Micro Tournament Round 1 Day 5: Vaer Vs. Sartory Billard

Check Out The Lineups Here:

• Vaer

• Sartory Billard

Tough

Vaer makes some great watches but I mean…

Not even close for me 🤷

If one looks at the parts on the least expensive SB's, IE under $5K, we are talking some dials available from Comblémine, a dial maker owned by Kari Voutilainen. Really hard to beat that.

There is no way in this universe that Sartory Billard should not be in the final four...except it won't be because most crunchers have never seen it in its glory...

The only reason I don't have one in the collection yet is because it's a custom order...and that takes time and decisions...and is not susceptible to spontaneous purchase...😉

SAR TOR EE!

Bespoke timepiece, true micro, the hands of a traditional watchmaker are involved.

Hope to get one someday!

I like the designs of Sartory Billard. They look amazing. Using good movements and materials. Easy winner for me.

I mean people just vote by which sample photo they like more so it’s probably gonna loose this round 🤷🤣

Let me know if you want help. Mine should be in this week. Fascinating order process. Took about 5 months for my build. I mean, check out the build suppliers for a watch that costs under $5k:

• Movement: La Joux Perret

• Case and rotor: DM Projects

• Terminaisons: Theurillat SA

• Stone dials: Groh&Ripp

• Guillochés: Comblemine

• Strap: Scarlett

• Wood box: Lature

This is a rough match-up. I like Vaer, but they are not really playing in the same world. I fear you're right and the less pricey option will win, but had to include SB for at least one more year to bring awareness to the awesome work he is doing.

I'll agree the SB's do look really, really good. Beautiful even.

But to me, a watch should be somewhat easily readable at a glance and/or have at least some type of lume.

I get I'm in the minority, but if I can't read it, it's jewelry. Great looking jewelry, but something that serves no function, and I'd rather have some custom metal cuff or handmade rope bracelet.

Also, not ashamed to admit it, but I like that Vaer does as much as they can here in the US.*

*SB does the same for France, which is great, but I'm not French, so again YMMV 😂 🤏🏻🫣.

I love how there’s a growing niche market for bespoke watches in this price range. I think once people figure what they can get for the price of an entry level Omega or Rolex, it’s only going to continue to grow.

Same is true for the tool/tactical watch community too.

Sangin Instruments, Resco, and a few others are hopefully starting to prove for half the price of a Tudor/Sinn/Whatever you can get something unique.

Absolutely. Armand and Lundis Bleus remain criminally underrated. When compared to brands costing significantly more, I know where I would prefer to spend my money.

My second newest watch. And hey, look up there, another Chinese numeral dial! And that's a cool guilloché pattern.

I mean, unique, bespoke, yet Sartory Billard is getting trounced by yet more dive watches? Like the world doesn't have enough? Sigh.

have had my platinum dial one for almost 2 years now! IMO SB is a true independent, and not a microbrand.

Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us! This was a really, really tough one - I spent a lot of time on the Sartory Billard site and their watches are truly incredible. It's very difficult to compare two watches / brands when price point differs that radically, but we're honored to have received the votes we did. Our goal is to produce watches that not only speak to long term enthusiasts, but also give budding enthusiasts an easy entry into the world of watches.

Appreciate @AllTheWatches for putting on the tournament - not an easy task!

Ryan

That's fantastic. Consider me ready for a purchase. Thanks for sharing

@Bjames It’s a tough one! I look at a couple hundred brands and try to factor in popular brands with ones myself and the community think should be highlighted. Balance of new and established. Micro and independent. After that, I dumped the numbers in excel and it kicked out the rankings 1-64, and the algorithm creates the matchup. Where else does one get to compare two totally different brands? Whether it’s first round, or round of 16, it’s bound to happen.

Ultimately, it is highlighting 64 brands, which even if for a day 1500 people look at the losing brand, a few may end up buying, or hope to buy. Thats all we can ask for. :-)

Thanks for jumping in and participating!

This results are a joke.

Another example of marketing beating horological prowess 😕

I can’t imagine voting for Vaer in this matchup. ( even though they seem to be “winning”) you guys need to have a look at the #satorybillard website. Maybe it’ll sway you

SB is unique in that it offers a range of high end watches customized to desire. Very few brands offer that.

To whom tho?

And I'm not just being snide, I'm genuinely curious?

Beauty and usefulness for a tool, worn on the wrist, is in the eye/opinion of the dude/chick who bought it.

Specifically to me, as beautiful and unique, and custom some of these independents are, just not my style. And I do mean beautiful. Like one day maybe get one, and I'll honestly rarely wear it even in retirement. Only Mr. Wick wears a legit dress watch for battle lol...tho I have been known to wear one on a single pass just because, but it's not very useful cuz I can't read the darn thing at night.

And believe me, I am honestly blown away by some of the watches Sartory Billard, Atelier Wen, et al make. They look great.

Call me a knuckle dragger, a plebe, a commoner, whatever, I'm a sucker for a well lumed, black dialed, tactical, tool watch..if it has left hand crown placement and an acrylic crystal I'm even more into it.

Does this mean I only have those kinds of watches? Nope.

One of my favorite brands of all time, Lorier, strikes, to me the perfect balance in what I desire. Even then, I'm not the primary audience for their watches.

At the $2,5K price point, I'm looking at Resco, Sinn, Sangin, Weiss, etc.

At the $4K+ I'm looking at Tudor Pelagos FXD.

See my other posts, and @KristianG 's stuff. Voting for these polls shows as much about collecting/acquiring philosophy, use case, and aesthetic as much as it does about horological prowess.

And that's ok.

As @ChronoGuy 's gif posted earlier, vive la difference or something.

And at the end of the day, we've just spent countless minutes debating about two microbrands, and if you've read this long then @AllTheWatches whole point for this wild, hectic game has been met.

Getting the small guys noticed.

I agree with just about everyone here, this feels like apples and oranges. Wish there was some way they could both win, because I feel like they both deserve the win but for completely different reasons. I find this super challenging because I've been trying to cast my votes for the company overall and not just vote for the watches I like the best. In this case I find myself at a total loss because both companies are terrific, with great, albeit totally different, design ideals. So, for me this is totally a tie, but since I have to pick one I had to fall back to picking the watch I would most want in my collection. #sartorybillard

Thank you for this commentary. Agreed, it is about the discovery and (again) if I have learned anything from the last three years of these is the community appreciates a well made watch at any price point, but yes, the upper price points struggle tournament style because most never get to see them in real life.

I do not fault anyone for a preference. Personally, I am at the stage where I own and have tried all the things I am supposed to like (Tudor, Omega, Rolex, etc) and I do like them, but at this stage, give me the artisans over conglomerates. Give me the small brand doing more with less to make a $1500 watch better than a $3K conglomerate brand watch.

There are plenty of of seats at the table for all of them and we are all at different stages in our journey.

Well stated.

I am totally with the voting based on aesthetics.

What's disappointing is that probably less than 50% of those voting could articulate the specific reasons for their vote the way you just did.

What chaps me is when a brand is noticed because of heavy advertising and paid views on YouTube watch (influencer) channels (which are most YT watch channels these days).

I don't begrudge them spending their dough to sell as many watches as possible, but popularity and quality are not the same thing.

It's cool that you have honed in on your specific preference. As you can tell from my profile, I am all over the place 😉

Thanks for alk you do im enjoying researching and learning these brands!

Poll closed for this matchup. Congratulations to Vaer!

Good. I like the looks of Sartory Billard but they are too big.