A Guide to Italian Watch Companies

It is a fact that most of the famous watch making companies are from Switzerland. However, Italy is a homeland to some great watch companies also. Italian watch companies are known for producing high quality watches with very unique designs. Most Italian watch companies manufacture their watches with either quartz (battery powered) watch movements or automatic (self-winding) watch movements. Some Italian watch companies are manufacturing luxury watches that have the same status as high-end Swiss watch companies like Omega, Breitling, IWC, Girard Perregaux or Piaget. Italian watch companies like Officine Panerai and Bulgari have extreme popularity amongst watch collectors and watch enthusiasts. Especially Officine Panerai watches, that are extremely scarce and very collectible due to the very small production rate.

Lets start with a legendary watch company from Italy called Officine Panerai. Officine Panerai was founded in 1860 in Florence, Italy. At some point Officine Panerai was an official supplier of watches to the Royal Italian Navy. Watches from this watch company look like no any other watch. It is very easy to recognize a famous shape of the Officine Panerai watch. All of their watches are oversized compared to most other watches in the market. Recently more and more celebrities choose to wear chunky Officine Panerai watches. Another great thing about Officine Panerai watches is that they do not depreciate in value as fast as other watches. Due to their enormous popularity Officine Panerai watches can be a good investment that might even grow in value over a certain period of time. Limited edition watches from Officine Panerai are especially collectible. The prices on the most basic Officine Panerai watches start at about six thousand dollars for stainless steel watches with automatic (self-winding) watch movements and can go up to tens of thousands of dollars for limited edition watches or watches made of precious metals like gold.

Officina Del Tempo, MOMO Design and Brera Orologi are three Italian watch companies that manufacture very modern and fashionable watches at very affordable prices. They manufacture most of their watches with either quartz (battery powered) or automatic (self-winding) watch movements. Most of their watches are usually made of stainless steel and more rarely of gold. Watches from Officina Del Tempo, MOMO Design and Brera Orologi are not as collectable as Officine Panerai watches and they definitely do not grow in value over time. However, they are a lot more affordable than Officine Panerai watches and can probably fit on any budget. Watches from Officina Del Tempo, MOMO Design and Brera Orologi are probably the most affordable Italian watches that you can get in the current watch market. The prices on Officina Del Tempo watches start at about two hundred dollars for stainless steel watches with quartz (battery powered) watch movements . The prices on MOMO Design watches and Brera Orologi watches start at about six hundred dollars for stainless steel watches with quartz (battery powered) watch movements.

Finally, Bulgari is another very famous Italian company that manufacture high-end watches. Bulgari was founded in 1884 in Rome, Italy. Bulgari is not a typical watch company. As a matter of fact they are not even a watch company. Bulgari is a company that produces luxury goods like jewelry, accessories, fragrances and even cosmetics. However, of course Bulgari also manufactures high-end watches. The company's watch production subsidiary is called Bulgari Time S.A. Location of the Bulgari Time S.A. is in Neuchatel, Switzerland and it was founded in 1980. So even though Bulagri watches are Swiss made, they are Swiss only on the inside. While their exterior designs are very fashionable, sleek and represent great Italian watch designs. Just like other luxury watch companies, Bulgari manufactures very expensive watches. The prices on the most basic Bulgari watches start at about three thousand dollars for stainless steel watches with automatic (self-winding) watch movements and can go up to tens of thousands of dollars for gold watches or diamond watches.

Italian watch making industry is a very unique. Watch companies from Italy have added a lot of unique watch designs and great watch movements to the watch making industry. Italian watch companies manufacture great quality watches at very reasonable prices. Mentioned above watch companies might be less known than Swiss watch brands but they manufacture watches that are as collectible and as high quality as Swiss ones. Italian watch companies like Officine Panerai, Officina Del Tempo, MOMO Design, Brera Orologi or Bulgari are definitely great alternatives to more famous Swiss watch companies like Tag Heuer, Oris, Zenith, Breitling, Omega or Longines.