Looking to start my own watch microbrand, what should be our first model?

Good luck.

It's a jungle out there.

GMT’s are all the rage now but start with something clean and classy like a Sport/GADA that can show your focused on a quality product then add complications. 38-39mm sounds like a good target too. Though the Seiko and Miyota movements are fine and I don’t know what price range you have in mind, you may consider something higher up the food chain. By starting high you get a good rep., if you do it right like Monta or Chris. Ward (maybe not that high) you’ll be more than another dime a dozen diver.

I've been looking for a silver dial day/date tool watch in the 40-42mm range under $1500 for a couple of years now. Think; slightly larger, slightly more robust Hamilton Khaki King (the King is only 50m water resistant). Or a Tissot Gentleman with a day complication.

But that's just me.....

You want to be ahead of the curve? I think we're about to see handwound watches be a big thing. For me, one of the most exciting watches of the last year is the newly introduced ORIS Big Crown Calibre 473. The display caseback with a powermeter on the back is brilliant. I love the big crown, and the handwind aspect of it. And very few handwind watches have a date complication, but this one does. Love it, BUT, it's way too expensive (for me) and at 38mm it's just too small. I think if you want to stay ahead of the curve, create something interesting and slightly unique, doing a similar handwound field watch with date would be a good place to start. And do the cool thing; make a watch design in 2 different sizes, like Seiko used to do with the SKX007/013, or Glycine did with the Combat 6, or ORIS does with many of its Big Crown line, or what Longines does with its Spirit line. I know small watches are more popular these days, but some of us have 7 3/4" wrists and all these fabulous 38mm watches just look dumb on our mammoth wrists. But the skinny wristed deserve nice watches too. Two sizes please, 38mm and 41mm.

Thanks for the input, everyone! We'll definitely take all this into consideration.

After further consideration, how does a more expensive ljp g101 titanium watch (maybe with a meteorite dial?) in 38mm and 41mm sizes around $800-$1100 and a cheaper SS one with a different movement (undecided, likely miyota 9039 as of now) in 38 and 41mm sizes as well around $450 sound? Is this a reasonable price point? Still need to find a manufacturer, but hopefully I can produce watches with very small margins. I'm not really in this for the money (just want enough to cover basic expenses) and instead hope to make something for enthusiasts to really enjoy.

GMTs are getting the spotlight now but by the time you get a product up and running and ready to sell, the watch world will be on to the next trend. what will that be? who knows. but i’d venture a guess that a sports/GADA watch will still be welcomed.

fliegers are hard to make a success unless you have some heritage in the aeronautics space. otherwise you’ll just be labeled an homage.

the same goes with divers. make an all purpose sports/GADA watch with reasonable water resistance and you’ll likely be able to capture the diver enthusiast market too, while avoiding being labeled an homage brand.

Sports is an overgeneralisation of a series of different watch designs. A chronograph or a divers watch can be considered a sporty watch, although not specifically being a “Sports” Watch. But I say just design whatever comes naturally to you, not that I know anything about designing watches yet.

I guess no one wants a HAQ watch for $200.

While you’re trying to figure what kind of watch and movement I think first order of business should be the name and the logo. I’ll dismiss the whole brand because of that name and logo. Like Cristopher Ward, and their logo, I don’t even look at their watches. It reminds me of Dan Henry. Jack Mason on the other hand, is a two name brand I can look at. Just based superficially on the name I like Farer, Nomos, Kurono, Traska, and dislike Monta, Zelos, Furlan Mari, Studio Underdog.

Take my advice with a grain of salt, as I’ve been called weird and I’m not really into micro brands and I’m trying to downsize.

Good luck!

Titanium Day Date Traveler GMT

And not one with giant ugly pushers! (looking at you Ball)

Thanks, I've thought up of a name and created a logo already. Appreciate the input tho! I started to code a website, too, but I'm not the best at coding, haha.