Pre-Owned Spotlight: Watches From German Brands

June 02, 2011

There s no doubt that most of us are mainly focused on Swiss(-made) watches. I also quickly scanned a few of the Pre-Owned Spotlight articles we ve done, and most of them highlight Swiss watches as well. So why not go on a little excursion and see what Switzerland s northern neighbors have to offer? There are so many well-respected German brands around, so it shouldn t be too hard to find some nice pre-owned German watches, right?Thomas already went shopping for American watches recently, and I thought it was quite a good idea to focus on a particular country. So I simply made a list of the German brands I knew and started hunting down some gems over at Chrono24. In the end, I had a long list of about 15 brands and watches, but I think I ll highlight around five of those today. All right, let s get started!Image: Mr. JoiasMontblanc SummitThe watch I d like to start with comes from a brand that I thought was Swiss. To my surprise, though, Montblanc is a German brand. Yes, it has been a part of the Swiss Richemont Group since 1993, and most of Montblanc s watches do indeed say Swiss Made on the dial. But the company s headquarters are still in Hamburg.Image: Mr. JoiasWhen I looked around for pre-owned Montblanc watches, this 38mm Summit from 2004 really stood out. Its almost-integrated-looking bracelet, the particular typeface, and the engraving right in the center of the dial speak to me, although I could ve done without the date. But the bracelet kind of reminds me of the bracelet on my Cartier Santos, and that s certainly a good thing. I also find it interesting that it doesn t have a seconds hand, but the fact that it has a quartz movement might have something to do with that. The same goes for the price because, at around $850 (4,500 Brazilian reais), it s not very expensive as far as Montblanc watches go.Image: Khan Omar (Chrono24)Laco PolerouterHere s another surprising watch, at least to me, but not because I didn t know Laco was a German brand. I just didn t associate it with anything other than pilot s watches. So when I saw this dressier piece, I was surprised that it was made by Laco. It doesn t exactly look like your regular pilot s watch.Image: Khan Oman (Chrono24)Instead, it looks very graceful with its 14K gold case and fancy welded lugs. And let s not overlook that beautiful dial. It has a combination of a checkered center and a two-tone hour track with faceted diamond-shaped and rectangular indices. When I saw it, it immediately reminded me of the Universal Geneve Polerouter, which stems from the same era, the 1950s. The dial also features a Saudi emblem at 12 o clock. That might explain why it s now for sale right across the Red Sea at an Egyptian dealer for US$2,000 (just under $1,900).Image: Watch RapportSinn 103I think it was at a get-together last year when someone showed me his pre-owned Sinn 103. It was a bit smaller than the current model, it had some wear and tear, and to be honest, it looked perfect. So now and then, I check what kind of 103s are available on the secondhand market. And of course, this model had to be part of today s list.Image: Watch RapportThe one here today is a very nice example from the 70s with a reverse panda dial. Yes, it looks a bit beaten up, but I find that the case still looks quite sharp. And so does the dial. It s powered by the hand-wound Valjoux 726, which was introduced right around the time that this watch also made its debut. You don t see too many of these around anymore, and that has its effect on the steep price of just over US$6,125 (roughly $5,650). It s a very nice example, but I think I ll keep looking for one that s a little younger and, consequently, more affordable.Image: KamashimaNOMOS GlasshtteAnother favorite German brand of mine is NOMOS. It s always a pleasure to browse through the brand s watches, especially those on the pre-owned market. One reason is that, over the years, there have been so many limited editions and collaborations. There s one limited series that caught my attention that came out last year in Japan. It s called Four Seasons, and as you can probably already guess, there are four watches in the series. They re all 35mm Tangente models, and each version has a minute track in a different color. I like that because it spices up the typically plain NOMOS dial design.Image: KamashimaThe only thing is that these are technically not pre-owned watches. As far as I can tell, they ve simply not sold out yet. But for 286,000 (approximately $1,940), I think these are very nice models to get, and each is limited to just 60 pieces.The other thing that came to mind with NOMOS was the brand s pre-owned/refurbishing program, Rare Finds. There, I found a really nice refurbished Tetra 406.9 for $1,450 with an exhibition case back. The thing that I particularly like about it is that the brass movement doesn t have rhodium plating, giving it a very nice contrast with the stainless steel case. You can t get them like this anymore, and that s why it s so nice to be able to pick up these pre-owned watches.Final wordsSo these were my favorites from my little stroll around the pre-owned watch market this time. Which German brands and particular models would you look for? Let me know in the comments below.You can also find and follow me on Instagram: @fliptheparrot