The watch register · 2026
90 watch houses from 17 countries, set out by the year each was founded, and the groups that own them today. Buying advice by style, from dive watches to dress watches. And the smartwatches on today's wrists, on their makers' own figures.
TIME, TOLD STRAIGHT.
Choosing a watch
Water resistance, a turning bezel, lume you can read underwater.
A stopwatch on the dial, from racing classics to everyday sports watches.
Plain, legible, tough: the soldier’s watch that became an everyday one.
Big numerals, big crowns, made to be read in a cockpit.
Thin, quiet and under a cuff.
A second time zone at a glance, for travellers.
Good watches that do not cost a month’s rent.
By house, by colour, by shape.
The registers
Founded 1735 to 2012
Blancpain · Vacheron Constantin · Girard-Perregaux
4housesFounded 1881 to 1960
Seiko · Citizen Watch · Orient Watch Company
5housesFounded 1845 to 2001
A. Lange & Söhne · Junghans · Kollmar & Jourdan
8housesFounded 1837 to 2024
Invicta Watch Group · Waltham Watch Company · Bulova Watch Company
90housesEvery house on record, by name, from 88 RUE DU RHONE on.
Oldest first
Petrodvorets Watch Factory RussiaIndependentSaint Petersburg 305 years of watchmaking 
Blancpain SwitzerlandThe Swatch GroupPaudex 291 years of watchmaking 
Vacheron Constantin SwitzerlandRichemontPlan-les-Ouates 271 years of watchmaking 
Girard-Perregaux SwitzerlandSowind GroupLa Chaux-de-Fonds 235 years of watchmaking 
Bovet Fleurier SwitzerlandIndependentGeneva 204 years of watchmaking 
Baume et Mercier SwitzerlandDamianiGeneva 196 years of watchmaking Who owns what
Smartwatches
On the wrist
The Movement
A practical comparison of Oura Ring 4, Samsung Galaxy Ring, RingConn Gen 2 and Gen 2 Air, and Ultrahuman Ring AIR. Compare compatibility, subscriptions, sizing, battery claims and limitations before you buy.
Put your house on the register or your shop in front of readers choosing a watch. Correcting a fact on your page is free.
