Tourby Watches

Tourby: No Marketing Machine. Just German-Made Watches Built the Way You Want Them

Tourby doesn’t do hype drops. They don’t sponsor influencers. And they definitely don’t care about “brand ambassadors.”

What they do is build fully customizable, hand-assembled mechanical watches out of Hagen, Germany — often with top-grade Swiss

movements, heat-blued hands, and Bauhaus-meets-military dial options that feel like they were made just for you.

And that’s kind of the whole point.

Tourby makes watches one at a time — for real collectors, not crowds.

Brand History: Built in Hagen, Not in a Boardroom

Tourby was founded in the mid-2000s by Jörg Schauer (not to be confused with the Schauer Watch Company), with a mission that was incredibly

unsexy — and incredibly smart:

Offer affordable, hand-finished German watches, built to order, with no retail markup, no middlemen, and no marketing fluff.

Production is done in-house in Germany. Dials, cases, and components are sourced from regional partners in the Black Forest and Glashütte regions.

Movements? Swiss (ETA or Unitas base), hand-regulated, often upgraded with Geneva stripes, perlage, and hand-finishing.

You won’t find them in stores. They sell direct. And that’s what makes the value work.

Collector Highlights: Clean, Classic, and Surprisingly Deep

  • Marine Series – Tourby’s most iconic model. Think Ulysse Nardin-style deck watches with big Roman numerals, heat-blued hands, and pocket-watch movement architecture inside 42–43mm steel cases.

  • Pilot Series / Flieger – Type A and Type B dials, fully sterile or signed, heat-blued hands, and riveted straps. No gimmicks. Just proper Flieger form.

  • Lawless Diver – A departure from the vintage stuff. 42mm tool diver with ceramic bezel, 500m WR, and tons of real-world wearability. Built like a Sinn, finished like a small-batch indie.

  • Art Deco & Small Seconds – Dressier pieces with guilloché dials, Arabic numerals, and applied indices. Look like something from a 1930s jewelry case — but with real mechanical substance behind them.

  • Custom Orders – Here’s where Tourby shines. Want a specific hand set, dial text, or color? They'll often build it. No upcharge. No hassle.

Tourby watches are built using ETA 2824-2, 6498/6497, or occasionally modified top-grade movements, all hand-assembled and regulated

in-house.

Why Collectors Should Care

  • German quality with Swiss movements — best of both worlds

  • Built-to-order customization — practically unheard of at this price

  • Transparent pricing, no fluff — what you see is what you pay

  • Classic, functional designs — not chasing fads

  • Underrated value — easily $2K–$3K quality in the $1,000–$1,500 range

  • Quiet insider credibility — not for the hype crowd, but respected in enthusiast circles

This is the kind of brand that shows up on the wrists of people who’ve done their homework.

What They’re Making Now: Still Classic, Still Custom

Tourby keeps a tight, focused lineup:

  • Marine – Classic white enamel dials, Breguet numerals, exhibition casebacks

  • Flieger Type A/B – Matte dials, real lume, 44mm or smaller options now available

  • Lawless 42/39 – Proper dive watch specs in a German case with Swiss guts

  • Dress and Deco – Subtle, timeless design cues with sector and small-seconds layouts

  • Bespoke Models – They’ll build a lot of what you ask for — as long as it stays true to the mechanical DNA

Everything is made in small batches or to order, with lead times that reflect real assembly, not mass production.

Fed’s Take

Tourby is the microbrand that doesn’t feel like a microbrand.

I’ve sold plenty of them — and every time, the reaction is the same: “I can’t believe this costs under $2K.”

The finishing is crisp. The dials are classic. The movements? ETA Top Grade or better. And the ability to tweak it — font, logo, hands — makes it feel like

a real piece, not something you grabbed off the shelf.

If you’re tired of chasing brands and just want a watch that wears well, works hard, and looks like it’s been around longer than you have

— Tourby might just be your move.

Small Workshop. Big Value. Built for the Long Haul.

If you want a watch with German quality, Swiss reliability, and zero marketing markup, Tourby is the real-deal collector’s sleeper.

Delray Watch occasionally sources Tourby watches — especially Marine, Flieger, and Lawless references.

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