Micro Tournament Round 1 Day 3: Vario Vs. Tusenö
Rules:
• Voting is based on the overall brand, not the individual model or sample photo.
• There are no rules on how you should choose, but you are welcome to civilly debate quality, value, heritage, etc.
• Voters are encouraged to look at the hashtags for threads on individual brands or visit their sites.
• Poll closes apx 11PM ET 3/16.
• Be respectful of all the brands and members, even if the vote does not go your way. This is meant to be lighthearted fun to raise awareness of 64 microbrands.
• Ties will go to the brand with the most unique user-owned photos of their watch on this thread.
Good luck and have fun! All posts and results will be tracked under #microtournament
30 comments
Sort by
Watch enthusiast who insists on the next watch being the last.
Northeast, US
Member since
Last active: 3 hrs ago
6.50” / 16.51 cm
Check Out The Lineups Here:
Vario
Tusenö
Definitely have to vote for Vario. Ivan and Judy are just such wonderful people...I really appreciate all that they have done with the straps and watches.
I have mostly stuck to the WWI style releases with some of the Art Deco ones thrown in as well...
Definitely Vario, attractive watches with top notch customer service
Check Out The Lineups Here:
Vario
Tusenö
I hadn't seen Tuseno before and they offer some very decent watches for a good value. My vote goes with Vario. I bought the Versa for my brother in law and it's such a a cool piece. They really have a lot of great designs at affordable prices.
Definitely have to vote for Vario. Ivan and Judy are just such wonderful people...I really appreciate all that they have done with the straps and watches.
I have mostly stuck to the WWI style releases with some of the Art Deco ones thrown in as well...
You've got a nice collection!
Damnit, know I need a Vario. 😞
Voted forTusenö even though some of their models are Tudor BB homages with PRX flat case design.
Vario
This is tough but Vario has the edge based on proving it out consistently…Tuseno shows a lot of promise but I haven’t had the same hands on experience yet.
Love Vario watch straps, I'll have one of their empires in my collection one day
Vario… the DD version is high on my list…
I went with tusenö, absolutly fell in love with the shellback v2, had a few questions about the Watch and just answered a Newsletter from them and got an answer back only after an hour, love that! Cant wait to get mine soon
@AllTheWatches thanks for putting all of this together, it’s clearly a job and a half!
I’m getting a lot out of the go and have a look links. Vario I knew of solely because the trench watch got thrust in front of any targeted advertising I saw on Reddit for about a solid year. Then it was a white King Seiko!
I thought they’d be a British revival brand like Vertex. I had no clue they’d be a Singaporean brand.
Definitely have to vote for Vario. Ivan and Judy are just such wonderful people...I really appreciate all that they have done with the straps and watches.
I have mostly stuck to the WWI style releases with some of the Art Deco ones thrown in as well...
Seems like you have some experience with Vario, so I hope you can answer my question: Do they ever restock sold out models or only release new ones?
The silver dial hand-wound Empire has really caught my eye but of course it was already sold out when I even discovered it.
Seems like you have some experience with Vario, so I hope you can answer my question: Do they ever restock sold out models or only release new ones?
The silver dial hand-wound Empire has really caught my eye but of course it was already sold out when I even discovered it.
Great question...I believe that they do restock if it is not indicated as a limited edition run.
It may take a while though as it's hard to sell more than a couple hundred watches of any model at the microbrand level.
I believe that's why Zelos does runs of 150 to 200 watches so that they don't hang on to too much inventory.
You can always write to Ivan and Judy and ask them. They are very responsive.
Easy Vario
Tuseno windseeker is a lovely watch 👌
Good match up, but Vario all the way. Ivan & Judy are a great team. I just met Ivan at our local District Time watch show, he’s as nice as he is creative. Here’s three of my four Vario’s and one Citizen on a Vario band.
I voted for vario but this watch is beautiful
Definitely have to vote for Vario. Ivan and Judy are just such wonderful people...I really appreciate all that they have done with the straps and watches.
I have mostly stuck to the WWI style releases with some of the Art Deco ones thrown in as well...
Wow! Really nice collection of Vario!
This was a tough one, both look like solid brands. My vote went to Tusenö because I thought their offering had a more cohesive feel to it. The Vario offering really seems to be all over the place. I can see from the posts here that Vario has a solid following and lots of satisfied customers, and that is great to hear, just not a brand for me.
Another dive watch centric microbrand. Yawn, sigh. Dive watches to me are mostly yawn, and the last thing the world needs is more microbrand dive watches. I get it, dive watches are the safe low risk low hanging fruit for a new brand, but then they're safe low risk low hanging fruit. They don't get points for that (sorry JOMW).
Vario designs the are the opposite. They're offbeat, original, quirky, and interesting, and for a very affordable price. I have a hand wind salmon dial Empire, which is quite lovely.
Wow! Really nice collection of Vario!
Thanks Mike!
I love vario so much! I do think their prices are a little up there for what you get but still an incredible mircobrand !
Tusenö
I think this was hardest choice yet 🥺
This one is one of the toughest matches in the first round. Vario is more established but Tuseno has been putting out some serious value with their shellback and windseeker
The Vario Trench is the watch that I kinda knew I needed, but the dial style I only saw on an RGM which is WAY more expensive. My list keeps growing and growing and growing...
Poll closed for this matchup. Congratulations to Vario!
Thanks! <biting nails> 😂