Gruen Watch Company

I am writing this quick article from my recent purchase of a Gruen, which gives me the opportunity to learn and gives others a platform to learn about the history of a brand and what makes is so special and unique as they shop watches. This is a passion of mine and for all my readers I want to quickly say thank you for reading and enduring the process of my ever-improving writing skills.

Gruen Watch Co. was one of the largest watch manufacturers in the United States, with companies like Elgin, Illinois, and of course the mighty Hamilton. Yes, once the United States was a large player in watchmaking, not everything was held in Switzerland and once Americans wore genuine craftsmanship on the wrist and in their pockets and not just screens.

The Gruen Family and Watch Co were in business from about 1894 to 1958 when they sold their interest in the company and it moved to Switzerland under new management. Dietrich Grün (German) used his skills he learned as a watchmaker's apprentice and designed a new part of a watch movement called a safety pinion in 1874, which he took and moved to Columbus, Ohio starting Columbus Watch Manufacturing Company In partnership with W.J. Savage who was already a prominent watchmaker and businessman in the area. This was the first look at Gruen’s future and legacy, Gruen changed his name to the American Spelling. During this time they would receive movements and add Gruen’s safety pinion. Of course, they eventually went on to start manufacturing their own movements in 1882.

But in 1894 Dietrich Gruen left the Columbus Watch Company to start D. Gruen & Son with his son Frederick eventually changing it to Sons when later his second son George joined the company and finally in 1922 the Gruen Watch Company came to be. By the mid-twenties, Gruen’s sales had reached over five million dollars. In total sales, it had become the largest watch company in the United States. The Gruen family have created a legend in time, a masterpiece of affordable craftsmanship and business. By buying Gruen you are putting the family’s history, a long line of accomplishments and triumphs over all odds on your wrist. You aren’t just wearing a watch but a piece of American history as well as a piece of a staple in horology itself.

A quick side piece I found out while researching Gruen was their invention of the “Curvex” wristwatch in around 1935. The Curvex is the company's most famous design. Expanding on the then-current fashion for long, rectangular wristwatch shapes, the Curvex watches were curved to wrap around the wearer's wrist. The biggest innovation of the design was to place a curved movement inside the curved case, allowing the watch to be thinner and more curved, and allowing the movement to be larger, more durable and more accurate than would have been possible if a smaller, flat movement was used. This is incredibly interesting and amazing to see companies in present-day attempt to do something like this, showing how much skill the Gruen Watch Company had when it came to crafting unique one of a kind timepieces.