Over the past few years, more and more new, independent watch brands have been popping up that offer “affordable” watches with a solid price-to-quality ratio.

Some of these brands spit out boring, derivative designs, while others are producing genuinely interesting timepieces.

The increased production capabilities of Sellita (and others movement manufacturers like Soprod and Miyota) has, along with crowdfunding platforms, for better or for worse, dramatically reduced the barriers to entry into the watch world.

Here are two of my very favourite brands that I think are capable of producing beautiful and original designs and, for the money, offer a tonne of value and enjoyment.



Seen here is the 5303-3 diver by Serica and the Calendrier Type 1 by Kurono Tokyo.

Both watches have a level of finishing and quality that exceeded my expectations.

What micro or lower-to-middle-price-point (sub $3-4k) independents do you favour?

 

The only microbrands watch I have is the Marine II from Laventure.



The quality is very good and the small yearly series of only 99 numbered pieces produced make it special.



Love the solid gold dial and the engraved caseback.



Any Laventure owners here?

 

Wow! What a dial!!!

 

Here is one of mine, Vario from Singapore:

 

Micros are sort of what kicked off my insanity

Farer Exmoor, SW200


Revelot, NH35s (white is full lume, green is CuSn8 bronze and meteorite)


Maranez Rawai


Dan Henry, 1962 mecha-quartz


Mint Evolutive Defender Kit ... came with 4 bezels, like 10 straps, and a bracelet


Vario Empire Tuxedo

 

I’m beginning to realize that creating this thread is probably going to end up costing me a lot of money

 

A very whimsical Undone beater watch. Could not resist the ironic combo of cartoon and mother of pearl.

 

the GMT was a gift to my son.

 

I’ve always liked the look of Baltic but this 1964 Grand Turismo came along

 

This is a microbrand that my cousin has started (IRIDIUM Watches). Love the watch!

 

Off yet On-topic...

any issues with your 5303 hacking and "hand float" while setting the time & pushing the crown back in?

 

None that I have experienced. I just tried it out to see if I missed something and it hacks just fine and the minute hand stays completely stable.

the only quirk of the movement I’ve noticed is that when screwing the crown back in the movement continues to wind, but I assumed that was a characteristic of the Newton calibre.

 

NTH Thresher.

A very special watch for me. It'd be one of the last to go.

 

At first I was skeptical of that brand, but I really like what they do… they make a lot of fun watches.

I was very tempted by their Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster reissue they released today.

 

I wanted their bronze and the mr-01 but never pulled the trigger ... did I miss out on something good?

 

Yep. But sometimes they come back.

 

That's encouraging... perhaps Jérôme has the quirks sussed out then.
I have a V2 5303 in black that he swore was 2nd Gen and therefore had the issues solved, they aren't.
Mine hacks occasionally, and the hour & minutes travel fantastically when pushing the crown back in -- especially if I'm setting the time and the hour/minute hands are anywhere near 12.

 

I may as well share a few other pieces I’ve picked up over the years…

A recently revised version of the MKii Paradive:



A limited edition piece from Merci Watches out of France:



And a really fun collaboration between Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein:

 

Yikes. That’s not good to hear. Everything seems to be okay with mine, but it was released oy recently and it did take quite a while to be delivered, so perhaps they were ironing out the kinks during the delay?
I hope you can have your issues resolved.

 

Agree on all counts and indeed this one is a very cool one.