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There was a time when wearing some form of tailoring to work—a full suit, dress shirt, and tie, or a business casual look—was standard. While those rules still apply certain places, the shift toward more relaxed dressing has transformed our regular style decisions. The smart casual dress code sits front and center in that conversation.

Waldan is an American watch brand with an incredible backstory, founded in 1979 in New York City by Oscar Waldan, a holocaust survivor who learned the art of watchmaking while imprisoned in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp during WWII. His creations were sold through esteemed retailers such as Tiffany & Co., Tourneau, and Wempe, and Waldan is notably said to be part of the reason why Rolex adopted the Zenith El Primero movement in its Daytona, the El Primero being a favoured base calibre for Oscar’s own watches.

Just as in men’s fashion, the watch world experiences aesthetic cycles. Watch insiders might notice an abundance of new blue-faced watches across various brands, while other years might see the release of interesting new shapes, or perhaps new dive watches. While we won’t delve into the micro-trends, one enduring macro trend is an overarching nod to elegant dress watches.

"Made in America" is a label that is much rarer to find on products now than it was 100 years ago, and that is especially true when it comes to watches. Once a bustling industry in the U.S.A., watchmaking largely migrated away from its traditional American hubs in the early 20th Century to countries like Switzerland and Japan, which still import oodles of watches to the States every year. However, American watchmaking has been seeing a slow, somewhat quiet renaissance over the past couple decades as a new generation of trailblazing entrepreneurs, from all across the U.S., strive to bring the horological trade back to these shores.

New York based Waldan Watches has a pretty rich history in the watch space. One of its latest offerings is a colorful sport watch with a unique textured dial that looks miles ahead of its price point. The quartz watch features a linear oil pressed dial with thin baton hands and applied indices. The watch truly has a look dedicated to its design, and it doesn’t break the bank at $299 USD.

Pink has been a popular color for ages. Usually associated with femininity and beauty it’s a go to shade in fashion, accessories, and makeup. For a long time it was mostly only associated with women, but overtime it has earned a more unisex function as we see more men’s clothing and accessories available in pink hues.

Watches under $500 run the gamut, from entry-level G-Shocks to lower-end offerings from big names like Seiko and Citizen, but my choice is something of a unique proposition at the price point: An American-assembled everyday watch that also happens to feature a fully USA-made quartz movement. The Waldan Heritage Sportline is that watch, and its classic good looks, just-right dimensions, and quality feel tick a lot of boxes at US$299.

Oscar Waldan’s story is one of tenacity, resilience and resourcefulness in the face of overwhelming odds. He was a teenager in his native Poland during the early days of World War II, where the Nazis’ relentless conquest of Europe began. Sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany and later the Theresienstadt concentration camp in then Czechoslovakia, Oscar would meet a Czech watchmaker named Manek who took him on as an apprentice. This encounter proved fortuitous. The camp guards confiscated all belongings from new prisoners arriving on the trains, and if there were any watches found, they would be taken to Manek and Oscar to repair.

If you’re racking your brain trying to unearth the perfect holiday gift, consider the most foolproof present of all: a watch. Watches make for ideal gifts for a few reasons. Unlike, say, a wool overshirt or a corduroy chore jacket, watches are pretty much guaranteed to fit their recipient right out of the box (and are way more impervious to moth holes and coffee spills).

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the name Waldan before. Their USA-assembled Heritage Series of daily wear watches have been well-received since their introduction, offering a pretty remarkable value proposition in a classically handsome package. But there’s a lesser-known history behind the Waldan name, one that touches on many remarkable moments in the history of the watch industry. So many, in fact, you might find it hard to believe, but such is the extraordinary legacy of Oscar Waldan. Let’s start at the beginning.

Upon entering this crazy hobby of ours, one tends to immediately be pulled by the allure of timeless design. Watches from the ’60s and ’70s that live on and are lusted over decade after decade. Sadly, what we as beginners soon realise is that timeless design and affordability tend to live on opposite sides of the spectrum. But luckily, that isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, a brand presents us with both in a perfect little package. Which is exactly what we get with the Waldan Heritage Collection.

New York native Andrew Waldan’s career in timepieces was written in the stars: he attended his first BaselWorld fair in a pram, and spent his childhood in the offices of the family business, Waldan Watches. He shadowed the watchmakers and designers whenever he had a chance. Even his schooling centered around the business, being sent to a French school on the Upper East Side so that he could learn the most useful language for the industry.

Originally founded by Oscar Waldan in 1979, New York-based Waldan Watch Company is enjoying a renaissance under the guidance of Oscar’s son, Andrew Waldan, who revived the dormant brand during the challenging year of 2020. Thus far, Waldan consists of two distinctive sub-families within the flagship Heritage Collection: the dressy Professional, and the more casually colorful Sportline, which has a Nautilus-like lined-texture motif on the dials.

The new Heritage Sportline models feature eye-catching dials executed in Olive Khaki, Royal Blue and Champagne. The oil-pressed, linear style dials feature SuperLuminova above their baton-styled applied markers and show the time with matching baton hands with luminous tips.

Winter's dragged on ever since that damn groundhog declared the season must be extended. But, brighter, warmer weather's on the horizon. For half of the country, it's already here. Good for you. Enjoy those 80-degree days, Angelenos. Below you'll find optimistic watch dials (green!), an updated mask, a colorful overshirt, a connected timekeeper, a practical jacket and plenty more.

Many of the high-quality, now-vintage watches Waldan made were private labels with names like Tiffany & Co. on the dials. Now revived under his son's leadership, the brand is making its own branded watches again, starting with attractive and affordable models, like the Heritage Professional, using American-made quartz movements.

If you are an American like me, then one brand you definitely should dig into is Waldan watches. Waldan utilises “Ameriquartz” movements, made in the USA, to power their highly attractive and affordable Heritage Professional wristwatches that are great for any new collectors on a budget – or even seasoned collectors looking for a bit of fun.

First came blue, but watchmakers have a new muse: green dials, now found on dressy vintage reissues, modern sport watches and every timepiece in between. There is no single single green, of course, but whether khaki, olive, forest or that hue apparently specific to British race cars, it's a color that effortlessly lends watches a feeling of natural, calming elegance.

The Heritage Professional, which is comprised of a few dial colors with a similar layout, hits the sweet spot for a dressy sport watch with a quartz movement. 40mm wide, only 8.6mm thick (and 7.5mm wrist-to-crystal) with a lug-to-lug of mm is sure to please a variety of wrist sizes.

American-based Waldan has added a trio of eye-catching pastel-dialed models to its Heritage Professional series of dressy, 40mm quartz-powered steel watches.

Oscar Waldan learned the watch industry from the inside, working with the top names in Switzerland before establishing his own brand in the 1970s. Now run by his son, Waldan’s newest models combine midcentury styling and Swiss finishing with American-made quartz movements.

Though Waldan was established in 1979, it's got a story that goes farther back and a newly reinvigorated image that looks to a future of American-made watches. The Heritage collection has a cool retro feel, great build quality and a quartz movement that's produced in the USA.

If the other watches on this list are combat fatigues, this one—whose polished steel case and dial evoke the “Dirty Dozen” watches of WWII—is a set of crisp dress blues.

During these past few weeks, eyeing my wrist has been pleasurable – and relaxing. I’ve been wearing a Waldan Heritage Professional watch with an off-white dial, and this 40mm watch’s clean time-only face requests very little from my brain. I’m lulled by its familiar, soft color and plainspoken display, which immediately registers the hour, minutes and seconds…and then seems to back off.

In a world where we all carry the most accurate pocket watches ever made (smartphones), there is no urgency to spend thousands of dollars on a timepiece. So to the broader marketplace, we hear you. But we also want you to be able to join in on the fun, so I have compiled yet another list of watches under $1000 USD that I believe will also get the nod from watch snobs.

The newer models see the younger Waldan reposition the company for broader appeal and accessibility. Coming in two dial designs (Professional and Sportline), the new Heritage family lets the brand accomplish its goal of offering a watch that is as American as possible. And with that, they’ve chosen to use a quartz movement from AmeriQuartz.

The story of Waldan Watches is one of passion and, initially, survival. Oscar Waldan was a Polish boy in his late teens when World War II broke out. When the war began, Oscar was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, where he ended up meeting a watchmaker named Manek who took him under his wing and made Oscar an apprentice. As Andrew Waldan, son of Oscar Waldan and CEO and Head of Design at Waldan Watches, tells it, Manek taught Oscar the basics of watchmaking—a skill that deemed Oscar useful at the camp and ultimately allowed him to survive the war.

Discovering the next generation of watchmakers in new places is an important way to add much-needed talent and new creative viewpoints to the field. The Horological Society of New York, America's oldest watchmaking guild, is adding to its program of financial aid for those who want to study the craft. HSNY recently named two new scholarships in its growing roster: The Benjamin Banneker Scholarship for Black Watchmaking Students and the Oscar Waldan Scholarship for Jewish Watchmaking Students. HODINKEE recently spoke with Aldis Hodge and Andrew Waldan, two industry leaders behind the scholarships.

Waldan is a company with real history behind it, now being relaunched featuring American-made quartz movements (with plans for mechanical ones in the future). If it's not the year for a major purchase, Waldan's Heritage collection offers some interesting and attractive options.

The revival of heritage watch brands is always exciting, but for U.S.-based watch collectors, the revival of classical American watchmakers is all the more so. As much is true for New York-based Waldan Watches, which in 2016 transferred leadership from the man who founded it in 1979, Oscar Waldan, to his up-and-coming son, Andrew Waldan. In its path forward, the brand is making the transition back to its American roots with the introduction of the new Heritage Collection.

"These watches are only the beginning," he says of the American Made line he launched to commemorate his father's legacy.

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.

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.

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.