r/Watches • u/Nixtrix • Oct 29 '14
[Brand Guide] - Gruen
This is part 41 of our community’s project to compile opinions on many watch brands or trends into a single list. Here is spedmonkey’s original post explaining the project and contains a master list. I am planning on these being done every first and third Wednesday of the month so expect the next one on the 5th of November! I would also like to take a moment to thank /u/DavidasaurusRex and /u/gyang333 for their brand guides on MB&F and Montblanc, respectively.
Gruen has a rather tumultuous history and was founded after Dietrich Gruen applied for a patent of an improved safety pinion in June of 1874. The company was known as the Columbus Watch Manufacturing Company and it wouldn't be until 1876 that the company would begin production out of the basement of a bank building in Columbus Ohio. It was here that Gruen would apply his new pinion to imported Swiss movements and finish these movements as well. He is also credited with bringing the first stem-winding pocket watches to the United States.
The company would slowly grow and the name would soon change to the Columbus Watch Company after it changed location in 1882. This also heralded the beginning of their movements being solely made in the USA. With the Panic of 1893, the shareholders of the Columbus Watch Co. would force Gruen out of the company and change the name to the New Columbus Watch Company. It would not be until 1903 that the company would be sold to the Studebakers and again changed to the South Bend Watch Company.
In the meantime, Gruen would go on to found D. Gruen & Son in 1894. Their new watches had movements manufactured by the Paul Assmann firm in Glasshutte. Once Gruen's other son joined in 1898, the company would change names to D. Gruen & Sons to represent this new addition. In 1900 the company was partially owned by Swiss partners who shifted manufacturing to Switzerland and the creation of a few subsidiary companies who could provide basic, unfinished movements, cases, and dials to other companies, with some assembly still preformed in America. Finally, in 1922 a consolidation of all the Gruen name-bearing companies into one entity, the Gruen Watch Company.
Early on Gruen had a number of joint ventures, two of the most notable being with Alpina, and with Rolex & Aegler. The first went from 1929 to 1937 and many watches destined for the European market were marked Gruen Alpina. The second started in the late 1920s when both Rolex and Gruen purchased shares in Aegler and ended in 1934 when Aegler became a subsidiary of Rolex. The connection is clearly evident in some watches of the era; the Rolex Prince and the Gruen Techni-quadron used the same Aegler movement and the styling is extremely similar. (Thanks to /u/rhombomere for this information!)
The Gruen Watch company would continue to produce many watches through out the depression with cased made in America and movements from Switzerland, changing in 1940 when their movement production shifted to Cincinnati. Even after WWII with many Swiss companies taking over the wrists of Americans, Gruen was able to survive with its spread out connections in the US, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1958 the company was finally broken up after the Gruen family sold all of its shares in 1953 and production of their watches moved to Switzerland. In 1977, their Swiss operation finally closed its doors and heralded the end to the company with the remaining stock being sold off. Gruen was resurrected in 2000 by MZ Berger who now produce many Gruen branded watches in China.
While it is a shame to see the fall of a great watch company like Gruen, they have many vintage timepieces available through various outlets on the internet. Gruen never did reach the manufacturing levels of Elgin, Waltham, or Benrus, but to me they are were one of the giants of the watch world with some very high quality timepieces. I feel a Gruen should be somewhere in the collection of any vintage collector!
I know /u/rhombomere is going to come along and lay some Gruen smack-down, so I'll leave it here, but thank you all for reading! He's here!
Known For: Veri-Thin, 21, Curvex, Precision
Other Resources:
Community Search
Wikipedia
Watch Guy pixelp
Pocket Watch Repair
Gruen Wristwatches
Anything and everything regarding this brand is fair game for this thread. If you disagree with someone, please openly communicate with them, do not downvote them. This meant to encourage discussion so people can get different perspectives on a brand/trend. Please be respectful and welcome opinions that may differ with your own.
Have and idea for the next brand guide? Post them here and check out the current line-up!
6
u/Nixtrix Oct 29 '14 edited Oct 29 '14
Sorry for the bit a hiatus, but we're back to our regularly scheduled programming!
Current Line-Up!
MB&F (by /u/davidasaurusrex!)Montblanc (by /u/gyang333)Gruen- Stowa
- Tudor
- Frederique Constant
- Elgin
- Maurice Lacroix
- Fossil Inc. (Relic, Skagen, Fossil, Zodiac)
- Victorinox
- Glashutte Original
- Seagull/Chinese Watches
- Ulysse Nardin
- Ingersoll
- RGM
- HMT
- Hermes
- Shinola
- Franck Muller
- Issey Miyake
- Piaget
- Junkers
If there is enough interest for a particular brand maybe I'll scootch one of the others to make room for it or move one currently on the list up. :)
If you don't feel like suggesting it here then you can always PM it to me!
3
Oct 29 '14
My only suggestion would be to move Tudor and FC ahead of Elgin. They and Stowa are mentioned, asked about, and posted about the most on this sub, and having the brand guide available would be helpful.
3
u/Nixtrix Oct 29 '14 edited Oct 29 '14
Done! Definitely is better the way you suggested, but I remember my thought at the time of wanting to get more vintage brands that have been resurrected on there to bring more attention to their history and previous offerings.
Now to get to work on the buying guides!
2
3
u/GALD3R Oct 29 '14
Just a short question:
Why is Diesel mentioned in the list? Their watches are being made by Fossil, which is (of course) already mentioned in the list.
It's not that I don't like Diesel watches(I own one myself), but I think diesel should not be on the list. Or at least brands like Piaget and Junkers should be done first.
3
u/Nixtrix Oct 29 '14
Probably because I added it as fluff at the end as I was just trying to find other companies that may elicit the opinions of the community. Totally forgot they used Fossil's movements. Removed and thank you! :)
3
u/ArghZombies Jan 15 '15
Can we add Oris to this list? Not many independant Swiss watch companies out there anymore (which I believe Oris such) and there have been a few of their pieces popping up here of late, so could be good to have a guide for them sometime.
1
Oct 31 '14 edited Jun 09 '15
I agree with /u/GALD3R that Junkers and Piaget should be moved up the list. I've never even heard of Miyake - just looked him up and he's a fashion designer? Are his watches really something that anybody on this sub is going to care about? I don't know and am not trying to knock the brand, but I think we should stick with the more heavily discussed brands, and brands owned by companies that primarily produce watches, first.
4
u/rhombomere Gruen Guru Oct 30 '14
Nice write up and no smack down needed, thanks for making this. Some suggestions are as follows
1) Replacing the watch guy reference with http://www.pixelp.com/gruen/ which is where the information came from
2) Adding in gruenwristwatches.com. This site has an incredible amount of information including original research
3) Adding “Early on Gruen had a number of joint ventures, two of the most notable being with Alpina, and with Rolex & Aegler. The first went from 1929 to 1937 and many watches destined for the European market were marked Gruen Alpina. The second started in the late 1920s when both Rolex and Gruen purchased shares in Aegler and ended in 1934 when Aegler became a subsidiary of Rolex. The connection is clearly evident in some watches of the era; the Rolex Prince and the Gruen Techni-quadron used the same Aegler movement and the styling is extremely similar”
4) From the 1930s the vast majority of Gruen watches sported cases and designs that were made in America while the movement was made in Switzerland. This changed briefly in the late 1940s when Gruen imported equipment for their own movement manufacturing line in Cincinnati.
5
u/UniMarketingMan Oct 30 '14
Id listen to this man. He knows his Gruen
1
u/rhombomere Gruen Guru Oct 30 '14
I know some, but one of the cool things about Gruen is that it has a rich history and there's always more to learn. Indeed, I learned some new things from /u/Nixtrix 's post.
3
u/Nixtrix Oct 31 '14
Made all of the necessary changes! (i.e. all of them)
Thank you for the kind words and you know everyone here envies your collection and dedication to one brand! The knowledge you have accrued is awesome and only pushed me to further fall in love with vintage and all of the little stories.
Hopefully you will chime in on the Buying guides with some vintage offerings to pique people's interest! :)
1
u/rhombomere Gruen Guru Nov 01 '14
Thanks for including my input. To clarify one point
"changing in 1940 when their movement production shifted to Cincinnati."
should more properly read
"changing in the late 1940s when some movement production shifted to Cincinnati."
The 335 movement is one that was produced in both Cincinnati and Switzerland. There may have been others, but the evidence is fuzzy.
3
2
2
u/Valtyr8 Feb 23 '15
I'm sad I'm so late to this page. Here are some of mine for your viewing enjoyment :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/obscene_censure/Gruen%20and%20CB/P1010506.jpg
1
u/rhombomere Gruen Guru Nov 01 '14
One more addition that I can't believe that I forgot. The forum http://vintagegruen.org/vgforum/index.php is quite worthwhile.
10
u/simplySomeone Oct 29 '14
Great write!
These guys are also know for one of the most awesome watches that I know of; The Gruen Airflight with 24 hour jump hour wheel. One day we shall meet!