When one of us watch enthusiast people thinks about a nice high quality watch, we generally think of Swiss watches, German watches, and maybe even Japanese watches. There’s one somewhat overlooked category of watch brands that we’re going to touch on today, and that’s American watch brands. There really aren’t a lot of really high quality American watch brands out there today, but I’ve chosen what I think are the top 6 that have a fairly deep history and have proven themselves over the years by innovating in the watchmaking world.
I did some in-depth research on this topic and came across some other articles that list upwards of 30 American watch brands, but the brands they mention on the lists are not recommendation worthy in my opinion. I made sure to select only the brands I would buy for myself or recommend to a relative, good friend, and of course our passionate readers here at the WRB.
Hamilton
Starting off with one of my favourite watch brands of all time, they also happen to have a very American background and storied history, we have here none other than Hamilton watches out of Lancaster, Pennsylvanian in the USA. I had the pleasure of visiting their original watch factory and museum in Lancaster back in 2022, you can read my full story on that here.
Hamilton is as American as it gets for a watch brand, although funny enough they are now owned by the Swatch Company and are manufactured in Switzerland. Hamilton was founded in 1892 out of the Keystone Standard Watch Company, and they quickly built a great reputation producing beautiful pocket watches. Many of their original pocket watches were designed to help standardize timekeeping on the railroads to enhance safety and efficiency. Hamilton also has a huge military background, having at one point completely halting consumer watch production to turn full force into manufacturing watches for the US military around the time of World War II.
Hamilton has also created many watches that have appeared on the big screen, one of the most famous ones being the Murph Watch which had a prominent display in the movie Interstellar, and soon built up a cult following.
Notable Watch Model:
It’s really hard to bring Hamilton down to one single watch model, they have many very successful and popular designs. If I had to choose only one watch from them though it would be the Khaki Field Automatic 38 which we’ve reviewed here. This is quite possibly the best watch you can buy at its price point, even when comparing to other American, European and Swiss watch brands.
For more information visit the official Hamilton website here.
Bulova
This is another really great American watch brand, a step or two under Hamilton in terms of quality, but it really depends on which specific model you choose to compare. Bulova has some really notable watch models like the Oceanographer Devil Diver that we reviewed on the WRB, they have garnered quite the dedicated following with this specific model. They do also make some fairly generic looking watches though which can come off as bland.
Bulova was founded by Joseph Bulova, an immigrant to New York City, they started off as a small jewellery shop before jumping deep into the matchmaking world.
Notable Watch Model:
This is again another tough one with Bulova, they’ve made a myriad of notable watch models. Just to ramble off a couple there’s the Moonwatch and the Accutron both of which play a big part of history in the watch world. The Moonwatch of course for being part of the mission to the moon, and the Accutron for its groundbreaking and innovative technology.
For more information visit the official Bulova website here.
Ball
Ball has a really unique position in the watch world, besides the funny name of the brand which we’ve poked fun at on a few occasions they make some outstanding watches. This is a watch brand that really revolves around the American railroad industry, in a very similar way to Hamilton. Also, similarly to Hamilton they’ve shifted manufacturing to Switzerland. This move took them away from their American roots but positively increased the overall manufacturing quality of their watches.
Notable Watch Model:
Interestingly there isn’t really one watch that jumps to mind as iconic from Ball, they just aren’t as renowned as the two brands mentioned above. They do have a few models that are more popular though, it could be a toss up between their Official Railroad Watch and something like the Engineer II or Engineer III which I’ve had the pleasure to hands-on review both here at the WRB.
For more information visit the official Ball website here.
Timex
This list wouldn’t be complete without Timex. Even though this brand is not really your watch enthusiasts grail of achievement, there’s no denying that Timex is your quintessential affordable American watch brand. Even if you’re a dedicated watch collector, chances are you have some variation of a Timex in the collection, or hanging out on a desk somewhere in your house.
Timex was vaguely founded back in 1854 with the formation of the Waterbury Clock Company in Connecticut. They were focused on the production of affordable watches from the start, so not much has changed in that department since then. It wasn’t until 1950 that they rebranded officially as “Timex”, and they gained extreme popularity in the 1950’s and 1960’s due to some of their spicy watch advertisements, some of which I’ve seen in vintage magazines. Even though Timex has been budget focused since the beginning, they still innovated some neat features in the watch industry; namely Indigo nightlight technology and long life battery quartz movements.
Notable Watch Model:
Again, for such a large watch brand it’s hard to pick out one single iconic watch. I’d say it could be a toss up between something modern like the M79 Batman which actually used an automatic movement, or perhaps something like a vintage re-issue such as the Q Timex 1975 as seen here in this GQ article.
For more information visit the official Timex website here.
Lum-Tec
This brand is quite different from the others on this list. For one, it doesn’t have a generational storied history as it’s relatively new – but it’s proven itself as a worthy contender.
Lum-Tec was founded in the mid 2000s, but quickly found a niche in the watch industry by focusing speficially on luminescence technology. Their watches are well known for having outstanding readability in low-light conditions due to their special luminous coating and materials.
This brand has a bit of a military background which is quite apparent in the design of their watches. The watches generally lean on the sporty or practical side of the spectrum and less so on the classic or elegant end. In my opinion they kind of follow the same line as G-Shock watches but in more of an analog style with American design influence.
Their watches are also mainly hand assembled in the USA, which is a nice departure of some of the other brands who are now fully Swiss made. While they finish the assembly in the USA most of the complex parts such as the movements used by Lum-Tec are still of Swiss of Japanese origin.
One of the standout lume technologies from Lum-Tec is their patented Maximum Darkness Visibility (MDV) feature. This enhances luminosity and readability in low light according to the brand.
Notable Watch Model:
For a fairly new watch brand Lum-Tec has quite a few offerings. If choosing only one as a standout model, perhaps the Combat B23 Carbon or the Combat B19 Bronze would make the cut. Both embody what Lum-Tec is all about, featuring their top tier luminescence along with their robust modern military inspired field watch style.
For more information visit the official Lum-Tec website here.
Vaer
Now for the newest American watch brand on the list we have Vaer, founded in the mid-2010s. This is a very young entrant to our top 6 list, and we wouldn’t want to go any younger! Despite the fresh new entrance into the watch world Vaer has really made quite the name for itself in a short period.
As mentioned from the beginning, I’ve personally handled at least a few watches from every American watch brand on our list. I had the pleasure to review Vaer’s D5 Tropic Dive Watch and was taken aback by the level of detail and thought put into the making of this watch. Vaer is new as a brand, but they have an ear open to the watch community and are meeting some interesting niche concepts with their watch models. Another big reason we have them featured here, is due to their manufacturing process being almost entirely in USA. Most of the complex internal parts are indeed outsourced but final assembly and quality checks are done in the USA. Following modern trends, Vaer also implements sustainability and ethical practices into their watch production and brand ethos.
The watches made by Vaer have soul, and are geared towards watch collectors who want something specific that they can’t find at a reasonable price point. Technically they can be considered affordable luxury watches, but I’d say they lean more towards enthusiasts affordable watches.
Notable Watch Model:
A very notable watch model that they produce, and have a hard time keeping in stock is the G5 Meridian GMT watch. Certainly a homage to the Rolex GMT Master II, but with a few design tweaks to make it its own thing. Beyond their GMT, many of their dive watches are very popular, and they make some very attractive retro style watches such as the R1 USA Racing Chronograph.
For more information visit the official Vaer website here.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for joining us on this explorative journey deep into the American watchmaking world. As displayed on our list there’s a decent selection of both new and old watch brands to choose from. It’s up to you to decide if you’d prefer an American watch brand with a deep heritage or a new brand that’s pushing the boundaries in terms of technological innovation and modern design. We love to hear from our readers, if you feel we missed something or would like to add anything please leave us a comment below.
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