This next instalment in our exploration of Watch Microbrands considers brands from places you might not expect. They are from countries with no historic watchmaking industry, or little fame for fashion, design or jewellery making. We consider brands from Singapore, China, Scandinavia, and even one from Malaysia. The earlier parts of this series of Blog Posts covered what Microbrands are here, the different types here, and some from large watchmaking nations here.

It is fun to research all these brands, and the common challenges they face are brand building and getting people to believe they are a quality proposition. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club encourage you to explore these areas, we remind you to look at online reviews, make sure you understand the taxes and import duties if the watch is coming from overseas, and remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. We wrote a whole post about buying a watch online here.

Singaporean Microbrands

Singapore has a large number of watch enthusiasts and collectors, many of whom have started their own brands. There is a great variety of microbrands, despite the country having no history of watchmaking at all. Many of these brands sell the majority of their production in the US and Europe, so there are plenty of online reviews and most offer free shipping if you see something you like.

Boldr Supply Co.

Boldr is a relatively young microbrand that used the Kickstarter crowd funding platform to get going, but now has a large and loyal following. They mainly focus on “rugged” watches, and you can see much of their inspiration comes from famous sports or tool watches of the 20th century. They use Swiss movements and study materials, and their range is well worth exploring. 

Reverie

This small company focuses on exquisite watch dials first. They hand make these dials using special old fashioned machines, in a process called Engine turning. Each watch is limited to a small batch number, and sell out quickly. They use a Mecha-Quartz movement, which is battery powered but has a mechanical chronograph. These movements are at the high end of quartz-watchmaking. Despite this, the watches are very affordable. This is a great example of a microbrand doing something different, and producing quite beautiful watches because of it.

Malaysian Microbrands

This series could not miss out on one of the most famous microbrands to explode into the watch world in the last few years. It is based out of Malaysia, a country even less famous for watchmaking or collecting than Singapore. This company shows that successful watch companies can start anywhere.

Ming Watches

Designed in Kuala Lumpur but made in Switzerland, this company is a perfect example of what is possible in modern watch-making. The first couple of models were so unique, with simple styling  and radical dial design, that they were massive hits. The company immediately acquired long waiting lists and disappointed customers. There is a whole series of apologies on the website from the founder. However the company manages its future success, its already made quite a splash, and well worth exploring for yourself.

Chinese Microbrands

China holds an interesting place in the watch world. It is famous for making a very large number of watch movements, as Japanese companies outsourced component manufacture and movement assembly to the country some time ago for their lower cost models. Also a large number of components used in Swiss watches are made in China. There is a huge watch company called Tianjin Seagull, who make branded models and also movements for other companies. There are some microbrands who focus on very affordable homage watches, inspired by the designs of famous watches in history. In Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region of China, there are many watch collectors and enthusiasts, and some have started microbrands that have been very successful, such as Undone. 

Undone Watches

This company was founded by a vintage watch collector in Hong Kong in order to produce made-to-order customisable watches at very affordable prices. Their great success has come from this ability to allow unusual designs, as well as finding create partnerships with brands in other areas, such as animation, super heroes etc, to create limited edition models. They have many limited-edition watches and plenty of variety to explore. 

Heimdallr Watch Co.

This Chinese company produces homage dive watches. They offer people very affordable versions o famous dive watches of the past century. Their success comes from their ability to keep the quality standards high at very low prices. Their range covers many famous styles.

Scandinavian Microbrands

Scandinavia is comprised of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and is another area of the world with little tradition of watch manufacturing, but many new and exciting microbrands. While there are many focussing on what people might regard as “Scandinavian Design” styles, with simple lines and interesting complementary colours, there are of course other brands making radical and unusual models, as we have seen so often already in the world of microbrands. 

Nordgreen

Nordgreen is a good example of a founder-led and design-led brand selling classic Scandinavian simplicity at affordable prices. Based in Denmark, their multi-strap options offer customers a good deal for very straightforward and versatile timepieces.

Bulbul

Bulbul take this simple design language even further, with some interesting shaped watches, and highly unusual blank dials. They are so simple they stand out a mile.