Okay, so, I’ve been getting into this whole “microbrands” thing in the watch world. You know, those small, independent watchmakers? I decided to dig into this after watching some stuff from Teddy Baldassarre, who’s pretty big in the watch community online. I have to say, the more I looked, the more fascinated I got.
First off, I started by watching a bunch of Teddy’s videos. He’s got this one where he goes through his favorite microbrand watches. He calls it the “Super Bowl for micro and indie brands.” It sounded pretty exciting, so I watched that and took some notes. I found some pretty cool names like Gavox, with their Avidiver, which is like, inspired by aviation and diving, and Roads, which is this chronograph that’s supposed to remind you of road trips.
Then, I went down the rabbit hole. I started searching for more info on these microbrands. Apparently, the whole microbrand thing started back in the early to mid-2000s. It’s basically small-scale brands that are only known in niche communities and among hobbyists. It was interesting to see how many of these brands are just startups that use third-party factories, usually in Switzerland or China, to make their watches.
- I found out about a few famous ones.
- There’s this German brand, NOMOS Glashütte, that’s all about minimalist design and making their own movements in-house.
- They’re still independent and all about high-quality, affordable watches.
But then I hit a bit of a snag. I was curious if Zodiac, this old Swiss brand from 1882, was a microbrand. Turns out, they’re not. They’re more of a historic brand with vintage-inspired designs, so they don’t really fit the microbrand definition.
Anyway, after all this research, I decided to pull the trigger and buy a watch from one of these microbrands. I ended up getting an Mido Ocean Star GMT. I couldn’t find the Pepsi version anywhere else, and this place had it. The customer service was awesome, and the delivery was super quick. They even followed up after I got the watch, which was a nice touch.
All in all, it’s been a pretty cool journey getting into microbrand watches. There’s a whole world out there beyond the big names, and it’s full of passionate people making some really interesting timepieces. I’m definitely going to keep exploring this scene and maybe even add a few more microbrand watches to my collection.
