I recently reviewed the Meister Hand-Winding dress watch from Junghans and was impressed by its price/quality ratio. The German manufacturer has been producing timepieces since 1866 (founded in 1861), so it’s among the oldest registered watch companies in the world. To say Junghans knows a thing or two about producing watches is an understatement, and […]
Things have really changed in the watch industry. When I was a boy, if you wanted a watch you went to a jewellery store and picked one out of the cabinet. If you were really particular, the dealer would let you look at his catalogue and you could order one and wait (and wait (and wait)). Now if you want a watch you can go to an online retailer and have it shipped to you the next day. What if you don’t want a watch that already exists? What if you want a watch that is either technically or stylistically cutting-edge? Thanks to Kickstarter, you not only get to see the newest and greatest watches, but you also get to take a hand in their very existence! Trifoglio Italia, the brainchild of Alessandro Baldieri and Jessie Yeo are launching their first series of watches on Kickstarter: The Veloce (speed in English).
Founded in 2014 in New York, Martenero already has six lines of watches in its portfolio. Their latest line, the Edgemere Reserve, is the most detailed piece yet with three complications. Inspired by the marine chronometer (a timepiece accurate enough to allow ships to use celestial navigation), the new line has bold, contrasting colours and a bit of playfulness that remind me of watches from Farer Universal. Like that company, Martenero has found a unique aesthetic without going overboard, being both fun and sophisticated. The Edgemere Reserve follows the original Edgemere with a more mature sequel and is the first follow-up to a piece for the company.
Regular readers of MONOCHROME will already be familiar with the name Formex. We’ve previously written about the brand here, here and here. Known for its rugged action watches, the company has continued to refine its offering since Raphael Granito took the reins a few years back. Its latest offering, the surprisingly refined Essence Automatic Chronometer, continues this evolution. And offers great value for money too! We recently spent some hands-on time with this entry-level model that delivers a COSC-certified chronometer for under USD 700, now launching on Kickstarter.
Looking for a dress watch that is just as functional as stylish (and fairly priced too)? The Delma Heritage might the right pick for you. Delma is a family-owned company based in Lengnau, near Biel in Switzerland. If the brand is mostly known today for its sport and dive watches, it has produced a number of dress watches in its (almost) 100 years of existence. Case in point: presented during the Basel Watch Week earlier in 2018, the Delma Heritage is inspired from historical models of the brands.
Leyden Watches, a one-man operation out of Leiden, The Netherlands, is following up on a successful Kickstarter campaign from 2016 that launched the inaugural Velox Chronograph. That initial piece was a second attempt by the company as their first Kickstarter watch, the Power Reserve, was never funded. The Lorentz dress watch is now the third crowdfunding campaign from Leyden and is named after Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, one of the most renowned physicists from Holland (who later moved to Leiden to teach at Leiden University). It’s a classic, understated dress watch that can fit with a suit or more casual attire. Powered by a hand-wound Swiss movement and with three colour options, this new offering from Leyden is another solid, affordable entry in the microbrand space.
Ikepod… A mysterious brand, with a design that most of us can easily recall. Yes, Ikepod was all about that: a great design! Founded in 1994 by Oliver Ike and Marc Newson – who designed the watches, and was later involved in the design of the Apple Watch – the brand was famous for its disc-shaped/pebble-shaped watches – watches that will become modern icons. Yet, the story had its ups and downs, and Ikepod stopped production in 2012 when Newson left the company. Until now… as this cult design is back in 2018, with new investors, new people and mainly a new strategy of affordability. Meet the new face of Ikepod, which collection just launched on Kickstarter.
It’s not hard to find a chronograph in any price range as just about every watch brand offers one (or many). I’m somewhat picky when it comes to chronographs and tend to like more unique pieces like the Longines Avigation BigEye or Junghans Meister Chronoscope Terrassenbau Limited Edition, and pass on the garden-variety. It’s no secret that there’s an exploding population of microbrands throughout Europe and North America that are undercutting established brands’ prices with Kickstarter campaigns and online-only storefronts. Watches like the Aqua Compressor Endeavour from Farer Universal and Ticonite from ORLO Watches prove that modern technology, a talent for design and mass-produced, high-quality movements have levelled the playing field to a large extent, especially in the sub-USD 2,000 market. Mercer Watch Co. is an excellent example of this and has a well-designed chronograph with a column-wheel movement, and an impressive price to match. Let’s take a closer look at their Lexington Chronograph.
You’d be hard pressed to find a more mature and unique watch company in the world of microbrands than London-based Farer Universal. Their production is predictably limited in number for a small brand, offering a maximum of 300 individual watches within most series (many are limited to 100) and they often sell out in a matter of months. They’re known for using a lot of colours and whimsical designs, yet maintain a sophistication and maturity that keep them from resembling expensive Swatch watches. With the exception of their initial quartz line, Farer always releases new watches in a series of three, all having very different dial designs that share a common case. Following up on the 37mm Hand-Wound series released a few months ago, the company just launched three automatic chronographs that continue their distinctive design language – The Cobb, Eldridge and Segrave.
Although Hamilton is associated with rugged pilot’s watches, there is life beyond the cockpit. First introduced in 2012, Hamilton’s Intra-Matic rides on the current mania for all things vintage, and proposes a classic two-hand and date dress watch that would not look amiss on Don Draper’s wrist in Mad Men. Inspired by the pared-down elegance and functionality of watches produced in the 1960’s, the original monochromatic offer is now enhanced with trendy ‘smoked’ dials in a wider and warmer choice of colours at competitive prices.