What’s the difference between a microbrand and an independent brand?

Buffy Acacia

Generally speaking, people are obsessed with categories and boxes. It’s incredibly rare that anything will fit perfectly inside just one definition, but that doesn’t stop most people. Watch nerds are especially afflicted, sifting through references and debating what makes a dive watch, a field watch, a sporty dress watch versus a dressy sports watch… The examples are endless. Sometimes, putting something in the wrong box can be upsetting. As someone who works in watch media, I really don’t want to upset people accidentally. So how do I tell the difference between a microbrand and an independent brand?

As with any interpretations of identity, there’s a lot of nuance to the microbrand vs independent debate. Every company should be judged on a case-by-case basis, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t telltale signs one way or another. The first thing people will jump to is the question of money, because microbrands have an association of being affordable. That’s not always accurate, but it can be an indicator along with other aspects. There are expensive microbrands, and there are affordable independents. To start breaking down the definitions, let’s get into specifics.

The textbook definition of an independent brand would be one that has no parent company, or subsidiaries of its own, and is funded privately. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it needs to manufacture every component in-house, but it could be owned by a single person, a family, or by any arrangement of business partners. By this standard, every microbrand is also an independent. Crowdfunding, such as with Kickstarter campaigns, is basically a kind of small business loan with your prospective customer pool acting as a bank. The major difference is that instead of paying back the loan with interest, you get to (hopefully) pocket some profit, and repay your backers with products.

Now, there’s no shame in crowdfunding. We’ve seen countless brands start off with Kickstarter campaigns, only to become so popular they’re selling out their pre-orders and commanding premiums on the used market. However, the watch world can be pretty old-fashioned, and it’s not the traditional way of doing things. Pedigree and heritage hold substantial weight in a world where centuries-old companies have been competing over generations, so it’s easy to see why a more classical brand wouldn’t want to be confused with “all of those crowdfunded upstarts.”

Unfortunately, production numbers aren’t a great indicator for microbrands or independents either. Bovet, an independent watchmaker revived by Pascal Raffy, makes around 1,000 watches per year. Baltic, one of the most popular microbrands in the last five years, sold over 8,000 in 2020. However, despite those statistics, could you really say that Baltic is a larger operation than an in-house manufacturer operating out of an expansive Swiss Château? It’s difficult to quantify with numbers, no matter how you look at it.

For me, one of the most reliable metrics seems to be a level of interaction with the customers. Crowdfunding for money is one thing, but many microbrands also host polls for design decisions so that future customers actually have a say in what they’re buying. This kind of collaborative effort is a trait that’s almost entirely exclusive to microbrands, because a traditional independent would only use its own designers, based on a design philosophy. Similarly, microbrands tend to brew a tight knit sense of community, as opposed to the fanbase style of appreciation that independents have.

Some of these points make it sound like independent brands are just snootier versions of microbrands, but they have their upsides too. Independents may often have higher quality finishing, superior movements, better customer service, longer warranties, and the cachet of a recognisable brand. For instance, Oris is an independent company that makes entry-level luxury watches. Its in-house Calibre 400 movements come with a 10-year warranty, five-day power reserve, COSC-level accuracy, and the brand has been around for 120 years. You’re not going to find much of that with a microbrand founded on Kickstarter in 2019. Oris is hardly snooty, either, as its catalogue is full of fun, interesting watches that cater to trends and clearly listen to consumer feedback.

There is no definitive line between an independent and a microbrand, and that’s okay. Most of the time you can get the sense of it by the company’s attitude towards watchmaking, and any website’s “about us” section will hold most of the hints. If it was founded by a watch enthusiast during the pandemic, it’s probably a microbrand. If it’s a young prodigy fresh out of watchmaking school but drenched in accolades, it’s probably an “independent”. The only real trouble comes in when there’s a young independent brand that doesn’t like to think of itself as a microbrand, even if it ticks most of the boxes. Microbrands that grow too big can also get confusing, because it’s almost impossible to lose a label once it’s been applied. All you can do is use your best judgement, and apologise if you offend a CEO.