@sergezerkin]

purple is before blue... but its not as hard as you think .. just like enamel dial is also not hard .. you just make hundret of them if they dont work out you throw them away .. just like cooking pizza ... if its bad you trhow away

[@sergezerkin]

bro .. credor beside one model is even below GS

[@sergezerkin]

george is pronounced "GE ORG"

[@greghassen4726]

The cat is stealing the show!

[@jh-il5sb]

no muhle glashutte?

[@TOKKANTE]

Lol sorry, I know there are other brands I wanted to cover such as Muhle and MeisterSinger etc. but maybe I'll do a Part 2 at some point. I gave preferential treatment to those brands that have in-house movements or at least heavily modify outsourced ones (because I tend to favor that).

[@SingPure]

OMG Bagpuss lives!

[@TOKKANTE]

Bagpuss lol. His name is Bambino!

[@bushcraftsurvivaljackonly7319]

You forgot HENTSCHEL Hamburg

[@TOKKANTE]

I did mention Hentschel at 8:46 into the video but very quickly yes. Eventually, I'd like to make a video on each one of these brands but I would prefer to have first-hand experience with them first, which I haven't for Hentschel yet.

[@vernonwilliams8644]

❤‍🔥❤‍🔥❤‍🔥

[@ionutcatalin6620]

very informative but I find your constant eye movements tiring...

[@thomashendrick6711]

...ooohh and, the most robust, muscularly well built, pet sized feline I have eeevveerr seen-beyond the known best built genetic base even amongst breaders, certainty. All my family are animal appreciators, and I can say that yours is unique. Never seen any breed type, gender, built as well as this one, and a beautiful coat too. I only hope you will or have bread this uniquely show stopping feline, to select, responsible owners only of course. Congradulations!😃

[@TOKKANTE]

hahaha, I will certainly let him know thanks! Bambino is a 7-year old male Exotic who comes from a long family of Grand Champions and international prize winning show cats, but unfortunately, one condition to get him was that he'd be castrated so I won't be breeding him though.

[@chrissy.v]

I think D.dornbüth & sohn is better value than glashütte original tho, eventho I'm fan of both

[@TOKKANTE]

Could be, maybe less innovative overall? I also love Dornblueth, someday I'd like to have a custom one made, but overall they remain pretty traditional and one thing that kinda bugs me is that all their cases are the same! I'd like a new case, please!

[@almac9203]

@@TOKKANTE yeah their watches look boring to me. Very conservative.

[@TOKKANTE]

@@almac9203 Indeed, super conservative. But I know they're very open to customizations though (one viewer and his dad + brother who left comments have been customizing 6 pieces with them in total for months and months) as long as it doesn't go against the brand DNA. Wonder how much is possible with some creativity...

[@yermanoh]

g shock g8000 ftw...

[@willisbcteoh9840]

Swiss watches are over priced. It's German for me.

[@TOKKANTE]

Less over priced, still over my budget lol (Lang & Hayne)

[@Justsomeguy1015]

I want to pet your cat

[@TOKKANTE]

Hahaha yes when you see his flat face you want to pet him. Sometimes in some videos I did not know he was behind me.

[@erictang7290]

Another Good Video, keep it up.

[@TOKKANTE]

Thank you Mr Tang, can do a collab with your IWC someday lol, it's "almost" German!