Davosa watches have only been around since the 90s. So how can the brand claim to have a 200-year heritage? Find out here.
For some people, collecting watches can border on the obsessive. And that’s ok!
After all, you don’t necessarily have to burn a hole in your pocket to collect timepieces. Davosa will tell you that.
You can soon build up a neat collection of timepieces once you get acquainted with this brand. They don’t break the bank and are pretty stylish, too. The brand offers a broad range of styles to choose from, and for once, it doesn’t feel like a budget brand.
Davosa is a brand that seems to fly under the radar. Many of its watches are homage watches, offering enthusiasts an affordable take on popular Rolex models. If you read up on Davosa’s ethos, you’ll see that its focus has always been on making quality, wallet-compatible timepieces.
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Where Are Davosa Watches Made?
When you invest in a watch, no matter how cheap or expensive, you want to know where it’s made. So, where are Davosa watches made?
Davosa is a Swiss brand, so it manufactures its timepieces in the heart of Switzerland, despite its head office residing in Germany.
The brand claims it assembles all its watch parts by hand. Also, its modified ETA movements are all fine-tuned, ensuring they pass Swiss standards. You can also read up on how it sources all its parts from within Switzerland.
When you strap on a Davosa watch, you’re celebrating the heritage and history of the brand.
History, you say? How can such a young brand have a “real” history? Well, there is more than meets the eye with Davosa watches. Here’s why.
A Brief History of Davosa Watches
To cut a long story short, Davosa, as we know it, arrived in the 1990s. But its heritage runs much deeper than that. It started similarly to brands like Certina and Mido.
Back in 1861, in a small Swiss village in the Jura Mountains, Abel Frédéric Hasler set up a business. He began making watch cases with his six sons.
One of Hasler’s sons set up his own independent company in the 1940s and began making his watches and movements.
The brand became well-known in America before the second generation took over during the 1960s. This era, however, marked a difficult period for many watch companies, not just Hasler.
The quartz revolution got real, swallowing up large proportions of the Swiss watch industry. Luckily, the company was able to navigate these difficulties, but the Hasler company collapsed in the 1990s. Then, a German businessman named Bohle marked its revival in 1993.
Its name? Davosa.
Is Davosa a Good Watch Brand?
But is Davosa a good watch brand?
The consensus among those who have worn Davosa watches is that they’re good quality timepieces. This Swiss company’s designs are high-spec and mid-priced, constituting a great alternative to the more expensive Omega or Panerai.
Aside from its homage watches, the brand offers some pretty cool dive watches. We’ll take a look at the most popular collections from Davosa shortly.
Although it turns out the Davosa name is still relatively young, the brand’s heritage is much richer and older.
That’s always a good thing when investing in a brand. You want the reassurance that it knows how to make a watch. And Davosa certainly knows how to make a watch. Affordably.
Suffice it to say, you shouldn’t let the brand’s cheap prices put you off. The company uses a range of high-quality materials like sapphire crystal, titanium, and ceramic to manufacture some very substantial wristwatches.
I like the fact that it remains conscious about pricing, too. Davosa is similar in price to other entry-level Swiss brands, making it a highly competitive option on the market.
Did You Know?
It may surprise you to learn that Davosa partnered up with Tissot in 1961. It was a good job, too! Because the quartz crisis was sweeping in, it gradually swallowed up any watch brand that showed signs of weakness.
Quartz movements were the order of the day, which caused many mechanical watch brands to collapse under pressure. Partnering with Tissot proved to be the right decision for Davosa. It granted the brand access to Tissot’s technology and its automatic winding mechanisms just in time.
Davosa doesn’t just specialize in dive watches, either. The manufacturer is no one-trick pony.
It offers a pretty broad range of sports and outdoor watches, too. These wristwatches appeal to athletes, mountain climbers, hikers, swimmers, and climbers alike.
5 Popular Davosa Watch Collections
Here’s a quick run-down of the brand’s key watch categories, starting with their specialty — dive watches!
Davosa Dive Watches
According to Davosa, its dive watches rely on “absolute water tightness”. They’re also easy to operate and come equipped with features like helium escape valves and tritium gas tubes on their dials.
The Argonautic Lumis watch, for example, promises exceptional luminosity, while the Ternos Ceramic is an ideal alternative to the Rolex Submariner.
Glossy ceramic bezels and 200-meter water-resistant cases are aplenty in Davosa’s dive watch category. You can even pick yourself up the Vintage Diver with a very apt curved crystal and aluminum bezel inlay.
Davosa Performance Watches
If you’re looking for a compact and lightweight watch, the brand’s Trailmaster is a winner. Weighing less than 100 grams, this model from the brand’s Performance category is sleek but deceivingly tough.
Then there are designs like the Military Automatic, with oversized hour markers that deliver maximum legibility for mission-based pursuits. Davosa also covers a lightweight option, thanks to its many titanium watches, varying from the ultra-masculine to the dressy.
For adventure-seekers, the Davosa Axis watch constitutes a tough, highly visible tool. Inspired by the axis deer, black-plated options and Super-LumiNova details play a key role in defining these models.
If you’re sporty and want an impactful, noticeable design on your wrist, check out the Speedline. These models pack a punch on the wrist with tachymeter scales and bold, punchy injections of color.
Davosa Pilot Watches
Stopwatch features and moon phase displays feature in models from Davosa’s Pilot watch category. These designs take inspiration from Isaac Newton’s discovery of time. Some of the most complex movements feature within this range.
The Newton Pilot and Newton Speedometer watches, for example, are retro sportscar-inspired designs with mass appeal.
Yet for something a little more classic, the Neoteric Pilot watches come in colors of brown, blue, and black. These models come fitted on traditional vintage leather straps that pair well with smart casual attire.
Davosa Executive Watches
The Executive watch category is where you’ll find Davosa watches for travel. This is where the brand proves, most of all, that it’s not just a dive watch manufacturer.
The Gentleman Automatic is slim, dapper, and ready for business. Yet the Flatline has a quirky guilloche minute zone and a moon phase display that looks technically sophisticated.
If you want a pure travel watch, however, check out the Vireo Quartz and Dual Time collections. These feature two crowns for effortless world time zone tracking.
Davosa Ladies’ Watches
Lastly, Davosa’s range of ladies’ watches is unequivocally elegant and feminine. Choose from models like the Classic Quartz, the Arielle, or the Lunastar — the range is huge!
For exceptional clarity, the Amaranto watches are smooth, sleek, and sumptuous. More ostentatious, however, is the Dreamline II collection, with gemstone and majestic mother-of-pearl decoration.
Conclusion: Davolsa Offers Excellent Value
Davosa is a great, affordable alternative to high-end brands like Rolex, Omega, and TAG Heuer. What’s more, the brand can actually compete on a serious level with some of the industry’s entry-level Swiss watch manufacturers.
Sure, Davosa watches are cheaper, and many of them are homage watches. They’ll never compare in the eyes of true Rolex fans. But for the majority of us looking for affordable quality, Davosa is a serious mid-priced Swiss watch brand contender.
How do you rate Davosa watches? Leave your comments below, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter at The Slender Wrist today for more content like this!
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