Microbrand or established firm?

I have recently had some really unfortunate problems with a watch made by a microbrand.  I have two questions:

  1. As a very general rule, would you favour a watch from an established company to one from a microbrand?
  2. From your own experience, what microbrand watches would you recommend to other people (up to c £1000?).

I know that the usual caveat applies. I appreciate that, in the end, we have to buy what we like and can afford. I am just asking for opinions. 😀

Reply
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As a general rule, I will always go with Seiko.  There's a reason big name Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Sony, Seiko, etc., are all synonymous with quality construction and reliability - they are all masters of "lean manufacturing" which produces far better results than other techniques.

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I am a big fan of microbrands. Typically get interesting designs, very good quality, and excellent customer service. I also like the community aspect that many brands foster. That being said, I typically stick with established and reputable brands rather than Kickstarter or other smaller brands that aren't well established. 

My favorite microbrands under $1k include Raven, Halios, Nodus, Vero, Lorier, and Boldr.

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You generally know what you’re getting with an established brand so they are generally safer bets. However, having said that I’ve had a good experience with: Boldr, Bertucci, Christopher Ward, Dan Henry, E. C. Andersson and Borealis and would recommend all of them. Just remember they are smaller brands and in the case of many you need to buy directly from them so a bit of patience can be required when contacting them. 

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  1.  I am brand agnostic, but rather what is the sum of the parts, starting with the movement. Yes aesthetics are where it starts sure, but there are lots of good smaller brands out there. Note, many of these brands may use the same private label manufacturers.  Some of these brands may not be around in a few years, so get a reliable servicable movement. 
  2. I would encourage you to look under the hashtag #microbrands  or #microtournament. There are a ton of great brands in the $1000 range. Though, Sieko has some great ones as @HotWatchChick69 mentioned, including the new Save the Ocean Prospex which may or may not be on the way to my house. 
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Most of my watches are from microbrands and indies (sometime brands are not easy to characterize). 

I find that more often than not, you are able to get better quality for your money with these than with a big brand, especially when the upper parts of the price tier you quote are concerned. You're definitely getting something more unique.

That being said, they don't retain value very well so if this is major consideration for you, you should definitely go with bigger brands.

If that is less important, there are many I would recommend, too many to list actually... But just to (try to) make this a bit more interesting, I will name some which are not among the "immediate suspects" (like Boldr, Monta, Formex, CW, Farer, Baltic, Zelos, Maen...), and are perhaps less notorious but no less interesting. 

You may want to check out:

Higher part of this price tier:

Epos - small family owned and Swiss, making very high level watches for very decent prices. All styles.

Louis Erard - Swiss. Recently attracts a lot of attention for its more expensive watches (especially the Regulateurs and the Metiers d'Art ones), which fit not in the discussed price tier, but also have some fantastic offerings (such as the watches of the 1931 range) that do. 

Mid part of your this price tier:

Echo/Neutra - Italian brand, Swiss made watches, some sporty, some field, very good quality.

Kronos - Spanish brand (actually from 1930 or so). Swiss made watches. Beautiful chronos that more than look the part.

Smiths - (revived) British brand. Swiss made watches, specialized in field/military watches. Their Everest is well known and highly demanded but many other watches they make, in its shade, deserve more attention. The brand owner, Timefactors, has revived some other British brands offering similar style and quality.

Low part of your price tier:

Yonger & Bresson - used to be a very low level French producer until it was bought by the Ambre group that owns Yema, so now it offers some very dressy watches with in-house (Yema) calibers at very low prices.

Tapferkeit - this is actually a British brand, but they make German Bauhaus style watches with Miyota movements, that look the part and cost very little. 

You may notice I didn't name a divers' specialized brand - there are a lot of them out there but I am personally less into that type of watch so I haven't handled many, and this aspect will surely be far better commented upon by someone else.

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There is no doubt that there is added risk to buying from a microbrand but I've been pleased with the watches I have purchased from Stührling, Sea-Gull (Sugess), Christopher Ward and Berny.  

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Agree with this sentiment—maintaining micros can be hard, the companies disappear, and if they’re still around they’re not always great at stocking parts like the established marks. Based on my experience, I now only go with established marks that are known for service. That’s narrowed the watches to choose from, but I’ve enjoyed those watches much more (the quality seemed to go up by way of this filter).