When it comes to the watch industry, Switzerland is considered to reign supreme: the "Swiss made" label on the dials of this landlocked European country's watches serves as a national mark of quality and craftsmanship.
Japan and Germany also have highly respected watchmaking traditions, but what about the good old USA? While American-made goods have long been known for their reliability and inventiveness, American-made watches often fly under the radar. It’s easy to see why. After all, the industry left the US decades ago. But American-made watches are making a comeback, and today there are several stellar brands that you should know, bringing the art of watchmaking back to the States.
The best American-made watch brands cover a wide spectrum of the modern industry. From numerous microbrands created by watch enthusiasts that have sprung up over the last decade, to American brands that have brought some of their production back home from overseas, and a new generation of American watchmakers trying their hand at haute horlogerie, there is much to be excited about when it comes to US watchmaking. So, take a look at the best American-made watches available on the market today.
Best American Watchmakers
What Are American-Made Watches?
In the first half of the twentieth century, it was easy to define what American-made watches were. They were watches made in the USA, and there were plenty of them. And good ones too. Brands like Hamilton, Waltham, Gruen, and Elgin had impeccable reputations and were extremely popular with American consumers. But a number of factors, including increased competition from Swiss brands and eventually the quartz crisis, led to a rapid decline in US production starting in the mid-20th century. By the 80s, all of the aforementioned brands had either moved production to Switzerland or gone out of business entirely.
Now, 40 years later, American watchmaking is experiencing a renaissance, though it looks quite different from 100 years ago. There are not many large factories churning out American watches from scratch. In most cases, companies strive to have their watches labeled as "assembled in America from foreign parts" rather than using the more legally risky term "American-made." This isn't quite the same as producing watches here, but it is still creating jobs for Americans by bringing some work from Switzerland or Asia to the States.
Some brands go further, producing components such as dials, cases, bracelets, and even mechanical movements right in the USA. And while American watchmaking still has a long way to go before it returns to its heyday, all of the brands listed below are doing their best to make that happen, using their unique methods.
Astor + Banks
Chicago-based Astor+Banks produces high-quality sports watches at reasonable prices with classic designs.
Founded ten years ago by US military veteran Andrew Perez, Astor+Banks has firmly established itself among the leading American microbrands, largely thanks to the success of its modern and playful sports watches like the Sea Ranger and Fortitude. The brand assembles all its watches in-house at its Chicago headquarters, and while it currently uses parts sourced from Asia and Europe, it plans to incorporate more American-made components in the future.
- Year Founded: 2012
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
- Style: Diver, Field Watches
- Popular Models: Sea Ranger, Fortitude
- Price Range: $650 to $850
- Model: Fortitude
Brew
Brew boasts one of the most outspoken design languages in the industry, offering affordable retro-style watches that far surpass their price tags.
Founded in New York by designer Jonathan Ferrer, Brew is a unique brand, to say the least. Centered around a design-driven ethos and creating some of the most interesting-looking watches, the brand is inspired by coffee culture and the concept of savoring small moments in time. Brew made its name with its fun chronographs, and the final assembly of its watches takes place in New York. Like Astor+Banks, Brew also plans to bring more production stateside in the near future.
- Year Founded: 2015
- Location: New York
- Style: Sport, Chronograph
- Popular Models: Metric, Retrograph
- Price Range: $375 to $475
- Model: Metric
Haven
Indiana-based Haven has become a fan favorite with its 70s-style chronographs and business transparency.
Haven released its first watches only in 2019, but it is wasting no time becoming a darling of the watch enthusiast community. Founded by English professor Weston Cutter, the son of retired watchmaker Wes Cutter, Haven produces mechanical watches inspired by vintage motifs using premium components. The brand is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has deep ties to the Midwest, taking pride in producing as much of its watches in the country as possible. This includes the straps, which are cut in Indiana and sewn in Minnesota, and the recycled packaging, which comes from Indiana, as well as the assembly, regulation, and pressure testing of the watches performed by the brand's in-house watchmaker Donovan Raye.
- Year Founded: 2019
- Location: Indiana
- Style: Chronograph, Casual
- Popular Models: Chilton, Lomax
- Price Range: $1,800 to $2,000
- Model: The Chilton
J.N. Shapiro
Known for its guilloché patterns and use of rare metals, J.N. Shapiro spends over 150 hours decorating movements and finishing dials.
While most American watch brands can't go beyond final assembly at home, J.N. Shapiro is an exception. Josh Shapiro, a former school teacher, trained for years in the art of engine turning movements. For centuries, this practice has been used to create guilloché patterns on watch dials, and Shapiro maintains this tradition... in Los Angeles. Using a manual rose engine lathe, Shapiro finishes the dials himself - each taking over 150 hours. He also decorates his movements and even created his own guilloché style - Infinity, which has become the brand's signature. In his latest releases, he has become even bolder, creating his own cases from tantalum - a rare, expensive, and difficult-to-machine material.
- Year Founded: 2018
- Location: Los Angeles
- Style: Dress, Luxury
- Popular Models: Resurgence, Infinity
- Price Range: $70,000 to $85,000
- Model: Resurgence
Kobold
A favorite among explorers and adventurers, Kobold manufactures its rugged cases in-house and is one of the "older" American brands.
If you crave adventure, then Kobold is the American brand for you. The brand's motto is "Embrace Adventure," and its watchmakers have summited Everest over 20 times. In other words, they walk the walk. Founded in 1998 by 19-year-old German entrepreneur Michael Kobold, the company has come a long way. The brand produces its own cases at Merry Oaks Farm near Pittsburgh, and its watches have been featured in a pair of "Mission: Impossible" films. Perhaps most notably, Kobold collaborated with Sir Ranulph Fiennes - the greatest living explorer - to create the iconic (and American-made) Polar Surveyor chronograph.
- Year Founded: 1988
- Location: Los Angeles
- Style: Tool, Diving, Chronograph
- Popular Models: Polar Surveyor Chronograph, Soarway Diver, Phantom SL
- Price Range: $3,500 to $49,000
- Model: Polar Surveyor Chronograph
Lorier
Lorier produces some of the best mid-century-inspired pilot and diver watches for a microbrand and others.
Since 2018, husband and wife Lorenzo and Lauren Ortega have been producing some of the best vintage-style watches from their headquarters in New York. As a microbrand, Lorier is more popular and well-known than most others and continues to gain momentum with each new release. Drawing inspiration from sports and pilot watches from the 50s and 60s, the company still manages to bring its own unique design language to each watch without appearing too pretentious. However, Lorier's ethos extends beyond aesthetics, focusing on feel as well: it uses plexiglass crystals that would be very similar to its mid-century inspirations.
- Year Founded: 2018
- Location: New York
- Style: Diver, Vintage, Pilot, Chronograph
- Popular Models: Neptune, Hyperion
- Price Range: $500 to $600
- Model: Hyperion II
Lum-Tec
The in-house brand of a renowned watch component manufacturer, Lum-Tec relies on military aesthetics and superb proprietary luminescent dials.
Lum-Tec arguably has the largest American production among all modern brands. Lum-Tec is the in-house brand of Wiegand Custom Watch, a factory in Ohio that produces OEM parts for watches for over 100 brands worldwide, including some that it produces from design to finished product. Naturally, Lum-Tec watches are manufactured at the Mentor factory, and the brand's watches focus on a tactical and military aesthetic. At the heart of Lum-Tec watches is the lume used in the watches: a proprietary MDV MAXLÜM formula that is extremely bright and glows for 24 hours.
- Year Founded: 2008
- Location: Ohio
- Style: Field, Diver, Chronograph
- Popular Models: Vortex, Combat, RPM
- Price Range: $450 to $2,000
- Model: Vortex D2
Mk II
Mk II has been around for over two decades, specializing in producing watches for brands like Rolex and Omega.
Mk II was founded 20 years ago as the first company to produce parts and customization services for watches from other brands. After helping to birth the modding movement, this Pennsylvania-based brand founded by watch enthusiast Bill Yao has evolved into one of the first microbrands. Today, Mk II produces vintage-inspired tool watches in two distinct lines: (mostly) original Ready To Wear models and the high-end Benchcrafted series, the latter being meticulously hand-assembled and tested in Mk II's workshop.
- Year Founded: 2002
- Location: Pennsylvania
- Style: Field, Sport, Diver
- Popular Models: Cruxible, Stingray II
- Price Range: $649 to $940
- Model: Cruxible
Nodus
Nodus, founded by childhood friends in Los Angeles, specializes in producing versatile and well-crafted tool watches with unique and original designs.
Founded in 2017 by a pair of twenty-something watch-loving friends, Wes Kwok and Cullen Chen, Nodus from Los Angeles brings a young, fresh perspective to one of the world's oldest industries. The brand specializes in tool and sport watches, releasing divers, pilot watches, and field watches with whimsical designs, playful colors, and a refreshing splash of originality. Nodus designs and prototypes its watches in California, outsources the components for machining, and then conducts final quality control, assembly, and regulation itself. It's a rapidly growing brand committed to American craftsmanship, so expect Nodus to make a lot of noise in the near future.
- Year Founded: 2017
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- Style: Field, Sport, Diver
- Popular Models: Sector Field, Sector Deep
- Price Range: $450 to $600
- Model: Sector Field
Oak & Oscar
Small team Oak & Oscar makes big watches, collaborating with local American brands for many of their releases.
One of the most renowned American watch brands to emerge in the past decade, Oak & Oscar is the second brand on this list hailing from Chicago. Positioned as an entry-level luxury brand with prices in the $1.5k-$2k range, Oak & Oscar is known for producing as much of its product as possible in the Second City and its surroundings. Founded in 2015 by Chase Fancher, the brand collaborates with companies in Chicago and Fort Wayne to produce straps and watch wallets and boasts its own classically trained Director of Watchmaking, Nathan Bobinchak. Recently, the brand has become more active in using local production, crafting bezels and hand-finished dials for their limited-edition Humbolt Seven Year watches.
- Year Founded: 2015
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
- Style: Sport, GMT, Diver
- Popular Models: Humbolt GMT, Jackson Big Eye
- Price Range: $1,500 to $3,100
- Model: Humbolt GMT
Orion
Founded by watchmaker Nick Harris, Orion is a great mid-tier brand with excellent build quality and durability.
Orion is an American microbrand that takes watchmaking seriously. So seriously, in fact, that its founder, Nick Harris, started the brand in 2016 partly to fund a watchmaking program he was studying at the time. The brand's stated goal is to bring watchmaking back to the US, and the Pennsylvania-based brand is doing quite well. Harris has always assembled Orion watches in-house and has manufactured his own components whenever possible, but for the recently released Tesseract model, he went even further, partnering with other local watchmakers who machine and hand-finish their extremely complex dials right here in the US.
- Year Founded: 2015
- Location: Pennsylvania
- Style: Sport, Dress, Diver
- Popular Models: Hellcat, Calamity
- Price Range: $700 to $1,600
- Model: Hellcat Burgundy
Pelton
Pelton is one of the only brands producing its own cases and bracelets. It's a true "Made in USA" brand, distinguished by luxury quality.
When it comes to brands that intend to produce their own components, we have Pelton. Founded in Detroit by Deni Mesanovic in 2016, Pelton machines its cases and bracelets on CNC starting from a block of raw metal. Mesanovic, who also founded the Detroit-based audio company Mesanovic Microphones, assembles and hand-finishes all watches himself. The bracelet of the Perseus model, a sports watch inspired by Gérald Genta, similar to the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, is the only metal watch bracelet made in the USA.
- Year Founded: 2016
- Location: Detroit, Michigan
- Style: Sport, Dress
- Popular Models: Perseus, Sector
- Price Range: $1,500 to $3,000
- Model: Perseus
RGM
Arguably the most luxurious American brand, RGM is one of the few creating its own highly complex mechanical movements.
So far, we've focused on assembling and finishing watches in the US, as well as some forms of manufacturing. But RGM takes it to a whole new level by creating its own mechanical movements. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2022, the brand from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, calls itself "America's finest watchmaker," and it's hard to argue with that claim. Founded by watchmaker Roland G. Murphy, who trained under the WOSTEP program, RGM produces not only movements but also cases and components, combining modern watchmaking technology with traditional methods like hand-bluing screws. But RGM's crowning achievement is undoubtedly its own calibers, of which there are currently four, including movements with complications such as a moon phase and even a tourbillon.
- Year Founded: 1992
- Location: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
- Style: Luxury, Dress, Dive
- Popular Models: Pennsylvania Tourbillon, Model 151, 801
- Price Range: $3,000 to $100,000+
- Model: Pennsylvania Tourbillon
Shinola
This Detroit brand brilliantly uses color and produces some of our favorite vintage-style watches in the watch world.
Ask many watch enthusiasts about Shinola, and they might cringe, partly due to the brand losing a class-action lawsuit in 2016 related to false advertising, claiming its watches were "assembled in Detroit." While the final assembly occurred at the brand's Detroit factory, it used foreign parts that the FTC felt did not meet Shinola's patriotic claims. But Shinola has come a long way from those dark days. Reborn from the ashes of a defunct shoe polish brand, Shinola has shed its old slogan and doesn't claim to be what it isn't. It still assembles its watches by hand in Detroit, providing plenty of jobs in the region. Additionally, the company has upped its product level: it recently released its first automatic watches with GMT and chronograph functions to much critical acclaim.
- Year Founded: 2013
- Location: Detroit, Michigan
- Style: Casual, Vintage, Chronograph
- Popular Models: Runwell, Canfield, Mechanic
- Price Range: $400 to $3,000
- Model: Runwell 41mm
Timex
Possibly the most iconic American watch brand, Timex produces consistently great watches at very affordable prices.
The oldest and most famous brand in this guide, Timex traces its roots back to the Waterbury Clock Company in 1854. Since 1941, the company has been known by its current name, with headquarters in Middlebury, Connecticut, and is known for producing reliable and affordable watches that "take a licking and keep on ticking." The brand's affordability is mainly achieved through overseas production, primarily in Asia, but recently Timex has returned to its American roots by releasing the American Documents line. The most expensive watches currently sold by the brand (priced at $975) are the American Documents watches, which are hand-assembled at the brand's Connecticut factory and feature two-layer dials made from US-sourced brass.
- Year Founded: 1854
- Location: Middlebury, Connecticut
- Style: Casual, Dress, Sport, Digital
- Popular Models: Q Timex, Marlin, Expedition, T80, Giorgio Galli
- Price Range: $50 to $975
- Model: Q Timex GMT
Vero
Offering excellent accessibility in its apparel and tool models, the watch company assembles, regulates, and services all its watches in Portland.
Vero's journey has been almost the opposite of many other American microbrands. Founded in Portland, Oregon, by watch enthusiast friends Chris Boudreaux and Danny Recordon, this brand started by producing most of its watch components itself, including the cases. But in 2020, Vero decided to move production to a partner in Switzerland. While this might have been a blow for fans of American manufacturing, the brand did it for a good reason: sustainability. By partnering with a more reputable manufacturer, Vero can reduce waste, benefiting everyone - including America. And before you start writing angry letters, know that Vero still assembles, regulates, and services all its watches right in Portland. Furthermore, the brand offers an extremely generous 10-year warranty on its watches, which is one of the best in the industry.
- Year Founded: 2015
- Location: Portland, Oregon
- Style: Diver, Field, Dress
- Popular Models: Open Water, The Smokey, SW-Q
- Price Range: $200 to $1,000
- Model: Open Water Dawn Patrol
Vortic
Combining history and modern inventiveness, Vortic creates its watches from restored parts of vintage American-made pocket watches.
Vortic keeps the traditions of American watchmaking alive. Founded by classmates Tyler Wolfe and R.T. Custer in 2013, this Colorado-based brand not only produces as many components as possible in-house but also literally revives the history of American watchmaking by restoring vintage movements, dials, and hands from American-made pocket watches for use in all its watches. The result is a unique blend of historical and modern American craftsmanship, unlike anything else on the market.
- Year Founded: 2013
- Location: Colorado
- Style: Vintage Style
- Popular Models: Springfield, Lancaster
- Price Range: $2,500 to $12,000
- Model: Springfield
Weiss
A student of two famous Swiss icons, Weiss produces mechanisms, dials, and cases in-house.
A graduate of the University of California, Cameron Weiss decided to become a watchmaker after college and trained under two representatives of the "holy trinity" of Swiss watchmaking - Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin. In 2013, he founded his eponymous watch brand, which was previously based in Los Angeles and is now located in Nashville. Weiss crafts all watches by hand to order, with a range of components, including the manually wound Weiss Caliber 1003 movement, hand-machined and hand-painted dials, and cases, made in-house. Recently, the brand also began producing its own bracelets (previously the watches were sold only with straps).
- Year Founded: 2013
- Location: Nashville, Tennessee
- Style: Diver, Tool, Field
- Popular Models: Standard Issue Field Watch, Standard Issue Dive Watch
- Price Range: $2,000 to $3,000
- Model: 38mm Standard Issue Field Watch