So What’s a Microbrand?

The divisiveness that comes with this label is something that always surprises me. I’ve only been into independent brands since 2021, when due to getting a bad case of Covid (you can read more about this if you’re interested in the About Me page) I had a bit of time and got more into watch youtubers and bloggers (and now I’m stuck, when I can work), and got interested in what people were calling microbrands, and my first independent was from the microbrand Boldr.

Prior to this I’d had watches from Swatch, Certina, Tissot, Casio etc. very obviously mainstream brands, and they are great watches, I still have some mainstream brands (which you can see in the next picture), but it just seemed like the micros I was discovering offered more for your money.

So what is a microbrand? While there is no official explanation, most agree that a microbrand is a small brand that makes and sells smaller batches of watches often directly to clients rather than through authorised dealers. This is why dealers such as Zelos, Boldr, Christopher Ward and Spinnaker are often still considered micros even though they’re now large enough to no longer be considered microbrands by some members of the watch enthusiast community.

So Why The Divisiveness?

As with many things there is undoubtedly a number of reasons why there is some disagreement about why people get worked up about microbrands and whether something is and isn’t a microbrand. Not everybody likes watches that are labelled as microbrands, and one of the reasons for this is that, for some, it makes them think of drop ship watches, watches that are manufactured cheaply in large batches, and then branded by companies that want to make cash quickly and don’t care about their watches or the people who buy them. Well known brands that are accused of this are MVMT and Daniel Wellington, although I feel like I have to say I’ve had no hands on experience with either watch and have heard that MVMT have gotten better. So that’s one reason people dislike these brands and another reason is the overly aggressive sales tactics that these brands can sometimes use, these were so bad that if a new watch brand pops up several times in a short time period I won’t look at it, and the way these brands would often sale themselves: claiming to cut out the middle man to save costs, is a common way micros sell their products to start with as it does save on costs, and a new brand needs to take advantage of that.

Microbrand Resurgence

Microbrands have been around for a while. Christopher Ward who claim to be the first watch brand to only sell online, meaning that there could be an argument that they were the first modern microbrand. Obviously there have been people making and selling watches themselves for almost long as there have been watches, but the internet has allowed these smaller brands to reach a larger audience and thus grow their brand. This has meant that in the past almost 20 years brands have been able to form and sell rapidly to a global client base, personally I’ve had microbrands from the USA, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, France, Germany and Sweden. And of course this is something that a lot of drop ship brands were able to take advantage of, and arguably because they didn’t spend as much time and money making their watches, they were able to spend more on marketing; creating bigger adverts with celebrity endorsements and higher production values than the other “more serious” microbrands were able to. But also with the internet it has been easier for watch enthusiasts to educate themselves, and there is now a market for these microbrands and while many people are still buying the mainstream brands, including those of us who are more interested in independents, there’s a space now for well made good quality watches from people who are not as concerned about immediate re-sale value or historic significance, which are 2 of the main things detractors of these microbrands point to, and these same microbrands are perfectly placed to take advantage of this.

Final Thoughts

So what’s the point of this long rambling post. Really it’s simply a way to get my thoughts out there without getting into an elongated debate about something that I do feel is about as pointless as a debate can get. In my view a microbrand is a small independent brand. I personally am not too concerned about whether they do everything themselves, source the movements from outside and make the rest in house (I actually quite like this as it makes servicing easier), design everything and go outside for the build and assembly process (like Christopher Ward), I’m not too bothered. I’m not really too concerned with drop shippers, if the watches work and people like them who really cares. This is a luxury pastime, and people should be allowed to do what they want with their money, and in all honesty it seems churlish in the extreme to chide people and make them (and I include myself here) hesitant to join in discussions about something that, in all honesty, shouldn’t really matter to most people, and those of us already in the enthusiast community should be trying to encourage others into joining instead of excluding them.

Time I got off this soapbox if anyone got to the end of this thank you very much and here are the watches I currently own that I think most would agree are microbrands.