Micro Tournament Final Four: AnOrdain vs. Baltic

Take heart in knowing 50% of the Final Four were British.

I mentioned it before, the British watchmaking scene is growing and quickly - exciting to, erm…watch….

I think the Scots at AnOrdain may take exception to being called Brits.  :-)

If they do, then they shouldn’t have voluntarily signed upto the British Watch and Clockmakers Alliance then…. 🇬🇧

Excellent point. I have friends in Ireland and a Scotland and all seem to take exception with being called British, so that is truly funny. 

Some people take exception, some don’t. When we’re all together, there’s banter on who is ‘the best’! But when we’re abroad and we bump into a fellow ‘Brit’, it’s always friendly. Unless you’re politician, of course, then definitely not….😉

I just called my bookie and he has never heard of the microbrand tournament but promises me that they will have someone handicap the next one.  

People would have lost their shirts and homes if that happened.  So many interesting wins.

I once called a Welsh gentleman British.  That conversation did not go well. 

How in the hell did they beat Monta? The finals should have been Monta and Farer, IMHO. 

AnOrdain may not have many styles but they are all very nice and they have "Japanese Oxblood."  Baltic has the MR01 which is stunning and a bunch of other crap that doesn't deserve a second look.  Baltic is a one trick pony and should not go any further.

I do believe in every way, any AnOrdain is better than the best Baltic, simply because of the movement. Nevermind the craftsmanship difference between the two. Do not get me wrong, I love the idea of the MR01 being an affordable Calatrava and the salmon piece is super cool, but it has a Chinese engine under the hood. Immediate disqualification for me. 

I personally chose Farer over CW, since CW is really not a micro, but I did pick them in the early rounds. 

I'm not really convinced by this argument because of the 4x price difference.  If we were just comparing "best watch" then I think the best AnOrdain loses to someone else (like the Horage Tourbillion or some such).  I think we're inherently measuring some value for purchase here.

FWIW, I think neither of them is super interesting movement wise.

I voted Baltic because of the collection breadth ultimately.

Oh, I absolutely get that argument, not trying to say the best watch as price is certainly relative. As you mentioned, strictly talking best watch, Horage wins from a technical perspective. In this case AnOrdain is now 3X the price of a Baltic MR01, so there is a value-for-dollar conversation. As a collector, (sorry I hate to repeat it) my personal preference is to own watches with movements that can be serviced. Baltic does not fall into that category, but again for $600 who cares I guess? I get that, but for many that is good money to spend on a disposable product. I get that they are new and will likely grow, perhaps into better materials, which will certainly bring up price. 

I voted for Baltic for the same reason. A number of these micros have a very limited collection. IMHO, they can't be the best micro BRAND. 

Yeah, I see where you're coming from.  I don't know that I feel that the movements are super disposable in most of Baltic's collection outside the MR01 (your general set of Miyota 8000 and 9000s and some Soprods) but I agree with the more general point.  

I've owned their watches before, I was underwhelmed and maybe that's just that.  That said, some people swear by them so I'm not going to make to forceful an argument either that my experience is a representative one.

In any case, my horses got knocked out of the race early so I'm just voting because I like clicking the button on polls.

Polls closed for the tournament. Congratulations to Baltic for making it to the finals and props to AnOrdain for making it to the final four. 

Pre covid hype, you could get 10% an AnOrdain via a MOMA membership, which I believe I got my original Model 1 for just over $1000. Still took 2 months or so to get from Scotland, but well worth it. They were so good to deal with, even when ordering through a third party. 

Totally understand, most of my frustration with the brand is directed at the MR01, which I REALLY like and would love to own if it had a different movement. I know others like some of the other models, but the MR01 certainly gets most of the hype.