Calling All Micro/Independent Brand Suggestions
It is that time of year again. This Thursday will be the launch of third annual March Madness Micro Tournament. For those not familiar; over the course of 16 days, we will conduct our own tournament to determine this year’s favorite independent/microbrand from the WatchCrunch community. In 2022 Farer took home the prize and last year Formex proudly turned out the vote to capture the crown. Who will it be this year? We had over 500 people vote per contest last year with increasing popularity each round, let’s try to get that higher this time around and shame some of the imitator tournaments trying to get in on our fun (I kid Teddy).
Some changes this year: We will have a ranking system using post counts on the Crunch. We will also eliminate a number of brands that underperformed the last two years to make room for new blood. That is where I need your help. What new brands do you want to see? No need to suggest the regular heavy hitters, done and done. For consideration, brands should have a decent size lineup with largely original watches.
As tournament organizer, I will be the ultimate arbiter for who is in and out, but the overriding factor is originality and popularity, with a pinch of whimsy. Recommending a brand with one post and a lineup of homages isn’t likely to make the cut.
So who do you suggest WatchCrunch friends? Bonus points for surprising me with a new brand.
Follow the Microtournament tag if you do not want to miss a contest.
Watch enthusiast who insists on the next watch being the last.
I have a soft spot for Malm Watches, a Swedish brand with military heritage.
https://se.malmwatches.com
I would recommend Circula with a nice line-up from my perspective. This is their true super compressor, the SuperSport:
Should have added a link a some tags, sorry, missed it!
https://circulawatches.com/en/
#circula #microtournament
A few Americans:
Weiss
Brew
Oak and Oscar
Nodus
Autodromo
Astor and banks
Rgm watches
Kobold
Dufrane watches
Detroit watch company
Jack mason
Nodus
Vaer
Resco
Hesili
Trafford
Marin instruments
I am fond of these:
Pook, Phoibos, S.U.F. Helsinki
These will be missed by most:
Blonie, Ronkko, Minor, Huet Brothers, Raidillon
A few Americans:
Weiss
Brew
Oak and Oscar
Nodus
Autodromo
Astor and banks
Rgm watches
Kobold
Dufrane watches
Detroit watch company
Jack mason
Nodus
Vaer
Resco
Hesili
Trafford
Marin instruments
I'd like to add Raven to that list.
Excellent list btw, will take my timw to go through the brands later today.
Nice, I'm looking forward to discovering some new micro brands 👌
With a late season surge, the much maligned #shinola is in the bubble for this year's tournament. Perpetually the bad guys, can this rag tag team of misfits in the watch industry overcome their negative past to make a run in the tourney?
Wise
RZE
Clemence
Tusenö
Let's also not forget a team that could easily make a Cinderella run from a last place seed: #studiounderd0g.
I don't remember seeing these in the last tournament:
Bravur: https://bravurwatches.com/
Draken: https://www.drakenwatches.com/
Eza: https://ezawatches.com/
GoS: https://www.goswatches.com/
Havaan Tuvali: https://www.havaantuvali.com/
Isotope: https://isotopewatches.com/
Kobold: https://koboldwatch.com/
Marloe Watch Company: https://www.marloewatchcompany.com/
Melbourne Watch Company: https://www.melbournewatch.com.au/
Ophion: https://www.ophion-watches.com/
Sartory Billard: https://sartory-billard.com/
Selten: https://seltenwatch.com/
Straum: https://straum.co/
Nomadic, Lima, Atticus, Foster, Nautage, Argos, and Arken
H2O
Here are a couple of my favorites..
Eco/Neutra
https://echoneutra.com/
Farer:
Studio Underd0g:
Not sure what defines a microbrand but I LOVE my Redwood Kilroy field watch. So Canadian.
I would like to nominate Orion Watches, Bertucci, Farr&Swit, Zelos, Islander, Swiss Watch Company, Momentum, & Lüm-Tec.
Second Hour Watches, Boldr, Astor & Banks, Direnzo Watches, Signum, Straton, Nivada Grenchen
Adding #clemence watches. It’s a surprisingly beautiful watch in person and glad I was able to purchase one of their Photic Divers!
Alexander Shorokhoff. 1,100 watches per year. Fantastic product, cool watches, awesome craftsmanship.
The best time of the year! Glad for yet another round 🤠My list is as follows!
Oak & Oscar
Monta
Helm
Serica
Traska
Weiss
Halios
Formex
I know I’m likely missing more but these guys make some heavy hitters for sure!!
For your consideration...
Also I'd like to see Islander in the mix.
Monta is def my fave
I suspect many of these are already being considered as I have seen some of them in the past but some I think could make a good run....
Nodus
Astor Banks
Lorier
Vaer
Monta
NTH
Jack Mason
Traska
Wise
RZE
Baltic
Direnzo
Just to name a few.
dryden is another one I'd like to add.
Owned the heartlander. Great watch
Escudo watches
H2O
Ditto
H2O/Helberg (same company, two brands)
Thank you to everyone who suggest new rabbit holes to chase!
Here are some great new brands on my radar (maybe next year!):
Foliot #foliot
K. M and Cie. @KMandcie #kmandcie
Lesablier #lesablier
I should pick Borealis and Revelot.