Bites: Exciting New Watches On My Radar. What's on yours?
Happy Tuesday fellow Crunchers!
It's T minus 4 days until Stockholm Time, and after having so much fun at World Time, I really can't wait for the next event. As you can imagine, it's going to be a celebration of Scandinavian watchmaking and I've discovered I know embarrassingly little about watches from that corner of the world. Let me share with you some of the cool brands I've come across and I'd love to hear about any new brands or watches you've recently discovered too.
First, let's have a look at whats been going on in WC this week...
Three quick bites from this week's WC, for those in a rush.
This week has been about new watches, new watch companies, and new watch wearers (hence a super special 4th thing this week)
"New Baltic Hermetique " - @jagwar.jim
"NWA: Commemorative watch for surviving the WC Scavenger Hunt" - @Icarium
"Jody from JOMW releases first Erebus watch " - @FiatLux
"New future watch wearer alert" - @Watchovski
New members
New members who I have seen posting this week...
@moldyrice, @kashgtx, @SimonsWatches, @AngularMomentum, @jlwilsonx
Welcome all!
Hot posts
This week's topics that got the community talking.
"What have you listed after to then be disappointed when you first try it on?" - @Gavlar
"Share your strap ideas/philosophies" - @watchtuning
"Dive watched and water " - @itsallinthedial
"Oddest reasons for not buying a watch" - @salgud
"You saw it here first " - @alsontxh
"Vintage timepieces" - @diamondback6
"Looking for the best affordable chronograph" - @guillaume91
"Which watch would Bond be issued with today?" - @ToolWatchTom
"Pink watch " - @lightbluewatertime
"Tools of the trade " - @hakki501
"Most photogenic watch" - @tonysutherland
"Hot take: today 'luxury tool watch' is an oxymoron " - @hurryupandwait
"What watch would Batman wear?" - @Aaronwilder13
"Cars of WatchCrunch " - @XplusYplusZ
"How do you take watch photos?" - @norrecc
"What do you think of the price of the new 1908?" - @notamilkdud
Meetups and events
14th October - Stockholm meetup - Stockholm, Sweden
15th October - A Blog to Watch and Ben Bridge Event - The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA
20th – 22nd October - Windup Watch Fair 2023 – New York
21st October - Windup WatchCrunch meetup - New York
8th Nov - France meetup - Tours, France
11th Nov - NorCal Episode 4 Wine Watches Music Meetup - Livermore, CA
11th Nov - WatchPro Salon meetup - London, UK
2nd December - Ventura GGT/Meetup - Ventura, CA
8th December – London Christmas Meetup – London, UK
Upcoming...
'Most Haunted Vintage Watch Challenge' - @casiodean
Ongoing...
"The William Wood Travel Watch" - @benandwatch
"Casio Travel Watch"" - @SpecKTator The latest update from the OG WC travel watch.
"About Vintage Travel Watch" - @benandwatch's new About Vintage touring watch!
Let me know if you have something you are planning on WC and I can include it here.
My top picks from this week's new watch releases.
Top row, left to right: Unimatic, Baltic, Biver, Longines
Bottom row: Bremoir, AnOrdain, Speake Marin, Montblanc
Updates from the YouTubers, podcasters, brand owners and watch makers in our community.
"Wristwatch transformation: How to restore and relume your vintage Seiko watch" - @horologybiology
"ZT podcast: Episode 82" - @Timely_Moments
"Highlighting small standout brands" - @Max
Longer posts from the knowledgeable and creative writers amongst the WC family.
"Watches from each decade 2023 edition - Share your watches Part 2: The '20's" - @YourIntruder
"My new purchase " - @DinoZaur
"Watches in the wild: Rhetorical stumbles - volume 48" - @Edge168n
"Watches in the wild: Meetings - volume 49" - @Edge168n
"Buy these watches, quit the game: Budget version" - @DigitalDivider
"Let's settle this debate: Is Tudor the poor man's Rolex?" - @ckim4watches
"The Joy of Discovery"
The YouTube algorithm is definitely a mixed blessing.
It's great for giving us more of what it knows we love watching, but at the same time it can leave us stuck in a pool with the same handful of watch brands. It also tends to feed us what it knows is popular in the genera, so the typical watch videos with Rolex, Tudor, Seiko etc in the title will always tend to do well, whereas the content on the lesser known, yet just as interesting, brands will tend to sink underneath the layer of clickbait and mainstream topics.
I think this is one of the reasons that, after a few years in the watch enthusiast world, I arrogantly started to think that I knew most of the watches out there in production, that I had a pretty good handle on most of the brands knocking about and with the exception of the odd KickStarter, there wasn't much that I hadn't seen at some point either on YouTube or WatchCrunch.
Is this just me? Or do others out there start to feel the same? That you've seen it all?
It was with this kind of mindset that I was looking through the list of brands that are going to be at the upcoming Stockholm Time event and was pretty surprised that I had only heard of about 5 of them!
Have a look and see how many you recognise...
Is it just me or do we NEVER hear about most of these??
The likes of Maen, REC and my beloved Tuseno I would say are pretty well known…. but the rest??
Micromilspec I've vaguely heard of, and I certainly hadn't heard of Bravur until @Max 's recent video.
Now, if you're a dark hearted pessimist like myself, your first thought may be… "If I haven't heard of them then there must be a good reason. Are they just rubbish watches that nobody talks about because nobody has anything good to say?" But don't be like me folks! When you look through the list and explore some the websites, these are interesting brands with some very nice looking watches! You can check them out yourself via the links, but these are some of my favourites that I hadn't heard of…
A very interesting watch company with their very own master watchmaker and beautifully made swiss movements.
Their slightly cheeky advertising…
(I’m not sure many watch companies would dare to have anything like that on their front page!) and choice model names, such as the ‘Dictator’ below…
…certainly gives them a bunch of character in my eyes and sets them apart as a brand, and the prices for these watches are not as crazy expensive as I imagined, with the ‘Dictator’ above being 2,400 USD.
As someone who swoons over the Omega Worldtimer, I was very intrigued when I came across this brands ‘Voyager’ GMT while exploring their website….
…and which is also available in a rose gold root beer option.
At 660 USD it is a considerably cheaper option, so I’m very keen to see how it feels on the wrist. Definitely one I’m looking forward to seeing.
Now, when I first saw this name on the exhibitors list, I didn’t recognise it at all, but when I clicked through to their site and saw their watches, I found I did actually recognise them and that fellow cruncher @Urkraft has one of their Poseidon models…
…which looks really awesome. The lug to lug of 48.5mm may be a challenge for me, but I’ll be excited to give it a go.
So, in the interests of sharing the love, have you seen anything new recently that hadn’t been on your radar before? Either a brand or a watch?
Let me know if there are any watches on the list above that you’d be particularly keen for me to check out at the fair this weekend and I’ll make sure to have a look.
Take care all!
Kaysia.
Part-time 'writter' @ The Escapement Room, the NSFW watch enthusiasts blog. www.theescapementroom.com/
More from DeeperBlue
See you on Saturday!
🔥
One thing I've learned through the years is to stay humble and that one shouldn't assume to know everything. That's the main reason I joined WC. I was happily, ignorantly blissful, living in Seiko Land until WC opened my eyes to new possibilities. There are a lot of great watches out there, and while certainly there are great ones in the mainstream, there are some amazing watches from smaller brands. I would never have considered or thought of Nodus except for being fortunate enough to win one of @Mr.Dee.Bater's charity auctions. It was a great cause and the watch was something I was looking for as well. But back to the matter at hand...I've seen a lot of great watches here on WC and that DeSanders looks amazing. Have fun in Stockholm and let us know was catches your eye and ends up on your wrist.
Thank you Kaysia for mentioning the Each decade serie. But special thank you for promoting the Stockholm-Time and all the Scandinavian watches presented there. I believe that Saturday will be a great day! Looking forward to meet you and the rest there.
This is embarassing but I live here and only know about eight if those brands. I’d also add Malm as a brand to watch.
their watches all have an aviation theme this vintage looking piece was inspired by the J29 Tunnan, apparently.
Unfortunately I think that model is sold out as its supposedly limited to 120 watches. Its his style where all his watches seems to have been limited runs. Ill let you try mine in saturday though!
@DeeperBlue Thank you for the mention 🙌🏻
Thanks for the mention on the SquidCrunchGame
Nezumi is another Swedish brand by the way
See you on Saturday!
What to wear, what to wear?!
Great post
I am happy for JOMW Jody releasing Erebus & hope him all the best. I don't really like the design personally, but really like the shade of red that was chosen. Nice colour.
I'm also surprised how the new Zelos Swordfish releases haven't all sold out already. I do like the field watch release they did, especially Lume application.
The @williamwoodwatches goes tomorrow to the first firefighter 🔥👍🏼 #williamwood
@DeeperBlue thanks for linking all of those brands!
Nezumi is another Swedish brand by the way
Love the Avier...especially with my eyes 😂
Oh gosh! I hope she makes a speedy recovery! We shall drink one for you, and perhaps you can make December? ❤
Fingers crossed!
I’m starting to look to vintage Cartier tanks (quartz versions). I have a Seiko tank but I’d like to have a Cartier on my wrist. Most are falling in the $1500-$2000 range.
JS is the only brand I’ve heard of, but still don’t know much about them.
Since joining watch crunch, I realized I still have a lot to learn about watches.
You are going to make it on Saturday?? That's brilliant!!
Would be great to try it on if you decide to bring it, as I did notice it was sold out on their site 😔 They have a few other pieces I'm curious to see too.
Yeah, Ill see you at Stampen with my Poseidon! Its been sold out since right after I bought it in January though.
It makes me feel so much better that even I native isn't recognising all of these brands!
It does make me wonder how they promote themselves though, if they aren't known even in our kind of circles 🤷♀
I don't do Instagram very much, so maybe there is a lot of watch action on there I don't know about?
The vintage styling on that Malm is very nice.
Thanks I’ll probably be wearing the Malm on Saturday for Stockholm Time so you can see it in person, unfortunately Malm don’t seem to have a stall at the event. As for how these guys stay in business I have no idea. I’m sure a few of them have other jobs and this is something they do part time untill they get established and I know Sandstrom are well known here for their jewellery other than that I’ve got no idea.
Ameriquartz is the name of the Made in the USA quartz movement made by FTS (Fine Timepiece Solutions). Many of the brands on the site use Ameriquartz movements. The Americhron movement is their recently or soon to be released automatic movement that also bears the Made in the USA label. I believe Brillier is their house brand.
Every day's a school day! Thank you for the info. 🍻
I’m starting to look to vintage Cartier tanks (quartz versions). I have a Seiko tank but I’d like to have a Cartier on my wrist. Most are falling in the $1500-$2000 range.
I think there is a great deal of sense in vintage tanks.
I bought a tank francaise chronograph a couple of years ago. It's from the early 2000's, so I'm not sure I'd call it vintage yet, but it cost about 15% of what it would new. Complete bargain.
JS is the only brand I’ve heard of, but still don’t know much about them.
Since joining watch crunch, I realized I still have a lot to learn about watches.
Same!... and this is without considering all the mysteries and histories of vintage.
Great article again, Kaysia! I will now certainly take a look at all those brands in the coming days and weeks. Thanks too for the post mention.
The red of that dial is just so beautiful. I hope I get to see one in person one day.
Everything about it is so well done, the dial the bezel the hose strap has a burnt rubber smell to it! Really nice 👌🏼
Thanks I’ll probably be wearing the Malm on Saturday for Stockholm Time so you can see it in person, unfortunately Malm don’t seem to have a stall at the event. As for how these guys stay in business I have no idea. I’m sure a few of them have other jobs and this is something they do part time untill they get established and I know Sandstrom are well known here for their jewellery other than that I’ve got no idea.
That's an interesting point. I wonder how many microbrand owners actually have watches as their main source of income?
You must have to sell a huge number to be able to manage that, and when a lot of these watches are runs of 150 etc, that's not going to put food on the table for very long.
I seem to remember one of the micros saying that it is quite an achievement selling a batch of 50 for a first release if you don't already have a foot in the industry (like Jody has).
That's an interesting point. I wonder how many microbrand owners actually have watches as their main source of income?
You must have to sell a huge number to be able to manage that, and when a lot of these watches are runs of 150 etc, that's not going to put food on the table for very long.
I seem to remember one of the micros saying that it is quite an achievement selling a batch of 50 for a first release if you don't already have a foot in the industry (like Jody has).
Yeah also a lot of micros have to go outside to get material and in some cases expertise in assembling it’s not surprising they can only do small batches it’s a huge investment that they might not be able to get back. I wouldn’t want to do it.
I looked at all of them and liked maybe two watches , scandinavian case design is not curvaceous or sexy sorry . Cold watches from a cold climate is how they come across to me . I only really liked this one.. it has some history too.
What about Nezumi from Sweden, or Pook from Finland or my current favorite Finnish watchmaker Tortsi Laine…
I honestly have tried to avoid paying attention to any new releases. I've just been focused on finding certain vintage pieces.
There are so many amazing pieces coming out right. It's a serious challenge for me!
Great example.... what @ChronoGuy just posted above me... Damn it! Now I'm looking!🤣