Watch movements databases in 2025

Deniss Fedotovs, 30.04.2025., 22:20

There are several watch movements databases around. From first sight it looks like they are quite similar and contain the same information and it doesn't matter which to use. But is it so?

Summary with some features rated in range from 1 to 5 stars for each database.

	Calibers coverage	Info reliability	Search capabilities	Availabillity
Ranfft.de	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️	⭐️
Ranfft.org	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
EmmyWatch	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
17jewels.info	⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
watch-movements-archive.com	⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Watchmakers App	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️

This is just my personal subjective opinion, but it's based on the fact that I was double checking information with all databases for hundreds of movements, so I might have a bit more comprehensive understanding about some internals than most watch enthusiasts or watchmakers who randomly check just one or two movements online.

Ranfft.de

I choose the original Ranfft.de as baseline - the database compiled by Dr. Roland Ranfft.

Based primarely on Flume catalogs, with additions from technical sheets, BestFit and real movements checking. Covers around 10K+ movements.

Despite such a large size it was mostly currated manually, leading to quite reliable information considering the ammount of information available to Dr. Roland Ranfft. Still there are lot's of typos in data, I also have noticed some mistakes and few incorrectly identified calibers (due to not available information to which I have access now). So giving it 4 stars for reliability.

Originally it had some advanced search, but honestly - it was quite flawed even if it worked somehow. The data was not structured. That original data used for search got lost after the site disappeared from the web. At the moment the original database is still available as an iOS app on Apple App Store, and offers limited search options and is deprecated. That's why only 2 stars for search capabilties and one for availability since it's currently available only for iOS users.

No longer maintained or improved.

Ranfft.org

Based on original ranfft.de database. The approach was to parse all the scraped data automatically and publishing without actually checking (testing/currating) the results. This affected reliability a lot, as data in original database was not structured, so automatic parsing introduced many issues in published data. Also some data was interpretted incorrectly, for example, sample speciments year from original database is incorectly used as launch year for whole caliber (where launch year might be much earlier than sample specimens production date).

Looks like Ronda and few other catalogues were used to automatically add more movements, resulting in 13K+ movements listed total. But most of those new listings don't have the images so not really helpfull for identifying movements. How many of those newly added movements are not duplicates of already existing ones - I am not sure. This is the most unreliable database as it contains some really misleading information. I almost gave it two stars for reliablity, but then decided that it doesn't deserve two, because nothing can be worse than publishing and sharing misleading information. It's better to not have that information. There are claims that data is being currated by group, but if it is, I haven't yet noticed that, as few mistakes reported by me had never been fixed.

Looks like being improved, but not on regular basis, more like once per year.

EmmyWatch

Again initially based on original ranfft.de database. But interesting approach was taken - added automaticaly parsed bestfit data and data from some other catalogues. As result it's being advertised as containing 150K+ movements in total, but it's overinflated number and I will explain why I think so.

I am estimating there exist around 170 Rolex calibers known in reality, when most sources list only a fraction of that. For comparison Ranfft.org at the moment has 38 Rolex calibers listed (14 of them without images, and one or two listed are identified wrong - i.e. the movement pictured doesn't match the name, the inherited issue from ranfft.de database). EmmyWatch lists 206 Rolex movements! Basically huge share of them are duplicates imported from different catalogues where they were named a bit differently and each counted as unique caliber. And many of them don't really have meaningfull info. So there is huge ammount of noise in the data which is not really filtered out. And that's just for such well known manufacturer as Rolex, imagine what happens to less so well known as Rolex manufacturers data...

Well, it's expected when doing automatic parsing on thousands of calibers without currating/testing. I estimate that real calibers coverage is the same as for previous two databases if you ignore the noise and artificially inflated numbers. So 4 stars for coverage and 3 stars for info reliability. At least the info is not misleading if it's there. Some manual currating probably happening, but judging by "changes" section it's more like exception.

Search capabilities very limited. One star for that. And the second star from me for trying the image search. But it's not really working and I predict it will not work, because there is really no reliable baseline data you could train your models on.

5 stars for availability, since it's presented on the web, but also have iOS and android hybrid apps.

The parts information they provide - I will not comment as it's out of scope of this post.

Looks like being maintained and improved.

17jewels.info

Created based on actual movements on hands. As a result, covers very small fraction of calibers (at the moment around 1K), so 1 star for coverage. But since the data is manually currated it is very reliable and very informative. Plus there are many (like around 1/3 of all listed) movements covered which were not covered in original ranfft.de database, so pretty unique content here. Just keep in mind that since it's based on just actual movements, not all possible versions of caliber will be covered - just the version which actual specimen has. Giving this 5 stars for reliability. Search capabilities - 1 star, availability - solid 4 stars.

Improved regularly since 1997.

watch-movements-archive.com

Initially based on information provided by german watch forum members about not listed calibers in ranfft.de and 17jewels.info. But I had seen also many calibers recently added which are listed in those resources as well, so uniqness share is shrinking. Currently about 2K+ calibers listed, 1 star for coverage.

Manually currated, but still had noticed some information gaps in movements descriptions - 4 stars for reliability.

Search capabilities very good, looks like data is structured well - 4 stars.

Available on the web - solid 4 stars.

Updated quite regularly.

The Watchmakers App

Currently covers 11K+ movements - so honest 4 stars.

Another approach: Despite huge calibers count, before publishing all data got structured, identifying edge cases, testing for those and manually currating resulting in the most comprehensive reliable data. Technical sheets, vintage movement catalogues, reliable online and real movement data is being used for improving the data, so the data is more reliable than what original ranfft.de had. The focus is on having the most reliable information base (no duplicates, misinformation, missing calibers).

The best search capabilities compared to other reviewed databases thanks to structured and reliable data.

Available as an app on the iOS platform only, advanced search capabilities behind paywall (2 weeks free trial), so awarding only 1 star rating for the availability.

Regularly updated and improved (new staff released usually around once per week).

Bonus: vintagewatchstraps.com

Not really a database, but I think it this website is a gold mine with compiled historical information about watches, including watch movements which were manufactured before technical sheets and catalogues became a regular thing. Updated from time to time.

Bonus: Mikrolisk.de

Horological trade marks database - super helpfull for finding more information about vintage watches. No competitors.

back