Wakmann was founded in 1946 in New York City by Icek "Ed" Wakmann, a Polish-born watchmaker who had emigrated to the US in the 1930s. The firm was conceived as an importer-distributor of Swiss-movement chronographs sold under the Wakmann brand to the post-war American market, leveraging cheap Swiss movement supply and the booming US consumer demand for sporting and aviation watches.
Through the 1950s and 1960s Wakmann built its reputation on chronograph references combining Valjoux and Landeron movements with American-styled cases and dials. The most-cited vintage references include the Wakmann Triple Calendar Chronograph (Valjoux 88-based, with day, date, and month displays), the Wakmann Regatta (yacht-timer chronograph), and the Gigandet-Wakmann joint references with the Swiss movement specialist Gigandet. Wakmann chronographs were widely retailed by US department stores and jewellers through Tiffany, Mappin & Webb, and similar partners.
The firm contracted significantly during the quartz crisis of the 1970s. Original Wakmann production effectively ceased by the early 1980s, and the brand name passed through several owners before going dormant.
Modern Wakmann revivals have produced limited reissues targeted at the vintage-chronograph collector market. The reissues use Sellita SW510-based or Valjoux 7750-based movements, faithful re-creation of the original 1960s case shapes, and explicitly target collectors of the original references rather than seeking to compete in the modern luxury chronograph market.
Vintage original Wakmann chronographs trade in the $1,500-$8,000 range on the collector secondary market, with the Triple Calendar Chronograph and the Gigandet-Wakmann pieces commanding the top of that range. Modern reissue retail is approximately $1,800-$3,500 depending on movement and case material.
