Wempe is a German luxury watch and jewelry retailer founded in 1878 by Gerhard Diedrich Wempe, who opened a watchmaking business in Elsfleth at the age of 21. The company, formally Gerhard D. Wempe KG, remains family-owned and is now led by the fifth generation under Kim-Eva Wempe, with headquarters in Hamburg.
Wempe operates several dozen showrooms across Germany and in international locations including New York's Fifth Avenue, London's Bond Street area, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, and Beijing. The retailer is an authorized dealer for leading watch manufactures such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, and Jaeger-LeCoultre, with brand portfolios varying by location.
In addition to retailing, Wempe produces its own timepieces under the Wempe Glashütte i/SA name at its facility in Glashütte, Saxony, where it revived the town's observatory. Its Zeitmeister and Chronometerwerke lines are certified as chronometers by the German testing standard, and the company also creates its own fine jewelry collections under the Wempe and BY KIM labels.
Wempe combines physical retail with e-commerce in selected markets and provides in-house watchmaking ateliers for servicing and repairs. The company positions itself on personal advice and long-term client relationships, a model it has maintained across nearly 150 years of family ownership.