5 microbrands that get design right

D.C. Hannay

I’m on record as having some strong opinions about the importance of design when it comes to timepieces, doubly so when it comes to microbrands, where visual heartache is rampant. Now, I fully understand that many micro releases are often a “solo album”. In other words, one person is responsible for the look, function, ergonomics, and overall wear experience, as well as things like marketing and other business-related activities. But it’s okay to ask for help. My photography is passable on my best day, so I leave it to professionals whenever possible. I know my strengths, and am well aware of my shortcomings. So if you’re a fledgling micro, know your limitations. But enough with the ill-advised hands, sadly placed date windows, and Papyrus dial text, I’m here to celebrate the heroes of microbrand design, ones who display an understanding of scale, proportion, style, colour, and a refreshing originality, all while showing a healthy respect for the classics.

Baltic

Very few microbrands get design as right as France’s Baltic have. Their first diver release, the Aquascaphe, blew up Kickstarter in 2018, and they’ve never looked back. The Aquascaphe was the right watch at the right time, leveraging the public’s ardour for vintage-styled and sized tool watches, without the accompanying fragility and stratospheric prices. Their clean, classically handsome model lineup shows a consistent voice throughout the range, which now boasts variants like Aquascaphe Titanium, Aquascaphe GMT, and Aquascaphe Bicompax 002. You’ll also find a bronze option, a dual-crown model, and now, dressier options like the sector-dialled HMS.

And their new 37mm Hermetique is a GADA stunner that further cements their status in the pantheon of microbrand greatness. You can see the full selection of Baltic timepieces at the Time+Tide Watch Discovery Studio in Melbourne, and online at the Time+Tide Shop.

echo/neutra

Talk about a strong visual identity: Italian microbrand echo/neutra has it on lock. They pinged my radar a while back, but after I got hands-on, I was hooked. Their entire lineup has a bold, highly graphic design language, and with their distinctive Arabic numerals, their Cortina 1956 range is recognisable from across a crowded room.

They also display a masterful command of colour, with a richness and vibrancy that renders some brands inert by comparison. Cases are classically handsome and the specs are solid, but the dials and bezels are the true stars of the echo/neutra catalogue, with every one a miniature masterpiece for the wrist.

Serica

I’m on record as a die-hard Serica lover, and apart from the fact that all their watches are now COSC-certified chronometers, it’s mostly down to their achingly beautiful designs, thoughtful details, and through-line of French style. I’ve fallen so hard for the brand, in fact, that I’ve added a 5303-3 diver to the stable, where it quickly became the most-worn watch in my box. The reason? It’s a hundred little things, like the Wedgewood-esque blue of the ceramic outer bezel that has an almost translucent, jewel-like quality. Or the quirky hour plots that extend inward, meeting the broad arrow hand in a way that makes perfect sense. The lyre lugs also recall vintage Omega, but you’d never mistake one brand for the other. Then there’s the oversized 8mm crown, which appears a bit excessive upon first glance, but reveals its genius once you wind the watch for the first time.

But the overall design language of their full range just gets me, completely and utterly. Their entire catalogue is a midcentury masterclass in a thoroughly modern package, one that scratches my vintage itch and leaves me smiling to myself, wanting for nothing.

Unimatic

Italy’s Unimatic have made their bones with a bold, almost brutalist tool watch aesthetic, one that knows well enough to take away rather than add to a design. As Miles Davis famously said: “It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play”. Their lineup consists of four basic platforms, named Uno (diver), Due (field watch), Tre (chronograph), and Quattro (fixed-bezel military watch), with a seemingly endless variety of permutations springing forth. Not satisfied with minimalist masterpieces alone, Unimatic also has a sense of humour, as evidenced by several collabs including SpongeBob, NASA, and even South Park. However, unlike many licensing team-ups, Unimatic keeps to their “less is more” ethos throughout.

But no matter which design speaks to you, all Unimatics sport robust build quality, 300 metres of water resistance, and trusty Seiko automatic or mechaquartz movements. The watches are bold, built, and completely brutal in the best possible way.

Vero

Vero has quietly been releasing some of the coolest micros in recent memory, existing as something of an insider’s brand, but perhaps not for long. Their design language is taking the familiar and turning it on its head, as is the case with the manually-wound Meridien field watch, which uses minimalist Arabic markers, while adding colours not found on typical examples of the genre. Then there’s the workhorse, a brutish, baller 44.5mm quartz chrono that seems like the bastard child of a Seiko Tuna and the instrument cluster of a vintage Land Rover. It sports earth-toned Cerakote finishes, eye-popping fluorescent second hands, and best of all, bull bars guarding the case. Next, there’s the Open Water dive watch, which goes for a Bauhaus-inspired aesthetic, all clean lines, simple accents, and matte finishing, disrupted by violent bursts of colour on the dials.

Finally, there are the charming Smokey field watches, which feature retro dial graphics with a rustic, outdoorsy vibe, as well as America’s favourite forest fire-fighting bear. Designer Matt Smith-Johnson has a deft hand and a real knack for distinctive, clever horological creations. The Smokey models might be some of his best yet, based on their perpetually sold-out status.