A new phase in my collecting. Maybe the last one?

Last one??

Nope-not gonna happen.

I've been through most phases multiple times. There is no end-just periodic temporary pauses.

Enjoy.

Any thoughts on other brands in the Hanhart, Squale type of business model?

I’ve got my eye on Nomos this year. Recently Teddy B did an awesome commentary on Nomos watchmaking:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YNVeKBHIWiY&pp=ygUXdGVkZHkgYmFsZGFzc2FycmUgbm9tb3M%3D

not zombie brands that haven't existed for 50 years then get resurrected by some businessman just to cash in on a name… shots fired! 💀

I’m right there with you but haven’t researched independents enough. Will follow this post for more insight!

I know there are zombie brands that people go ga-ga for. Think Smiths, for example. The way that guy trickle feeds a tiny number into the marketplace, and people gobble them up... but why? It's just a nostalgia play with a big dash of FOMO for good measure. Yet today's Smiths aren't the Smiths of yesteryear. They have nothing in common with them at all. And personally, I can't get excited for that. Meanwhile you look at brands that have stayed in business for 100 years, and are often in the same ramshackle buildings they were in 100 years ago, and there's certainly something romantic about that, and also admirable, I think, about their businesses in general. It's those kind of watchmakers I'm moving into.

Your tastes will change, it will ultimately end with all of us buying Habrings, Dornbluth, Moser, etc. This is the way.

There is almost never a straight line from a company's founding to its modern incarnation. For example Squale, they were resurrected (or "relaunched", if you prefer). Look at how Oris came to be modern Oris. There was a bottleneck in the 1980's where they had fewer employees than the starting offense of an NFL team. Only a management buyout saved and invigorated them. World War II disrupted Hanhart when after the war all of its machine tools were looted and its president arrested. (Of the three you mentioned Hanhart's time line is the most complete.) So, I guess my point is to say good luck trying to find your ideal type of manufacturer or company. The industry is opaque on purpose.

For sure it's never as simple as we'd like it to be, or the same from company to company. Hanhart differs from Squale, yes. But with the way Squale never really stopped (and certainly not for decades), plus its owners today were historically distributors of the brand back in time, and had regular interaction with Squale's founder back then, that's far more provenance than, say, the resurrection of Smiths in modern times. It's all on a spectrum!

No such thing as end of the road….this hobby never ends

Any thoughts on great independent brands?

Currently independent I like Moser, throwback independent I like Franck Muller

Nomos is awesome

Sounds like you should be collecting Patek Phillipe. Have you heard of this small family called the Sterns? 😂

This is the way.

Extropain is dedicated to independent and microbrands

Yes,love my tetra

Not the end of the road, not by a long shot I suspect. Personally I find my tastes change almost daily.

I’m with you on secure independents. I’m also with you on watches that are not recognised so quickly on the street.

I love moser and what they stand for. Their watches are expensive and for good reason. For high end independent they are one of the best. I own a streamliner chronograph and there is simply nothing out there like it.

I also love Baltic. Not technically an independent but still been around for a long enough time for me. The other end of the cost spectrum but they simply design beautiful watches. I own the aquascaphe because it’s stunning to look at.

Tim Mosso did a great video on independent brands selling watches for around 10k. Garrick, Schwartz ettiene, Laine, Kudoke, amongst others. A common theme was a bespoke service so you can create a high end watch that is perfect for you. A very appealing idea to me and one that I suspect will gain popularity.

Don’t despair. The force is with you. Always

It's interesting you mention the bespoke service. I'm coming towards the end of waiting for a bespoke piece from a very well-known independent. Using parts from their parts bin, I hasten to add, rather than something made from the ground up. But creating a genuine one off that they have never sold, not even as a limited edition. I'll say no more for now :)

Let us know when it’s ready! Exciting

Yema :)

In the collection already :)

Good to know that I'm not the only one taking this path. I actually wanted to write an article here about independent (german) watch brands which offering a hell lot of watch and passion.

Stay tuned.

But so far from Switzerland I can name Raymond Weil and Edox.

Armand Nicolet and Aerowatch are honorable mentions, but still not 100% convinced.

I would love to read that piece when you write it. I sometimes feel like there are some German brands that people are absolutely sleeping on, and have been for some time.

This is the way

There some very interesting on the price section between 1,5 and 7K. It's not less money, but what you get for is iften insane compared to the swiss neighbours.

Btw. I forgot to mention Titoni and Zenos as swiss independent brands

Eventually, we will all go down the road of having diminishing physical capabilities, So we will be too blind, demented and clumsy to read or set a time on a watch.

Our choice is then between wearing whatever watch as jewlry, no watch, or one of those radio-controlled watches with a speaking voice.

Sounds like your interest is primarily with brands, respect your desire to transition into manufactures such as Hanhart, Squale and Oris to own watches that the average individual cannot recognize quickly, I have experience with Oris but not the other 2. Oris is ok, in fact I sourced a modern Diver 65 when it was relaunched, recalls the watch that my mom picked up for me from the old neighbourhood drug store owned by a pharmacist/ watch enthusiast, the watch was obviously grey market; the pharmacist wanted an Oris diver for himself sourced extra to sell in his small drugstore. It was the 1960s, man wanted to wear something aside from Bulovas, Timex keeping his Rolex for days off.

When I first became fascinated with timepieces as a young man, I was unconcerned with the names on the dials, my investigation was about horology, movements, different complications, perpetual calendar moonphases were the grails, not that we referred to our dream watches by that silly name. Half a century into a diversion that I have enjoyed, I find myself once again saving for watches that do more than tell me the time of day, my financial reach does not extend to something as grand as a gold Patek perpetual moonphase but there is no shortage of interesting timepieces to keep my interest intense. Hope you find your personal path!👍

This post is a thesis on watch collecting. Thanks to everyone who commented.

This is a beautiful journey, AnOrdain and Vitraeum are the brands you can check

What the brand represents, in my interest at least, is the business that underpins it. The brand isn't, "This is a big name/logo that people will respect..." (indeed that's almost the opposite of where I'm headed now), and is more about, "This name represents a story that I'm as interested in learning and understanding, almost as much as wearing the watch."