A growing collection of watchmakers who aren't owned by anyone.
From a €45 field watch made in Delhi to a €3 million one-of-one from the Vallée de Joux.
Watches we'd actually buy with our own money.
A parallel tradition, not an imitation.
No team. No factory. Just one person and a bench.
Founded after 2020. Making noise already.
Independent watchmaking is a global thing. Hover a dot to explore.
Swatch Group owns Omega, Breguet, Blancpain, Longines, Tissot, Hamilton, Harry Winston, and controls ETA, which supplies movements to most of the industry.
Richemont owns Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Panerai, Piaget.
LVMH owns TAG Heuer, Hublot, Zenith, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co.
In 1975, Zenith's owners ordered the destruction of all tooling for the El Primero, the first automatic chronograph. Quartz was the future. A foreman named Charles Vermot hid the equipment in an attic instead.
Ten years later, when mechanical watches came back, Zenith resumed production using those hidden tools.