Micro/ Startup Brands

I absolutely love the idea of micro brands.  But, I worry that they can't live up to expectations.  I have a good buddy who is always looking at buying a cool micro brand watch, but then can never pull the trigger, because for the same price he always ends up buying a Seiko.  Given their technological prowess, and their ability to amortize all that fixed cost R&D across millions of units shifted annually, he's convinced that no micro brand can ever deliver as much value for the price.

I am driven to prove him wrong, and just pre-ordered a Baltic MR01.  Will let you know how it is once it arrives!

Good question! It's always a difficult decision on a new startup, and I have heard of many people winding up dissatisfied with a microbrand purchase for a variety of reasons. One of my acquaintances decided to participate in a crowdfunded watch, and he never got his watch. I believe it failed to meet the crowdfunding goal, so production never began. I can't remember the brand. Other issues I have heard about include quality control problems, not receiving the model selected at purchase, and failure to honor a warranty.

I generally look for reviews of a particular microbrand before I commit to buying, although I have purchased a at least one inexpensive microbrand watch that I just ran across on a website as an impulse purchase, my Brooklyn Watch Co. Gowanus. It is an automatic with a Miyota 8215 movement that was less than $100 on Jomashop, and I believe Brooklyn Watch Co. is the in-house microbrand of Jomashop, but I am not sure. I have never really been able to find out much about it, but my Gowanus is still running like a champ.

Another microbrand I decided to purchase without doing much research is the Islander line of watches from Long Island Watch, but I had been both watching Marc's Youtube channel for a few years and had purchased other watches from him for which he is an AD before he started his own line, so I already trusted his business.

For some microbrands like Deep Blue, Spinnaker, and others out of Hong Kong, I did enough research to understand what I would be getting, which is a watch produced in China with a Japanese movement that had better quality control than AliExpress, and that was more than a drop shipped watch. Two microbrands that I am looking at now are Axios and Phoibos, and I am considering adding a Phoibos Nebula and an Axios Flagship to my collection this year.

I appreciate you’re honesty. I for most part do the same and try and get a feeling as to where and why the watch is coming from. Then ask online and then pull the trigger. I love how some micro brands truly push the idea of what you can do with money provided. My picture is of a sub $1000 dollar watch with an incredible dial that would be so much more even as a base Seiko. 

I personally think that some of the more interesting looking watches are coming from micro brands these days.  I've got 3 micro brand watches in my collection (a Geckota, and 2 from Zelos), and feel that they all represent good bang for the buck. People certainly aren't going to confuse them with watches from high end brands, but the level of finishing is at par with or even better than the price suggests.

I'm kicking myself for not getting a crimson dial Blacktip from Zelos when they were announced. My other Zelos watches don't get a ton of wrist time, so I thought this would be same, so I passed. Now, every time I see a photo of that model, it reminds me of that lost opportunity. 

I cant say i love micro brands, instead i love some of the watches they designed and manufactured.

It is without a doubt that they are a breath of fresh air to the watch industry and i very much appreciate all the efforts being put into it, ultimately delivering more fun and sweetness to all of us. They are the ones who dare to be different, break some "rules" and norms, they listen to our voices and strive to make it happen, put pressure on the big boys and keep them busy 💪🏼 its certainly a delightful scene with them being around and hopefully some better ones can grow and mature. 

With regards to which brands, there are some obvious one like zelos, which are very popular for very good reasons, personally i have not had any hands on experience with their watches though. Instead i do own a cw, damasko, they are probably a bit more established should i say, and their watches are absolutely fantastic, in particular damasko imho, its a bit like the lost twin of sinn, packs with innovative tech, simple yet very functional and rugged, i like that. 

As for cw, they make quality, beautiful watches and asking a rather modest price in return, i like their watches too. 

Some of pictures of my own for your reference

On a side note.... In my personal opinion, some of the micro brands need to figure out the brand names or logo properly, i mean some of the names just plain weird ( forgive me and i dont mean to be rude) 

Sometimes i like the look and design of the watch, quality is there but the brand name / logo just isnt quite up there with the rest is kinda disappointing, especially those printed / embossed boldly on the dial....  🤦🏻‍♂️ It turns me off

Give an example.... I really like the recent models by formex, formex? Or formax... I dont like the name for whatever reasons, i understand this is very subjective yet i doubt i am the only one who feels that way.  

Another example is Wise, a thai watch micro brand and you know what, it has line of watches called hitman 🤷🏻‍♂️.... With that said i did order a watch, oh wait two watches in fact from them which should arrive by feb some time.... I mean i dont know what to say, its great looking with quality finishes from pictures and its very affordable, as long as you can look past some of text on the dial....