Have you read our introductory guide to watches? I’d strongly suggest you check it out first, if you haven’t. After that, let’s review some of the most popular entry luxury watch brands in the market. We won’t cover any more affordable or newer independent brands in this post (check out these posts instead: affordable watch brands, watch microbrands).
Introduction
Several brands on this list were established in the XX century, while almost half of them date even back to the late XIX century. These are extremely known, reputable brands you’d probably heard of before, particularly the Swiss or American brands. Offering a greater quality of materials and manufacturing in their products, you certainly can’t go wrong with any of these – provided you can afford to consider some of these more pricey (yet permissive) brands for your watch collection.
We have representatives from four countries, particularly global market leader Switzerland. Two thirds of them were established over a 100 years ago, thus making them brands with a lot of prestige and history. The last third started manufacturing watches up to 40 years ago, yet they also have gained great reputation since then.
In any case, all these entry luxury watch brands manufacture models that meet the following criteria:
- At least one watch model or line retails for between $500 and $1,500 USD.
- Employs massive production in manufacturing concurrently with good quality.
- Most movements are mechanical (manual or automatic) and of Swiss origin.
- Lenses are primarily made out of sapphire crystal.
Any of these entry luxury watch brands can be likewise found at jewelries, watch dealers, online retailers, or directly from the manufacturers. We’ll group them by country and list in alphabetical order, so no direct comparison or ranking will be made – except for the casual commentary in relation to quality or reputation when applicable.
| Country | Brands | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Archimede | Stowa | |||||||
| Russia | Sturmanskie | ||||||||
| Switzerland | Certina | Edox | Epos | Hamilton | Mido | Raymond Weil | Squale | Tissot | Victorinox |
| United States | Glycine | Movado | Zodiac |
Germany
Archimede
- Established: 1924
- Movements: Automatic / manual
- Iconic line: 200
- Website: archimede-watches.com
In 1924, German brand Archimede started producing watches and watch cases in the city of Pforzheim (near Stuttgart). During WWII their factory was destroyed, so they had to rebuild and restart operations in 1947. Since then, Archimede offers exclusively mechanical watches. Styles in their lineup include pilot, field, diver, and dress, alongside features such as chronograph and water resistance.
Stowa
- Established: 1927
- Movements: Automatic / manual
- Iconic line: Bauhaus
- Website: stowa.de
Based in Engelsbrand, Stowa was founded in 1927. Similarly to their fellow German brand on our list, their factory was destroyed during World War II, resuming operations in 1951. Stowa produces watches with automatic and manual movements, in dress and sport styles, including pilot, chronograph, and diver versions. They also offer a Bauhaus inspired model.
Russia
Sturmanskie
- Established: 1949
- Movements: Automatic / manual
- Iconic line: Gagarin Heritage
- Website: sturmanskie.com
Russian brand Sturmanskie was established in 1949 in Moscow. Their watches were nonetheless only manufactured and made available to their nation’s Air Force pilots. Hence, Sturmanskie went down in history as the first watch brand wore in space, by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961. Today, Sturmanskie offers a heritage series based on that same watch wore by Gagarin, plus a few more dress and sport watch series.
Switzerland
Certina
- Established: 1888
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: DS
- Website: certina.com
Founded in 1888 in Grenchen, Certina became part of the Swatch Group in 1983. They’re known for introducing a reinforced case named DS (Double Security) in 1959, which is still used today. Certina produces dress and sport watches with both automatic and quartz movements. Classic styles in their lineup include chronograph, GMT, moon-phase, tachymeter, among other functions.
Edox
- Established: 1884
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: Delfin
- Website: edox.ch
Edox is a Swiss brand established in Les Genevez in 1884. Perhaps most famous above all for introducing double casebacks to increase shock protection and water resistance with the launch of their Delfin (‘dolphin’ in Spanish) in 1961. Edox manufactures mostly sport watches (with a few dress models) with automatic and quartz movements. Their main styles are racing and diver, with chronograph and date functions.
Epos
- Established: 1983
- Movements: Automatic / manual
- Iconic line: Verso
- Website: epos.ch
Using assets from a Swiss company dating back to 1925 that went bankrupt, Epos was founded in 1983 in Biel. The youngest at any rate among these entry luxury watch brands, they’re known for introducing the Verso in 2017, the first watch with a reversed mechanical movement. Epos specializes in dress and sport watches with mechanical movements, and complications like moon-phase, chronograph, calendar, and skeleton.
Hamilton
- Established: 1892 (originally American)
- Movements: Automatic / manual / quartz
- Iconic line: Ventura
- Website: hamiltonwatch.com
Founded in Lancaster, PA in the late 19th century, Hamilton moved its manufacture to Bienne, Switzerland in 1969, eventually becoming a subsidiary of the Swatch Group in 1974. Hamilton is known for its field watches developed during WWII. Today they offer various lines of dress and sport watches in both mechanical types and quartz movements. Hamilton accordingly manufactures collections in field, diver, and pilot styles.
Mido
- Established: 1918
- Movements: Automatic / manual
- Iconic line: Multifort
- Website: midowatches.com
Also established in Bienne, Switzerland, but in the early 20th century, we have the brand Mido (which means ‘I measure’ in Spanish). Belonging as well to the Swatch Group since 1985, Mido is famous for models such as Multifort, Powerwind, and Ocean Star. Nowadays, they offer both sport and dress watches with only mechanical movements. Functions coupled with their products are chronograph, GMT, calendar, and moon-phase.
Raymond Weil
- Established: 1976
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: Toccata
- Website: raymond-weil.com
Raymond Weil is another more recent entry in our list, founded around 50 years ago in Geneva, in the midst of the Swiss watch industry crisis. Weil’s creations above all were aimed to impact the industry by introducing actual timepieces, which quickly became praised by watch enthusiasts. To this day, it has consequently become one of the flagships amongst Swiss watchmakers, offering dress and sport watches with automatic and quartz movements.
Squale
- Established: 1959
- Movements: Automatic
- Iconic line: Super Squale
- Website: squale.ch
The last recent Swiss brand in our list, Squale (meaning ‘shark’ in French), was established in the 1950s in Neuchâtel. At the beginning, Squale manufactured cases for other brands until 1974 when they entered the market as an independent entity. Famous models include the Rambo and Super Squale collections. They emphatically specialize in diver watches, offering water resistance to up to 1200 meters.
Tissot
- Established: 1853
- Movements: Automatic / manual / quartz
- Iconic line: Heritage
- Website: tissotwatches.com
Another brand owned by the Swatch Group since 1998, Tissot was founded in Le Locle in 1853. As an illustration of the innovations introduced by Tissot, we can find the first watches made out of plastic (1971), stone (1985), mother of pearl (1987), and wood (1988). Today, they produce classic and sport watches with quartz and both mechanical movements. Tissot features complications such as chronograph, calendar, and skeleton.
Victorinox
- Established: 1884
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: FieldForce
- Website: victorinox.com
Victorinox, a Swiss watch and knife manufacturer, was established in Ibach in 1884. Perhaps more widely know for the later product and one of the main producers of Swiss army knives, Victorinox entered the timepiece market in 1989. They manufacture dress and sport watches with mechanical and quartz movements. Victorinox offers watches in styles like diver, pilot, and field.
United States
Glycine
- Established: 1914 (originally Swiss)
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: Airman
- Website: glycine-watch.ch
Glycine is a Swiss company founded in 1914 and bought by Invicta in 2016. Undoubtedly famous for its mechanical watches, the brand gained a lot of popularity within the American and British jet-set. But it wasn’t until 1965 when Glycine garnered additional acclaim, when their Airman model was worn by US astronaut Charles Conrad during the Gemini 5 mission. Glycine since continues to market the same pilot watch series, plus dress and sport watches with automatic or quartz movements.
Movado
- Established: 1881 (originally Swiss)
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: Museum Classic
- Website: movado.com
Originally established in 1881 in Switzerland, Movado is the oldest American company (acquired in 1999) in our list of entry luxury watch brands. The brand’s name means ‘movement’ in Esperanto. Movado is particularly famous for a Bauhaus-inspired watch dubbed ‘Museum’, that features a single dot at 12 (to symbolize the sun at high noon). Additionally, they manufacture watches with Swiss automatic or quartz movements. Movado has lineups of both dress and sport watches, which include features such as calendar and chronograph.
Zodiac
- Established: 1882 (originally Swiss)
- Movements: Automatic / quartz
- Iconic line: Super Sea Wolf
- Website: zodiacwatches.com
Zodiac is another company founded in Switzerland (in 1882) but purchased by Fossil Group in 2001. Their specialize primarily in diver watches, having gained reputation with their Sea Wolf series introduced in 1953 – to compete with watches from more expensive brands such as Rolex and Blancpain. Zodiac similarly offers several collections of dress and sport watches with automatic and quartz movements. These series of watches usually include features such as GMT, chronograph, and calendar.