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During a digital launch just a few weeks ago, Andrew Waldan said he wanted to remain true to his father’s vision, but recognized he need to answer today’s consumer demands. Andrew took over the family business – which he grew up in – in 2017, when his father’s health began failing. In 2018, following his father’s death, Andrew took over the ownership and reigns of the brand – working to revitalize it via a rebranding of the name, adding e-commerce and establishing a stronger digital presence. He also set his sights on the product.

One of the first names I remember hearing when I started covering watches in 2005 was that of Oscar Waldan, who passed away in 2018. The owner and operator of the New York-based Waldan International brand, which he founded in 1979, Oscar had an amazing life story and a prolific career in watches, a good deal of it overlapping with the Quartz Crisis. In fact, his fortunes in watches were forged by that crisis in an unexpected way: He saw value in mechanical watches at a time when many others didn't.

The groundwork that laid the foundation for the Waldan International watch brand goes back to the late 1970s during a period when founder Oscar Waldan supplied retailers in the United States with in-house-branded timepieces.

The story of Waldan Watches is an inspiring one. I’ve followed the progress of the company since the early days of International Watch, and with the re-birth of Waldan Watches underway, led by its new-generation leader Andrew Waldan, it’s time to review the Waldan story and introduce its latest collection.

Nobody knows when Oscar Waldan’s 100th birthday will take place. In fact, it may have passed. Such uncertainty about time is ironic for a man whom some regard as an unsung master American watchmaker of the 20th century.

Unless you’re a trained professional, it wouldn’t be considered wise to take apart a watch just to put it back together again. However, decades ago, a young Oscar Waldan, of Waldan Watches, secretly did just that with his father’s pocket watch simply to locate and diagram how the pieces fit together.

Watch!, the official magazine of CBS, recently partnered with Waldan International, one of the world's top Swiss watch makers, to auction off hand-made timepieces to benefit two non-profits. A silent auction held during the magazine's 10-year anniversary on Feb. 9 raised $10,000 in proceeds for the Museum of Tolerance and Team Rubicon Global.

Waldan International was founded by Oscar Waldan, who spent his formative years in Nazi concentration camps. While in these concentration camps Mr. Waldan was able to develop a friendship with a watchmaker who sparked his interest in watchmaking.