Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, I'll show you how to
pronounce 31 luxury watch brands from Italy, Switzerland, and Germany correctly.
If you're interested in this kind of stuff, please also check out our other video
about 52 luxury brands and how they're pronounced and mispronounced.
So without further ado, let's jump right in alphabetically.
We start with A. Lange & Söhne. It's a German watch brand that was established in the
1800s and later became nationalized. After the fall of the wall, and the demise of the GDR, the
great grandson, the founder re-registered the trademark in 1990. In English, it means
A. Lange and Sons. So how is it pronounced? Ah Lang-eh und Zuh-neh.
Notice the ampersand is pronounced Ond because it's a German for and there's an
umlaut the o-Zuh-neh. Zoh-neh. Sometimes, I hear it as A Longze and Zohn but that's
incorrect. It's not of French pronunciation; it's a German
pronunciation - A. Lange & Sőhne. Number two is Audemars Piguet. A family-owned since
1875. They're probably most well known for
introducing the first luxury sports watch in 1972, the still popular Royal Oak.
So, how is it pronounced? Oh-deh-mahr Pi-geh. It's not Oh-dih-mar Pi-gae or
Oh-deh-mars Pi-geit. It's a silent S and a silent T. It's a French pronunciation
which is shorter than some Americans or English speakers might think.
Audemars Piguet. The R is very quick and not really pronounced. It comes from the back of
your throat, French style, not from the top of your tongue like in the English
language or with a rolled R like the Italian. Again, Audemars Piguet.
Number three is Baume Et Mercier. The Swiss brand was founded by the Baume brothers in 1830
and they partnered with Paul Mercier in 1918. So how does it pronounced? Bohm Eh Mehr-syey.
It's quick, it's not Mersee-ey, it's Bohm Eh Mehr-syey.
Again, R from your throat and silent R in the end. No English pronunciation here.
Baume & Mercier. Number four is Blancpain. Interestingly,
the French name of this Swiss brand translates to "White Bread". It originally
started in 1735 and has undergone many name changes but eventually headed back
up at Blancpain, which is now owned by the Swatch Group. They produce fewer than
30 watches a day and each watch is made by one watchmaker. So how is it pronounced?
Blohn-Pehn. It's not Blon-pohn, it's Blohn-Pehn - Blancpain.
Number five is Breguet, founded in 1775 in Paris is now also owned by the Swatch Group.
The well-regarded company of Breguet invented the first to be on the
first self-winding watch and the first wristwatch in the world. It's pronounced
Breh-Geh. Breh-Geh. Breguet. It is quicker than an American might say it
like Bre-gae or Bri-geit. So the T is silent, the R comes
from the throat - Breguet. Number six is Breitling. It is a Swiss watch company
but it's pronounced German. It is not Bright-ling, it is Breit-Ling. It's the same
throat R, it's not a front throat R. It's not the bright-ling, it's Breitling.
Number seven is Carl F. Bucherer, founded by its namesake in 1888 in Lucerne,
Switzerland. It is still a family-owned and one of the oldest and most long-standing
Swiss watchmaking companies that is still under the control of the family.
English speakers may naturally pronounce it as Carl F. Buk-her-er but the CH in
German is hke sound. So Carl F. Buch-ehr-ehr. Again, rolled in the R in the back of
your throat - Carl F. Bucherer. Number eight is Cartier. Even though
their first watch was named Santos. Alberto Santos-Dumont, they're
probably most well-known for the Tank watch and variations of it. The design
for the tank watch was inspired by their Renault tanks from the Western Front of
World War 1. In the U.S, many people pronounce it Car-di-yey so they change the T
to a D and make it longer in the end, but it is Cahr-Tyeh.
Cahr-Tyeh. So the R again comes from the
back of the throat, not the front and the T is a little harder and overall it's a
little shorter than Car-di-yey; it's Cahr-tyeh. Number nine is Chopard, which is
probably owned by the german Scheufele family since 1963. It is pronounced
Sho-Pahr. So the D in the end is silent; it's not Sho-pahrd, and the R again comes from
the back - Chopard. Number ten is Frederique Constant, founded by a married couple in
1988. This brand considers itself to be affordable luxury watches. It is pronounced
Freh-Deh-Rique Cohn-Stohn. So again, silent T in the end and the Rs come from your
throat. Overall, like most French names of it shorter the most Americans would make them.
Frederique Constant. Eleven is Girard Perregaux. This Swiss luxury watch
manufacturer started in 1791. It's a prominent brand in the world of high
quality mechanical watches. It is pronounced Zhi-rahr Peh-reh-goh.
Again, the X is silent, the Rs come from the back, and it's overall bit
shorter and maybe Jeh-rard Pere-goh -- Girard Perregaux. Number twelve is Glashütte
Original. Glashütte in German means as much as "glassworks" and it's actually a
town in Germany that is the center of the German watchmaking industry today.
Owned by the Swatch group, it's one of the few brands that still uses their own movements. So
how is it pronounced? Glahs-hu-teh Oh-rih-gih-nahl; u is an umlaut–Glahs-hu-teh, and they're
they're not original but Oh-rih-gih-nahl. Oh-rih-gih-nahl. It's a German pronunciation - Glahs-Hu-Te
Oh-Rih-Gih-Nahl. Again you have that R from the throat but it's a little
longer than the French would say it, Glashütte Original. Number thirteen is Hublot,
established in 1980. This watchmaker is now owned by Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy -- the
French luxury conglomerate. The brand name directly translates to "porthole" in
English. It's pronounced Oo-bloh. So the H is silent, the typical french way and it's
pronounced very quickly - Hublot. So the H, as well as the T, are silent. Hublot.
Number fourteen is IWC Schaffhausen. Actually, the first part of the brand
is the abbreviation for "International Watch Company" and Schaffhausen is a town in
Switzerland where this company is from. People there speak Swiss German and they
call the brand Ee-Vet-Tseh Shof-hou-zen. Now, the company was actually co-founded in 1868
by an American so you could make the argument that it would be called IWC
Schaffhausen. At the end of the day, most people will call it Ee-Vet-Tseh Shof-hou-zen.
In Germany, I is more pronounced like the German Eeh and the W is more pronounced like
the English V. So it's Ee-Vet-Tseh Shof-hou-zen. Ee-Vet-Tseh Shof-hou-zen. The CH sound
in German is always a "Shh", never a "Ssk". So it's always Shof-hou-zen. IWC Schaffhausen
Number fifteen is Jaeger-LeCoultre. This brand arguably one of the most
accomplished watchmakers in the world with more than a thousand movements to
its name. Probably the watch hey're most famous for is the Reverso watch and I have
one of those original ones from the 1930s in this video today. So how is it
pronounced? Most Americans would say Yah-ger Leh-cul-cher however the French
pronunciation is Zhe-Zhuh(r) Lih-Coult(reh). So the R is very silent, it comes from the
throat but it's almost not there and it's Lih-Coult. So the E is sound as well
and is Jaeger-LeCoultre. So it's one word: Zhe-zhuh(r) Lih-Coult(reh). That being said, if you go
to an American watch store and you ask for a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch, they probably
will look at you and couldn't understand and asks
"You want a Yah-ger La-cul-cher watch?" Alternatively, you just say "Get me a JLC",
people will usually understand that. Number sixteen, Longines. This Swiss
watchmaker was founded in 1832. Counterfeiting was an issue for Longines
as early as the 1880s instead it came up with the winged hourglass which
they trademarked in 1880 and today, it is the oldest unchanged, still active
trademark in the world. It's pronounced Lohn-Zheen. The important part is that,
it's rather short and quick. It's not long gene, it's Longines. Number seventeen is Louis Moinet.
This brand was named after the French inventor of the chronograph. Today, their
watches are anything but understated and it's pronounced Loo-ee Mwah-eh.
Loo-ee Mwah-eh. So silent S, silent T. Number eighteen is Maurice Lacroix, which was founded in 1975
by Desco von Schulthess. It's pronounced Moh-reiss Lah-kwah. Moh-reiss Lah-kwah. Silent X in the
end, R from the back-- a little shorter not as pronounced - Maurice Lacroix.
Number nineteen is Montblanc, which is the highest mountain in Europe in France and even
though they're originally famous for fountain pens, they also started
introducing luxury watches. If you want to learn more about whether a Montblanc
fountain pen is worth it or not, you can check out this video here.
Interestingly, despite its French sounding name, it is actually a German
brand that is now part of the Richemont group. So, how is it pronounced? Not Mont-blanc
or Mont-blong. It is pronounced Mohn-Blohn. It means "white mountain" translated.
Number twenty is Omega. The brand is from Beil in Switzerland and the German
pronunciation would be Oh-meh-gah. However, it's more French so it's Oh-meeh-gah.
The English might say Omejga or Oh-mae-gah, but that's wrong. You can see the E is
slightly longer and it's a very French sound - Omega. Number twenty-one is somewhat exotic
in a sense that it is an Italian brand, Panerai. Now here, the R comes from the
front of your tongue and the end is elongated. So it's Pah-ne-rai.
Number twenty-two is Patek Philippe. This Swiss luxury watch brand was founded in 1839 and the most
expensive watch sold at auction was the Patek Phillipe sold for $31 million in
2019. Today, the brand is considered to be one of the most prestigious watchmakers
in the world. It is considered to be part of the big three or the so-called Holy
Trinity. So how is it pronounced? Pah-tek Fih-leep.
Pah-tek Fih-leep. It's not the Pa-tek Fi-lip, Patek Philippe.
Again, shorter overall in the syllables. Number twenty-three is Piaget. This Swiss
watchmaker was founded in 1874 and is well regarded for the thinness of the
watch movements. So how is it pronounced? Pyah-zhey. It's not Piajay or Pee-ah-zhet. Piaget. Silent T.
Number twenty-four is Richard Mille. This Swiss watch wasn't
established until 2001 but their watches already bold and very expensive. It's
pronounced the French way Ree-shar Meel. It’s not pronounced Ri-shar Meehl or Ri-chard Mill.
It's Ree-shar Meel. Very soft and gentle and French. Number twenty-five is
Roger Dubuis. Founded in 1995 by its namesake
and a partner, this watch brand is also bold and focuses on adrenalin in
their own words. So it's not Roh-jer Du-bois or Roger dubious but is Roh-zhay Du-wee.
Again, R from the throat and the S is silent in the back - Roger Dubuis.
Number twenty-six, Rolex. It's probably the most well recognized luxury watch brand in the
world and if you want to learn more about why that's the case and a history
of the brand, please check out this video here. The brand Rolex was established in
England by the German Hans Wilsdorf. At that time, most watch brands would simply
use the family name of the founder but Hans Wilsdorf had the foresight of
creating a brand that was easily pronounceable the world around. Now how
is it pronounced correctly? It's Ro-lex–very English or American. Now, one could
also argue that because this stuff was German, you could pronounce it in a
German way and that would be Hro-leks, but the more common pronunciation that you
can also see on their own YouTube videos or ads is Ro-lex. Number twenty-seven is TAG Heuer,
partially founded in 1860. TAG stands for “Techniques d’Avant Garde”. Heuer on the other hand
was a different company than that was the founders last name and those
companies merged together in 1985. It's pronounced in a very German way: Tahg Hoy-eh(r).
The EU in German is always an "oy". Hoy-eh(r). TAG Heuer. Number twenty-eight is Tudor. Now, one
could argue whether Tudor is a luxury watch brand or simply just a poor
man's Rolex but it was also created by Hans Wilsdorf with the same idea that
it would be something that could be pronounced easily the world
around. The German pronunciation would be Too-dohr but the English pronunciation is
a Too-dur. Number twenty-nine is Ulysse Nardin, founded in 1846. This brand is well known
for their nautical timepieces, it's pronounced Ooh-Leese Nahr-dahn. Again the R
from the back, the N is silent and it's not Yu-les-es or Yu-les, but Ooh-leese Nahr-dahn.
Number thirty is Vacheron Constantin. Next to Patek Phillipe and Audemars Pigeut,
it is considered to be the third part of the Holy Trinity or the
big three in the watchmaking world today.
Found it in 1755, the Patrimony line of watches is probably the most famous one.
It's pronounced Vah-sheh-rohn Kohn-stahn-tahn. Last but not the least, thirty-one is the brand
Zenith. It's another Swiss watch brand that was founded in 1865 and the German
pronunciation would be Zze-neet but it's pronounced the French way which is
Zeh-neet. So it's a softer Z like the Americans would say it but the TH is
more like a soft T; not Zw-nith but Zeh-neet. All right, if you enjoyed this video,
please head over to our other pronunciation video and if you're
interested in whether luxury brands are worth their money, for example is a
Rolex worth its money or why should you not buy it and why should you buy it?
Please check out this videos in our "Is It Worth It" series here. Since we're
traditionally a clothing focused channel, you always have an outfit rundown but
today also talked more about my watch. So in today's video, I'm wearing a
double-breasted suit that was custom made for me
out of a Vitale Barberis Canonico fabric, it's a flannel with a windowpane
that is very unusual. I'm pairing it with a white double cuff shirt, a knit tie and
navy and light blue and a pocket square in white with blue cross stitches so it
picks up the blue tones of the tie. I'm also wearing moral boots in black with
calf nappa leather, as well as a suede insert and gray shoelaces that tied
together, the suit as well as my watch which is a 1930s stainless steel
Reverso watch from LeCoultre. Now interesting, I paid attention the brand
is called Jaeger-LeCoultre and some people might think, well it's just a LeCoultre
watch. It was actually from before those two companies merged or that's not the
case. The research was simpler, it had to do
with duties and taxes at the time when you would import watches to the US and
they were assembled here it was a lot less expensive than importing the whole
watch to the US and so they just created this said brand LeCoultre for a short amount of
time and later it became Jaeger-LeCoultre or Jager-LeCoultre as most
Americans would say. I really like the watch because it's the original of an
iconic shape and it is smaller; the most Reverso watches you will find today. I
like to wear the watch with dark business suits or in the evening because
of its black colored accents. To create a harmony between the watch and my outfit,
it shows a sterling silver of Monkey Fist knot cufflinks which are silver that
work well with my black boots and the black and silver watch combination.