Buying, Selling, & Collecting: Five Of My Favorite New Watches From Small Brands Right Now
In 2017, I took a train from downtown Chicago to a neighborhood about 30 minutes north to buy my first watch from a “microbrand,” a new Olmsted from Oak & Oscar. It was cold and grey, as it often is in Chicago in December, and I remember sitting in Oak & Oscar’s shoebox HQ, sipping a whiskey and chatting with the team of two while they sized the bracelet on my new watch.
That was a long time ago, but it still captures the attraction of small or micrbrand watches. Since then, the space has only grown and it’s nearly impossible to keep up with. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t come by a nicely designed and spec’d watch from one of these brands.
In the past couple of decades, these microbrands have matured by taking advantage of global supply chains (often manufacturing in China, but not always), skipping retail channels and selling online directly to consumers, and using affordable and accessible movements from Sellita or Miyota, often in a small-run or pre-order model. These factors allow everyone, from diehard enthusiasts to grifters looking to make a quick buck, to make and sell a watch. At their best, these brands come up with interesting and innovative designs; increasingly, this also includes some technical innovation.
New watches from Lorier, Echo/Neutra, and Marin.
In 2018, James wrote about the rise of microbrands, featuring first-generation pioneers including Raven, Halios, and Autodromo.
“There’s a fetish for novelty and cheapness over quality and integrity,” Autodromo’s Bradley Price said then. “The collateral damage is that all small brands get lumped together in the minds of some watch buyers – in short, it’s gotten way more complicated.”
This is still the case today, if not more so, as new brands can pop up almost as quickly as others disappear.
A few years after James, Logan Baker covered what he termed the new “middle class” of watchmaking that was continuing to take advantage of those same factors. From the United States (Brew, Monta) to the U.K. (Farer, AnOrdain) to Southeast Asia (Ming, Zelos) and everywhere in between, these brands make often exciting watches. And many of them are succeeding. At least a couple have said that annual sales surpass $10 million.
Often, these small brands make watches that larger, heritage brands can’t (or wouldn’t) make. They’re watches for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts, often with a small team powering the entire operation. I continue to find the space exciting. I spent some time walking around the Windup Watch Fair in New York last week and came away impressed by more than a few brands, so here are five of my favorites (and one bonus pick).
I’ll do a full hands-on with at least a couple of these watches – if there’s one in particular you’d like to see more of, let me know in the comments. Or, let me know which small or microbrands I missed (there are plenty).
Lorier Olympia Chronograph
Since 2017, Lorier has been making affordable watches inspired by mid-20th-century design. The New York City brand’s latest is the Olympia, its take on the traditional racing chronographs of the 1960s. The Olympia feels familiar, but with a few pops of soft red and blue that bring it into 2024. It’s an homage to a specific era but not any particular watch. The worst thing I can say about watches like this is that they leave me wanting the real thing, and that’s not the case with the Lorier Olympia. The style stands on its own as completely satisfying.
The Lorier Olympia chronograph on my 6.3-in wrist.
The Olympia’s 316L stainless steel case measures 39 x 13.8mm (46mm lug-to-lug), with 2mm of that thickness thanks to the domed Hesalite crystal. It’s powered by an automatic Seiko NE88 movement, and a screw-down crown means 50 meters of water resistance. After speaking with Lorier for just a few minutes at Windup, they say it’s a big improvement over the Seagull movements used in previous chronographs.
For 900 bucks, the Olympia chronograph has an impressive fit and finish. It’s got solid end links, bracelet links secured by screws, and a bracelet that articulates nicely around the wrist. The chrono pusher action is even satisfying and tactile – perhaps expected for a column wheel vertical clutch, but a pleasant surprise at the price.
With sparse posting on their social media channels, Lorier continues to let its product do all the talking, and that’s what I like about the brand most.
Check out the Olympia chronograph on Lorier’s website for more.
Marin Instruments Skin-Diver OS ‘Polar’
New Mexico Designer Justin Walters founded Marin Instruments in 2021. Like many microbrands, Marin is clearly inspired by mid-century watches, but it feels more modern than most. While its skin diver has cues from those ’60s watches—meant to be worn when diving without a wetsuit—Marin’s version is clean and contemporary, as much Apple or Nomos as it is Elgin or Waltham.
The Skin-Diver OS “Polar” has a stark white dial that contrasts with its black PVD-coated bezel and an orange-tipped seconds hand, surely a subtle reference to a more famous “polar” watch. The brushed steel case measures 39 x 11.5mm (48mm lug-to-lug), and while it wears a little flat on the wrist, that’s probably expected from the traditional skin-diver form. Inside is a standard automatic Sellita SW200-1, and the Polar Skin Diver is delivered on a black rubber strap with an additional NATO-style strap (though I wouldn’t mind it on one of Marin’s beads-of-rice bracelets). A strong, well-built watch for $1,095. In addition to buying directly on Marin’s site, the brand is also carried by online retailer Huckberry.
For more on Marin Instruments, check out its website.
Bonus Pick: Alterum Worldtimer
Bonus pick! I was immediately taken by the design of Marin Instruments when Hodinkee first covered the brand in 2022, so was excited to learn that founder Justin Walters just launched another brand, Alterum Watch Company. Alterum has just released its first watch, the Worldtimer. It’s a minimalist, brutal take on the globe-trotting complication.
The Alterum Worldtimer features a blasted and brushed stainless steel case (and bracelet) measuring 38.5 x 10.5mm. The world-time function is powered by an automatic Sellita SW330-2 GMT movement, and Walters partnered with Swiss manufacturer Roventa-Henex to produce the Worldtimer. The first production run will be limited to 100 units at a price of CHF 2,850. The hour and minute “hands” are fixed on rotating disks, with the rotating world time disks on the outer ring operable through an additional crown at two o’clock.
For more on the Alterum Worldtimer, visit Alterum Watch Co.
Atelier Wen Perception (Titanium Or Tantalum)
Perception in tantalum.
I first experienced an Atelier Wen Perception sometime in 2022, around the same time the proudly “Made in China” brand was also introduced on Hodinkee. While the integrated-bracelet watch was good, at the time it still needed some work. A few too many arm hairs suffered in that watch review, in other words.
The brand has come a long way since then. This year, they introduced a standard production version of the Perception in titanium. The story of the Perception begins with its guilloché dial, and while there was a recent social media dust-up about how long it does or doesn’t take for craftspeople to make these dials, you can’t deny they’re beautiful – especially in purple.
In addition to the dial work, Atelier Wen has expanded the Perception line into titanium and tantalum. It’s not easy to make a tantalum bracelet, so that’s the impressive development here – you can feel the weight of this accomplishment when you take the heavy metal in your hand.
“Tantalum gets sticky and destroys your tools quite quickly,” Atelier Wen co-founder Robin Tallendier explained to me. “If you want to polish or brush it, that’ll destroy the tools. And the hardest part is drilling holes, which you obviously have to do to make bracelets.”
The titanium Perception is nothing to sneeze at either, with finishing that matches more expensive titanium sports watches. Atelier Wen just closed a pre-order run of the titanium Perception ($3,588), but it says a small run of tantalum models is coming soon, as are more collaborations.
For more on Atelier Wen, visit its website.
Echo/Neutra Rivanera
The Rivanera from the Italian brand Echo/Neutra came as a surprise. Scroll through its previous releases, and you’ll see most of its watches are homage-y sports watches, often resembling models from Bell & Ross. But earlier this month, the Rivanera dropped, a modern take on the rectangular watch.
The sandblasted grade 5 titanium case measures 40 x 27mm, and just 5.5mm thick, thanks to the manual-wind ETA/Peseux 7001 inside. It comes with either a black or a grey dial, both of which add to the modern, monochromatic vibe of the Rivanera. While the bulk of the case is sandblasted and this matches the matte dial, there are also highly polished facets on the case flanks. The polished, applied hour markers also catch and reflect the light.
The Rivanera is a surprising contrast of minimalism and Art Deco. It’s totally unexpected, and from a brand I hadn’t paid much attention to. I wouln’t say the watch is too large, but it wears as a flat rectangle, and I might’ve liked something that hugs the wrist (at least, my wrist) a bit more. But this is an exciting release from Echo/Neutra – it’s on trend, but an innovative take that doesn’t feel like it’s chasing a trend.
Pre-orders for the Rivanera opened on Echo/Neutra’s site on October 10. Both dials cost $1,490. For more, visit Echo/Neutra.
Paulin Modul D
Finally, Paulin is the affordable sister brand of AnOrdain. As AnOrdain founder Lewis Heath explained to me last year, it recently absorbed its fellow Scottish brand, founded by Heath’s wife and her two sisters. Paulin recently announced the latest addition to its Modul collection, the Modul D and E. I got hands on with the D, which features a black lacquer dial and hand-painted lume on the hands and numerals.
Paulin offers the Modul with either a quartz movement ($507) or manual-wind (ETA 7001) movement ($1,114). The line is named after the case’s modular construction, designed to accommodate a range of movement calibers. The cushion-shaped case measures 35mm and 8.2mm thick. There’s also a larger automatic Modul if that’s your thing.
Paulin is fun, playful, and colorful – a brand that’s distinct from AnOrdain but feels at home in the same family. If you’re stuck waiting for your build slot to come up with AnOrdain (2028 for me!), picking up a Paulin Modul isn’t a bad way to bide your time.
For more, visit Paulin Watches.
This list is completely subjective – I’ve covered a number of other small brands recently from Oak & Oscar to Lorca to Anoma, and I’m sure there are more to come. Again, let me know if I missed your favorite, or which of these six watches you’d like to see more of.
Hodinkee