Look beyond Switzerland for the best wristwatches

The Swiss make great watches, but so do the German and Japanese brands. Here's all you need to know

- Bibek Bhattacharya

In my last column, I had written about the importance of the Junghans Max Bill wristwatch and its ties with Bauhaus design. That got me thinking about the diversity of world-class watchmaking outside Switzerland, specifically in Germany and Japan.

When we think of watchmaking, we (rightly) immediately think of the Swiss. That is historically fair, since Geneva has been a hub of the manufacture of timepieces since the 16th century, including the establishment of a watchmaking guild in 1601. The industry became even bigger with the Industrial Revolution.

However, in this, the Swiss weren't alone. Since the 16th century, at various points, watchmaking has flourished in Germany, France, England and the US. Whether it is Nuremberg in Germany in the early 16th century, or Blois in Renaissance-era France, the art of watchmaking has had many founding centers.

England made significant strides in the 18th and 19th centuries in precision timekeeping, and the US experienced a watch manufacturing boom in the mid-19th century, with new industrial processes posing a serious competition to Swiss manufacture for a while. And then there is Japan, where some of the best watches in the world are made these days.

For watch lovers, Japanese high-end watchmaking, particularly that of the country's two powerhouses, Seiko and Citizen, has always been more about purpose than flex.