The family owned watchmaker has recently expanded the European retail reach of its traditional men’s and ladies’ Swiss watches, looking to bank on new eastern promises.

Delbana has been around for over 80 years now, producing elegant Swiss watches that can be found at the intersection of classic luxury and affordability. The entry points for their models are usually around 220 Swiss francs (190 Euros) and range up to 450 Swiss francs (390 Euros). That’s a decent proposition considering the Swiss made (quartz) movements inside and additional features like sapphire glass on the dial side.

In short, brands like Delbana are what makes me skepctical every time I discover a new start-up promising “affordable and classic Swiss luxury watches”. Delbana has been already delivering on that promise for decades, and they have the added benefit of history and experience on their side, making it all the more difficult for today’s pretenders to penetrate the same market.

The family-owned watchmaker was first set up in 1931 by Goliardo Della Balda, who ventured away from San Marino to Grenchen, Switzerland. From the beginning, the brand was focused on creating elegant and affordable timepieces.

Today, one of the brand’s more prominent collections is the relatively new Fiorentino line, which is distinctly vintage inspired. The line combines the company’s design visions from the 1940s and 1950s, sporting a classic case shape and dial design with large Arabic numerals.

Among the leading lines for the ladies is the graceful Sevilla range, which remains an attractive watch for those looking for a solid value precision with quality and style to boot.

Based on the recent success of those models, Delbana is now looking to bank on the potential of the East. Not the Far East, in this case, but Eastern Europe.

After a fortuitous meeting at Baselworld 2017, a new partnership developed between the watchmaker and a key distributor in Poland. That resulted in an agreement which will see the Delbana range of watches become available across six fine watch shops in the country.

Not only with these two collections but across the board, the Swiss watchmaker appears to be channeling classic design roots and that’s a good strategy. After all, that core style has brought the brand success for nearly a century now.

With an excellent value to price ratio, a solid heritage, and an expanding retail presence in Europe and globally, 2018 could be an even bigger year for this relatively small watchmaker.