New Pocket Watches

New Pocket Watches are beginning to make an impression in watch sales and there are some very nice examples to choose from. I am surprised by the number of people who email me asking "where can I buy a new pocket watch". However, when I look at how hard it is to buy a really good quality genuine antique pocket watch, maybe there is a place for these new watches

There is a growing threat to the image and quality of pocket watches coming onto the market now, namely cheap quartz watches from China that appear to be flooding the market and bringing the whole pocket watch industry down. Remember when cheap LED watches were dumped onto the market in the 1970s, the effect on the quality mechanical watch industry was devastating. Hopefully we are not seeing a rerun of those days.

So some advice I would certainly give to anyone looking to buy new pocket watches is first and foremost, make sure that what you are buying has a quality mechanical movement inside the case. I would much prefer to buy a good quality Swiss mechanical movement, but having said that, if its accuracy that you are after then quartz maybe your best option. There are some very nice watches from the likes of Euro Geneve that would fit the bill nicely.

I will give you a list of mechanical watches that I consider are of reasonable quality and would make a good purchase, of course the final decision is up to you and I am not endorsing any of these products.

Charles Hubert makes a range of mechanical watches that is very well priced and good looking too. Including skeleton, hunter and half hunter models, these appear to offer good value for the pocket watch buyer.

In the quartz department, Euro Geneve make some really stunning solid gold pocket watches, they are quite expensive and personally I don't like the fact that they have a quartz movement, but nevertheless they are still nice looking watches.

There are actually quite a few brands of new pocket watches, here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the better ones:

Avalon Watch Company: Makes all mechanical pocket watches and have been making pocket watches for over 50 years.
Bellagio bel tempo: Another manufacturer that has been around for about 55 years, Bellagio makes a range of interesting mechanical pocket watches including ones with a sun & moon dial and skeleton movement.
Jean Marcel: Makes some very nice and good quality watches, made in the home of watch making; Switzerland.
National Watch Company: Makes some 'old' looking new watches that are a combination of Swiss quality and American design style. Some of their watches look very like the old watches of Elgin, Waltham and Hamilton. Their dials have large numbers making them ideal for someone who is perhaps visually impaired.

I am currently working on finding a supplier of pocket watches so that I can possibly offer them for sale here on Antique Pocket Watch. Until then, if you are interested in finding these makers, I suggest simply searching for "new pocket watches" (including the "") in Google, where you will easily find them for sale.

Happy Collecting!