Watch Microbrands by Country

We are an authorized dealer for over 30 watch microbrands, which you can see here listed by the country in which they're based. Many watch microbrands are small startups that use a third party factory to manufacture their watches for them, typically in either Switzerland or China. Some, such as Celeste, Melbourne, Mr. Jones, Ocean Crawler, Swiss Watch Company and Valimor, handle assembly in-house. Viqueria uses a local Italian watchmaker but produce their own straps.

Albania

Decima Watch Company

Decima is the only watch microbrand we know of hailing from Albana, no small feat considering Albanian businesses can't list on Kickstarter or many other crowdfunding platforms. The Microbrand Store™ was instrumental in helping Decima to launch the production of their first watch, the Decima Scylla.

Australia

Melbourne Watch Company

As you can probably guess from the name of this watch microbrand, they're based in Melbourne, Australia, where they have a showroom and do all of their assembly and servicing in-house. Melbourne Watch Company have developed quite a reputation for producing stylish microbrand dress watches.

Second Hour Watches

Second Hour Watches is an Australian microbrand, founded in 2019 by Peter Sargison and his wife, Akira. The Second Hour name is a reference to Peter's mid-life career change, from working as a technology consultant to that of a watchmaker, something he is very passionate about. Peter tells us that the name is also a playful combination of two related units of time measurements, the second and the hour.

Austria

Viribus Unitis Watches

Viribus Unitis are situated deep in the Vienna Forest and this microbrand's dive watches are inspired by the history of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Canada

Aevum Timepieces

Aevum Timepieces is a one man microbrand run by Bryan Farquharson, who not only produces some awesome automotive-inspired timepieces, which he assembles himself, but also hand makes all of the brand's leather straps with their unique tire tread pattern, carefully selecting the leathers, dying, cutting and stitching each one individually. Originally located in Canada, Aevum Timepieces recently relocated to Japan, so we tend to think of this watch microbrand as both a Canadian microbrand (since it originates in Canada and is run by a Canadian) and a Japanese microbrand too.

Egard Watch Company

Égard Watches (Egard Watch Company) is a small family-run American microbrand led by father and son Peter and Ilan, who are based in Toronto (Canada) and Florida (USA) respectively, with final watch assembly taking place in the United States. The pair have been producing adventurous microbrand watch designs since 2012, a number of which have caught the eye of our store's founder, Neil, who was happy to add a variety of Egard watches to his personal collection. This included the Égard Phase 1 Tourbillon, which immediately became Neil's favorite tourbillon timepiece.

China

Ballast Watches

Ballast, along with it's many sibling brands such as Spinnaker, is not actually a microbrand but one of many brands owned by a Chinese-based international conglomerate with it's own factory. As is becoming more common with Chinese factories, the brand is marketed to microbrand watch collectors, so we've often been asked to carry their watches. Moving forwards, The Microbrand Store will probably not be purchasing additional stock for this brand as we prefer to support true microbrands.

Selten Watch Company

Leonardo Tsai, (Kin Leung Tsai,) the founder of Selten Watch Company, comes from a family of watch professionals with a rich horological heritage. After graduating, Leonardo started his career at J. P. Morgan before eventually transitioning to start his own microbrand, Selten Watch Company, in 2017.

Spinnaker Watches

Spinnaker, along with it's many sibling brands such as Ballast, is not actually a microbrand but one of many brands owned by a Chinese-based international conglomerate with it's own factory. As is becoming more common with Chinese factories, the brand is marketed to microbrand watch collectors, so we've often been asked to carry their watches. Moving forwards, The Microbrand Store will probably not be purchasing additional stock for this brand as we prefer to support true microbrands.

TACS

TACS are probably most famous for their Lens series of watches, designed to look like and be a homage to vintage cameras, with an absolutely amazing attention to detail. This brand was founded by Yoshiaki Motegi, ("Yoshi",) a Japanese gentleman with an eye for detailed design that we think has helped set the TACS brand apart from many others. The brand is rightly proud of TACS' Japanese heritage, and state Made in Japan on their watch case backs, but it should be noted that although the movements on their watches that we sell are made in Japan, the TACS watch brand is run by Creative Choice Limited, a company based in China, with its own assembly factory and bricks and mortar retail store. We loved this brand's Vintage Lens II offerings so much that we've made an exception and decided to stock their best watch models. Please check them out. You won't be disappointed!

Denmark

Henry Archer

It sometimes surprises microbrand watch enthusiasts when they learn that Henry Archer is a Danish microbrand. The brand name is a direct English translation of the microbrand founder's name, Henrik Schødt. Henrik is personally involved in every aspect of his business from design, to marketing, to order fulfillment and customer service, and we've found that he has a phenomenal attention to detail when it comes to interacting with his customers. A true microbrand at it's best.

England (United Kingdom)

Duckworth Prestex

Duckworth Prestex is a British microbrand that brings some interesting family history to the table. Neil Duckworth, the visionary behind this English microbrand, is a third generation entrepreneur in the watch business, and successfully launched TAG Heuer in the UK in 1982. Watches are very much his passion, and he has long wanted to launch his own brand of modern watches that are also a homage to the Prestex watches that his family used to produce, which he loves to collect.

France

Montmartre Watchworks

Montmartre Watchworks is a French watch microbrand that takes it's name from the Montmartre district in central Paris, where the microbrand is based. Montmartre is a hillside area, that dominates the surrounding landscape, and boasts an eclectic artists' village that was home to luminaries such as Dali and Picasso. At the base of the hill lies the famous Moulin Rouge caberet, with it's iconic four armed windmill. This is reflected in Montmartre Watchworks' logo, (the arms of the windmill,) as well as the small second hand on Montmartre's MW5 chronograph, which we think is a really nice touch.

Italy

Viqueria Italian Watch Company

Viqueria Italian Watch Company are based near Milan in the Italian city of Voghera, whose name in ancient Roman times was Viqueria. As well as using a local watchmaker to assemble and regulate their watches, the two Italian friends who both reside in Voghera and run this microbrand, have also been running 2DStraps for a number of years, quite a well known Italian leather watch straps startup. Apart from the rich colors that authentic Italian watch microbrands seem to do best, Viqueria customers have been spoiled even further with high quality Italian leather straps from 2DStraps.

Japan

Aevum Timepieces

Malaysia

Aerotec Watches

Aerotec Watches, under the watchful eye of Terence See, Aerotec's founder, has been producing bronze, titanium and 316L steel microbrand watches since 2015, with innovative design features such as the double porthole viewports in divers' goggles engravings on the back of some of their dive watches, or their hybrid bronze pilot dive watches with a choice of changeable bezels.

New Zealand

Draken Watches Ltd.

Draken Watches are very much inspired by the landscape of South Africa, such as the Draken Kalahari, a field watch taking its name from the Kalahari desert. This is because the creator behind the brand hails from that region. He now however lives in New Zealand, which is where this watch microbrand operates from. We still think that's really cool as Draken Watches are our only New Zealand based microbrand, and we can't wait to see some dive watches inspired by the likes of Milford Sound!

Romania

Albert Villa Timepieces

Albert Villa Timepieces is a Romanian watch microbrand (and the only one we know of from Romania) run by Marian Mirea, who is also a renowned watch strap maker. Marian makes all of the watch straps for Albert Villa Timepieces himself by hand. We think Albert Villa Timepieces are extraordinary modern-day homages to the 1920s and the Art Deco style, and just love the personal touch you get by the hands-on approach from the creator behind this microbrand..

Singapore

It should be no surprise that we have more watch microbrands in Singapore than any other city, or indeed any other country for that matter! Singapore is the Mecca of microbrands, and some of the top names here like BOLDR, Gruppo Gamma, and Zelos will be very familiar to microbrand watch aficionados.

Advisor Watch Company

Advisor Watch Company were one of the lesser known Singaporean watch microbrands when the microbrand launched its the first two Advisor Astrohelm models, large California dial timepieces with very high sapphire crystal domes. That seems to be changing now, and deservedly so, when the brand launched their Advisor Ascent series. Who knew skull-themed watches would be so popular?!

Arcturus Watches

Arcturus' first watch, a large art deco dress watch was an instant hit and an immediate sell out. Our pre-order quantity went in a flash and we couldn't get any more except second hand, which also sold as fast as we could get them. To this day the mother-of-pearl LC1 (Lion City model #1, named after Singapura, which means Lion City) is sought after and can carry a premium on the second hand market. Sadly the founder of the brand was unable to successfully bring his next model to market as he'd just passed his bar exams and was starting a career as a lawyer. So for now this brand is dormant but we really hope to see it erupt again on the Singapore microbrand watch scene in future.

BOLDR Supply Company

BOLDR are very well known for their deliciously chunky Odyssey series of large 45½mm tool watches, but there are plenty of other models that have been hits in a variety of styles including their Expedition field watches, for example. This watch microbrand gives the other top Singaporean microbrands some stiff competition and is a brand worth watching.

Gruppo Gamma

Out of all of our microbrands, this is the pack leader, the one to beat, with exceptional quality that can't easily be explained. You have to handle a Gruppo Gamma timepiece to feel how butter smooth the crown is when winding, or how everything feels just right. Many movements have been regulated to an average accuracy of 0 seconds per day, and the watches themselves are gorgeous, especially the large California dial watches that this watch microbrand is famous for.

Mitch Mason Watches

Mitch Mason Watches (Mitch Mason Pte. Ltd.) is a Singaporean watch microbrand, founded in 2019 by Benedict Ong, that has quickly gained a reputation for great attention to detail. Be it innovative design with features such as unique custom hands, or just that extra level of finish such as a conveniently lumed date window in a nicely balanced dial, or fully drilled lugs, each Mitch Mason timepiece has a lot to offer discerning microbrand watch collectors.

Neminus Labs

We've included Neminus here as the brand likes to promote itself as Singaporean, and indeed the brand owner does come from Singapore. However, he now resides in Taiwan, which is where Neminus ship from so we classify this watch microbrand as Taiwanese.

RZE Watches

RZE Watches' (formerly Reise Watches) roots go back to BOLDR, one of the best known microbrands hailing from Singapore. RZE's founder, Travis Tan, was originally one of the founders/partners at BOLDR, before striking out on a new direction with RZE Watches, along with his spouse, Vivian Ko. RZE's tag line is #AssembledforAdventure, and their first release, the Resolute, is an extremely robust yet remarkably light titanium field watch with a scratch resistant 12000Hv ULTRAHex coating.

Venturo

Venturo is a new spin off microbrand from the grand master of them all, Gruppo Gamma. A new microbrand and a slightly new direction, Venturo launched with an affordable but elegant field watch while still retaining the highest level of quality that Gruppo Gamma are renowned for.

Zelos Watches

Probably the most successful of all of the Singaporean watch microbrands in terms of number of watches sold, Zelos often sell out quickly and can seemingly never produce enough watches, despite the steady stream of new models coming out all the time. Zelos spin-off microbrands include Axios, Ventus, and Vilhelm. Despite the high volume, we still have them pegged as a microbrand since they don't produce their watches in house and it's pretty much just the creator or creator and a couple of associates for the spin offs. Amazingly, given the scale and outsourcing, quality has been consistently very high.

Spain

Minor Watches

Minor Watches is a family-run Spanish microbrand, named after the founders' grandfather, Santiago Salgado Menor, who was passionate about watchmaking. The three founders, Héctor, Santi and César, launched Minor Watches in 2018, shortly before their grandfather passed in early 2019. Since then, Minor Watches has established a reputation for producing quality timepieces.

Switzerland

Direnzo Watches

Direnzo Watches has a special claim to fame, the Direnzo DRZ_02 having been chosen as our microbrand watch of the year for 2019. We weren't the only ones to pick out this amazing timepiece as the watch of the year, so little wonder it sold out so quickly. As well as being Swiss Made, the founder and creator behind this brand lives in Switzerland, and is able to visit the production factory as needed.

Signum Watch Co.

Signum Watch Co. is the brainchild of Kyle Schut, who will be familiar to many microbrand watch collectors as the owner of Straton Watch Company, a Swiss microbrand famous for it's vintage-styled chronographs. The aim of Signum Watches is simply to produce very affordable yet reliable mechanical timepieces with unusual and interesting materials. Signum's first release, the Signum Cuda, seems to have hit the sweet spot and set the tone for future releases, with dial materials such as heat treated meteorite, natural meteorite, and colorful abalone shell, plus extremely good specs, all at an exceptional price point.

Straton Watch Company

Since launching in 2015, Straton Watch Company has built a solid reputation as the number one go-to choice for those looking to get a 1970s inspired vintage-style automotive racing chronograph. Straton Watch Company have defined their niche in the microbrand watch world, and with every release, they seem to raise the bar higher and higher. It's not uncommon for these timepieces to sell out fairly quickly.

Swiss Watch Company

As well as being as Swiss as can be, with a Swiss founder, a Swiss company/corporation in situ, Swiss mechanical movements, and manufacture in Switzerland, the Swiss Watch Company can also be said to be an American brand. The founder of this watch microbrand moved to the United States and launched the Swiss Watch Company there in 1995, which he now operates with his two sons. The history behind SWC, the Swiss Watch Company, is rather different to typical watch microbrands too, since the founder behind this microbrand got his start in the watchmaking industry working in Quality Assurance for the Swatch group, which owns a number of famous watch brands such as Blancpain, Breguet, ETA, Glashütte Original, Harry Winston, Longines, Omega, Tissot, and RADO. He has been able to focus his luxury watch expertise on SWC's own line of watches, which often average around zero seconds per day accuracy.

Taiwan

Elegantsis

Founded in 1999, Elegantsis has been around a lot longer than most watch microbrands, and have built a solid reputation in their home market, where among other things, they've focused on producing military timepieces. 2016 was their breakout year when they began selling in other countries through various third party retailers, but they still remain a smaller-sized business.

Neminus Labs

The hallmark of any Neminus Labs watch is the imaginative design and great attention to detail on the theme being portrayed on the watch, (space exploration for example,) combined with going above and beyond quality-wise. As such, Neminus have produced some very distinctive Swiss Made deep dive watches that have become quite collectible, and we can't wait to see each new release.

Valimor Watches

If you enjoy the romance of the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the round table then Valimor is probably for you. The brand name itself stands for "VALIant" and "arMOR", and the arms and armor theme is very much picked up in Valimor's timepieces, which feature intricate scale armor carvings/engravings around the bezels, sword-shaped hands, and a scratch resistant patented custom antiquing process for the watch cases unique to this microbrand. Many Valimor dials are made from unusual gemstones and other materials you don't commonly find on a watch.

United Kingdom

Mr. Jones Watches

Mr. Jones Watches are a small, artisinal, London-based microbrand that have been producing their own line of watches for over ten years now. Fun, quirky, and with very unique complications, Mr. Jones watches are deliberately designed to be conversation starters that make folks smile, where sometimes even telling the time can be secondary to wearing an entertaining work of art. Unlike most microbrands, Mr. Jones Watches print many of their own dials in-house, and assemble their own watches, almost all of which have unique and clever custom complications.

United States

Celeste Watch Company

Situated in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Celeste Watch Company is not your typical watch microbrand. Founded by Celeste Wong, a passionate watch addict and respected engineer, educator and author, (with 22 books to her name, including a best seller,) Celeste Watch Company is an all-female owned and operated business. All of the watches are assembled in-house, and the meticulous work of laser cutting and inlaying each dial with natural materials such as abalone and mother-of-pearl to make up each dial illustration can take twelve hours or more per watch. The hand-made locally sourced goatskin watch straps add another three hours to the time necessary to produce each timepiece.

Egard Watch Company

Heitis Watch Company

Heitis Watch Company is a New York based watch microbrand founded in 2015. The microbrand's first Kickstarter offering was an affordable but very stylish pilot watch. Since then, Heitis has continued with an unbroken string of successful Kickstarter campaigns, with the more recent campaigns offering dive watches on stainless steel bracelets and bronze dive watches.

Hemel Watches (Hemel LLC)

Hemel Watches (Hemel, LLC) is a New York City based American watch microbrand run by Marvin Menke, who founded the company in 2012. We particularly like this microbrand watch creator since Marvin has given lot back to the microbrand community, and has assisted other small watch microbrands through a self-help group for watch microbrands which he runs on Facebook.

Marvin grew up bilingual in both Dutch and English, and "Hemel" is the Dutch word for "sky". We think this is very appropriate since Hemel's focus is primarily on vintage-style military timepieces that appeal to pilots and aviators. Over the last couple of years, Hemel have deepened their tie-in with the US military, which now includes a partnership and licensing with the United States Air Force.

Iconic Timepieces LLC

Iconic Timepieces LLC is a watch microbrand based in Florida and founded by Ivan Hampton Ennis, who is well known to many microbrand watch afficionados through his YouTube watch review channel: WatchMe Unboxing. This microbrand's first offering was the Iconic Halocline, formerly known as the Iconic Hampton Bay, an innovative dive watch that has really set the standard for Iconic's future.

Mercer Watch Company

Headquartered in New Jersey, USA, Mercer's offices are just a few miles from where Hugh Mercer, a doctor and Brigadier General in the Continental Army and namesake for the company, met his demise in the Battle of Princeton. This is subtly picked up on by the star motif signature on Mercer's crowns, denoting the one star rank of a brigadier general.

PolAm Watch Company

The PolAm Watch Company are particularly distinguished by their proud Polish-American heritage. Although a US-based business operating out of Michigan, PolAm watches prominently feature the red and white color scheme found on Polish national symbols such as the Polish flag and coat of arms, with some models also prominently displaying the Polish eagle.

Ocean Crawler

Ocean Crawler LLC is a US-based watch microbrand, currently operating in the New York area. Launched only in 2017, Ocean Crawler's rise to prominence among microbrand watch collectors has been nothing short of meteoric. This watch microbrand has gained a strong reputation for an ever changing array of colorful microbrand dive watches produced in very small limited editions (typically just 100 timepieces) every 75 days or so. Both collectors and retailers alike have learnt to move quickly in order not to miss out on Ocean Crawler's very popular limited editions.

Relio Watches LLC

Relio Watches are an American microbrand based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Leandro Fernandez, who has a background as an engineer, and his partner, Anais Bergues, who brings her production and creative artistic experience to bear, this watch microbrand quickly hit the ground running with their first microbrand watch release, the Relio Solstice, a 38mm sports watch/dress watch.

Swiss Watch Company

As well as being as Swiss as can be, with a Swiss founder and manufacture in Switzerland, the Swiss Watch Company (SWC) can also be said to be an American brand. The founder moved to the United States and formed the Swiss Watch Company there in 1995, initially producing watches for the armed forces and first responders before recently launching his own line of microbrand watches in more recent times, which we're proud to now carry in The Microbrand Store as Swiss Watch Company's first retailer.