The watches coming out of Glashütte might be one of the best kept secrets of the watch world. The small town is the Mecca of German watchmaking, and it’s giving Switzerland a run for its money.

Switzerland is not particularly big, but it’s certainly the home to some of the biggest watch brands in the world. Take La Chaux de Fonds, for example. The small Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel doesn’t even have a total population of 40,000. But the town has given birth to some serious heavyweights of watchmaking, including Movado, Omega, and Rolex, to name a few.

But there’s even a smaller town, that’s even more obscure, that might just be more relevant for the watch industry today - especially considering that some Swiss brands are struggling to find their feet in the current economic climate.

That town is Glashütte, nestled in Eastern Germany and hugging the Czech border. Glashütte is the German equivalent to Neuchâtel, as much the cradle of German watchmaking as Neuchâtel is to Swiss watchmaking.

A few months ago we wrote that the German brand would be making a push this year. And Glashütte is the base of that offensive.

The East German town is home to just over 7,000 people. It’s also the home to the big boys of German watchmaking, including the likes of Nomos, Glashütte Original, and A. Lange & Söhne.

About a year ago I had the pleasure to meet Luca Dondi of A. Lange & Söhne. He had come from two borders over - from Italian Formula 1 giants Ferrari - to take on the new challenge as the brand’s European General Director, including Russia and the East. He spoke with German confidence - and Italian swagger - of the brand’s ambitions.

And he wasn’t far off point.

Overall, there is a lot of global potential coming out of Glashütte. The town produces tens of thousands of watches each year. But these aren’t introductory level Swatch watches - the town is focused on the high end. A. Lange & Söhne, for example, fancies itself as a direct competitor to Swiss giant Patek Philippe. You would need to dish out 5 digits easily – if not more - to get your hands on one.

The big German brands are increasingly trying to assert themselves on the global market. But they’re doing it with caution.

The Asian market has been a double edged sword for the Swiss; it’s their biggest export market, so when China falters, so does the Swiss watch industry. The high value of the Swiss franc hasn’t helped much there.

Relying on a relatively weaker euro – meaning relatively lower production costs – and comparable expertise and execution, German brand are poised to push for global pre-eminence. For instance, in our exclusive CEO survey, Wilhelm Schmid of A. Lange & Söhne remained optimistic that growing global wealth will ultimately benefit German mechanical watchmaking.

For the time being, we can only appreciate the growth of the Glashütte brands in recent years. Reading each brand’s history on their websites give you a good idea why.

During World War Two, watch these companies were dissolved or repurposed. During the Soviet days, it was brands like Poljot, Slava, Raketa, Pobeda that flooded the Soviet space. Named after “flight”, “glory”, “rocket” and “victory” respectively, those Soviet brands carried with them the victories of the war.

But the battle of today’s luxury watches is still going strong. And it’s ironic that East Germany has once again become the heart of luxury watchmaking in the country. Switzerland is next in the luxury watch crosshairs.