There has never been such a plethora of brilliant watchmaking outside the big houses. Never before have there been more independent watchmakers, at every level, not just getting by but thriving, with an ever-growing spread of creative timepieces, from the uber-accessible to the haute horological. With this article we are focussing on the former, the affordable micro- and independent watches at less than £10,000. Check back later this month for our article on the ultra-high end of independent watchmaking five figures and above.
Quantum Barracuda BAR1208B
Quantum’s been building watches for three decades, and the Barracuda is still the collection that made its name. There’s nothing experimental about it: 200m water resistance, a proper rotating ceramic bezel, and a Miyota 8215 doing the work inside; the kind of reliable, unglamorous workhorse most divers at this price rely on. It’s available in six colourways: salmon, mint, black, grey, green and blue. At £220, the Barracuda makes a solid case that a serious dive watch doesn’t have to cost serious money.
Model: Quantum Barracuda BAR1208B
Ref: BAR1208B
Case/dial: 41mm diameter x 13mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Water resistance: 200m (20 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 8215
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: $295 (approx. £220)
More details at Quantum.
Von Doren Runde – Vintage
The Runde collection spans a wide range of colourways, but the brand has recently added three new options, and the Vintage is one of them. Copper and salmon tones sit under a sunburst finish, paired with a black subdial for contrast. The domed mineral crystal adds to the vintage feel, catching light the way the flatter, harder-edged sapphire on Von Doren’s other pieces doesn’t. It makes for an easy-wearing watch, and the quick-release strap means switching straps takes seconds.
Model: Von Doren Runde Vintage
Case/dial: 39mm diameter x 10.7mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: Copper and salmon sunburst, black subdial
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: Ronda calibre 1069 quartz
Strap: Leather strap
Price: $389 (approx. £290)
More details at Von Doren.
Kiwame KUBO Usuki
Kubo means hollow, or recessed space, and that’s the whole idea behind Kiwame Tokyo’s dress watch. The Usuki edition carries that through in a glossy ivory lacquer dial, with three-dimensional Arabic indices picked out in a fine hairline finish and a blued small-seconds hand. The small-seconds subdial at 4.30 skips a printed track entirely, left to shadow and light instead. Inside, a regulated Miyota 82S5 runs at a steady 3Hz. It’s currently sold out, with the next pre-order batch opening in late November.
Model: Kiwame Tokyo KUBO Usuki
Ref: KT301
Case/dial: 37mm diameter x 9.3mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: Ivory lacquer
Water resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 82S5
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds
Strap: Leather strap
Price: ¥84,700 (approx. £405)
More details at Kiwame Tokyo.
Octo 1016 Missilemaster
Octo made its name in the 1960s and 1970s, then disappeared for decades; the 1016 Missilemaster picks right back up. Same case profile, same dial layout, same rocket logo stamped at 6 o’clock. The drilled lug holes, folded bracelet links and acrylic crystal aren’t retro flourishes either, just how these were built the first time round. All white and grey, the dial could easily read flat, but look closer and the lume-filled indices and frame around the date window add subtle contrast, while the tiny red rocket logo provides a neat flash of colour.
Model: Octo 1016 Missilemaster
Ref: 1016
Case/dial: 38mm diameter x 11.8mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: Silver, crosshair pattern
Water resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 8215-21A
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: From $550 (approx. £410), limited to 200 pieces
More details at Octo.
Mandetbrote Orbital II
Nietzsche imagined time as an endless loop; Mandetbrote would disagree. Following up its successful Orbital, the Orbital II swaps classic hands for a round hour indicator that follows the outline of a rounded quadrilateral orbit, basically a rounded square. The inner section of the dial with the minute hand is elevated substantially, giving the entire ensemble an architectural look that’s a world apart from the classical sensibilities aventurine usually carries.
Model: Mandetbrote Orbital II
Case/dial: 40mm diameter, stainless steel
Dial: Aventurine, round hour indicator
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9015-based proprietary automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Price: $579 (approx. £430), limited to 999 pieces
More details at Mandetbrote.
Lacité Urbanite GMT
Built for inner-city travellers, the Urbanite is a true GMT with the look of a rugged sports watch. That’s doubly true of the Slate Black edition, which pairs a blacked-out 40.5mm case and textured, tarmac-like dial with a few blue highlights against an otherwise monochrome look, for a distinctly modern timezone hopper. It comes with two straps, but keep it on the black nylon rather than the brown Italian leather and you have a cool, accessible sports watch that lives up to its name.
Model: Lacité Urbanite GMT Slate Black
Case/dial: 40.5mm diameter x 12mm thickness, black IP-coated stainless steel
Dial: Black
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9075
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT
Strap: Italian leather strap and black nylon strap
Price: $699 (approx. £520)
More details at Lacité.
Meia Lua Callisto Semi Red
Meia Lua’s Inception line stuck to leather straps and a Miyota automatic, so the Callisto marks a proper step up, with a Jubilee-style steel bracelet and the the Miyota 9122, with its day, date and 24-hour displays, in place. The Semi Red keeps the sun-ray dial and moon-shaped indices that tie it back to the brand’s Callisto naming, Jupiter’s second-largest moon and one of the most cratered surfaces in the solar system, but the red accenting gives it more presence on the wrist than the earlier Inception pieces managed. Limited to 30 pieces, and it’s the only Halfmoon Edition Callisto still available.
Model: Meia Lua Callisto Semi Red (Halfmoon Edition)
Case/dial: 42mm diameter x 13.5mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: Red sunray
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9122
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 40h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, 24-hour
Strap: Stainless steel Jubilee bracelet
Price: €659 (approx. £565), limited to 30 pieces
More details at Meia Lua.
Erebus Nexus Premium
Once upon a time mother-of-pearl was just mother-of-pearl, no real variations other than that iridescent white effect. The Erebus Nexus Premium is an integrated bracelet sports watch with all the requisite flat, industrial planes that entails, but the dial is anything but industrial. A mosaic of mother-of-pearl in three eye-catching colours, it’s the shimmering floor of some ancient temple translated onto a dial. There are a lot of integrated bracelet sports watches around; there aren’t many like this.
Model: Erebus Nexus Premium
Case/dial: 38.5mm diameter x 12mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Mother-of-pearl mosaic
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW200-1
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 38h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Strap: Stainless steel integrated bracelet
Price: $799 (approx. £595)
More details at Erebus.
Loresum LS04 V2 – Eisenkiesel
Eisenkiesel is German for iron quartz, and that’s exactly the stone Loresum has sliced for the dial here, an iron-rich quartz whose rust-coloured veining means no two dials come out quite the same. It’s a genuinely uncommon material, paired with a rose-gold-plated 316L case and diamond-cut indices. There’s a proper moonphase too, a modified Sellita SW200-1 driving a 29.5-day true moon disc on the dial, the moon itself rendered in mother-of-pearl, with a moon-shaped cut-out in the exhibition caseback behind it.
Model: Loresum LS04 V2 Eisenkiesel
Case/dial: 36.5mm diameter x 9.4mm thickness, rose-gold plated 316L stainless steel
Dial: Eisenkiesel (iron quartz) natural stone
Water resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Modified Sellita calibre SW200-1
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 38h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, moonphase
Strap: Leather strap
Price: £608
More details at Loresum.
Costins Arcadia
Where most jump hour watches use the complication’s less-is-more nature to create a clean minimalism, Costins has gone the other way. The Arcadia instead puts the space it has left to full use, split into two not-quite halves with striking concentric rings, thicker across the bottom half of the dial, finer across the top. As with its first watch, the Elysian, the exact pattern’s drawn from traditional Moldovan architecture but, even setting that aside, the effect is a serious wrist statement.
Model: Costins Arcadia
Case/dial: 40.5mm diameter x 12mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: Semi-transparent, concentric rings, Super-LumiNova BGW9 blocks
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9015 with jumping hour module
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Jumping hour, minutes
Strap: Leather strap
Price: £640
More details at Costins.
Second Hour Gin Clear Mk3
Second Hour’s founder Peter trained as a divemaster at Crystal Bay in Nusa Lembongan, a site known for currents that can turn dangerous fast, and the Gin Clear is built around lessons from those dives. The Mk3 is the third pass at the design, with a new ball-bearing bezel mechanism that clicks properly and re-engineered lugs that finally fit standard aftermarket straps rather than just the bracelet. A 316L case hardened to 1200 Vickers and a hand-finished perlage caseback round it off.
Model: Second Hour Gin Clear Mk3
Case/dial: 40mm diameter, stainless steel
Water resistance: 300m (30 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW200
Power reserve: 38h
Price: AU$1,325 (approx. £700)
More details at Second Hour.
Nuncier x NASA Lunar Mission
Nuncier have launched their second NASA approved wristwatch in the form of the new Lunar Mission. A 40.5mm sports watch made from Grade 2 titanium with a concrete style finish inspired by the surface of the moon. Though it’s the dial that really showcases the lunar surface through its textured finish showing an astronaut’s footprint. The chapter ring around the periphery of the display shows NASA’s launch sequence from take-off to landing on the moon and then re-entry. Inside is the Miyota 9039 automatic movement with customised rotor. It’s a limited edition of 100 pieces at $999 (approx. £750).
Model: Nuncier x NASA Lunar Mission
Case/dial: 40.5mm diameter, grade 2 titanium
Dial: Concrete-style cratered moon texture
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9039
Price: $999 (approx. £750), limited to 100 pieces
More details at Nuncier.
Studio Underd0g 02SERIES Gen 2
Sometimes all you need to do to make a great watch is update a watch that was already good. The railway minute track has been pulled inwards towards the centre of the dial to improve legibility beneath the domed sapphire glass and the dial has been stripped of some extraneous inscriptions to make it cleaner to read. The thickness of the case has also been reduced to 11.5mm despite housing a new movement in the form of the Sellita SW200-2 M Power+ with extended 63-hour power reserve.
Model: Studio Underd0g 02SERIES Gen 2 Nightshade
Ref: 02NIBU
Case/dial: 37.5mm diameter x 11.5mm thickness, 316L stainless steel
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW200-2 M Power+
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 63h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Leather strap
Price: £875
More details at Studio Underd0g.
CiRCULA ProTrail
The original ProTrail was the kind of specs-driven field watch that can, and did, put a small, independent brand on the map. Now German microbrand CiRCULA is giving it a welcome overhaul, and a comprehensive one at that, with a complete redesign across case, dial and hands. It’s slimmer, more ergonomic and generally better-looking, while maintaining its go-everywhere, do-anything 150m water resistance and impressive 80,000 A/m resistance to magnetism. Even better? It has Sellita’s new SW200-2 Power+ movement. All in all, a massive improvement on an already solid watch.
Model: CiRCULA ProTrail
Case/dial: 40mm diameter x 12.3mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Matte black, Super-LumiNova BGW9 numerals
Water resistance: 150m (15 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW200-2 Power+ Elabore
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 65h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Nylon canvas strap with leather lining, or stainless steel bracelet
Price: €1,090 (approx. £935)
More details at CiRCULA.
Serica Ref. 7505
Early field watches weren’t big, especially when compared to some of the oversized, macho military pieces we have today. Serica’s Ref. 7505 goes back to those vintage sizes with diminutive, 35mm cases that lose none of the brand’s distinctive presence. Now with a trio of new dials, one of them a two-tone black and cream tuxedo, these new field chronometers are still rugged, practical tools, just suited to smaller wrists. And yes, they come with Serica’s excellent, comfortable Bonklip bracelet.
Model: Serica Ref. 7505
Ref: 7505
Case/dial: 35mm diameter x 9.6mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Black enamel Minute Critical or two-tone black and beige Tuxedo
Water resistance: 200m (20 bar)
Movement: Soprod calibre M100
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: €1,090 (approx. £935) for the Minute Critical, €1,190 (approx. £1,020) for the Tuxedo
More details at Serica.
Venezianico Arsenale Calendario
The Arsenale Calendario marks a first for Venezianico, the first complete calendar we’ve seen from the brand. It may not carry the watchmaking significance of its work with OISA 1937 to bring an Italian-made movement into the Redentore Utopia II, but it is a first all the same. It comes in blue or red, Blu Luna and Rosso Sole, both finished in soleil sunray brushing, with the Miyota 9100 inside regulated to ±15 seconds a day. The dial packs in a lot without feeling cluttered: power reserve at 12, month at 3, a day/night disc under a sapphire window at 6, days of the week at 9, and the date tucked between 4 and 5. Three production batches have already sold out, with the next, 300 pieces, shipping from 28 October.
Model: Venezianico Arsenale Calendario
Case/dial: 40mm diameter x 9.6mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Sunburst, concentric subdials, day-night indicator
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9100
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, month, power reserve, day/night indicator
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: €1,200 (approx. £1,030)
More details at Venezianico.
Olto-8 Chrono Gate Burgundy
The Chrono Gate name suggests a chronograph, but the Burgundy edition’s party trick is a jump hour, one that snaps forward on a 24-hour display against a fumé burgundy dial finished in a fine sunray guilloché. Eighty hand-set moissanite stones ring the bezel and Eastern Arabic numerals stand in for the usual indices. The self-developed OT.G102 movement drives it all, visible through an exhibition caseback with brushed, bevelled finishing you don’t often get at this price, and the burgundy leather strap carries the dial colour right through to the wrist.
Model: Olto-8 Chrono Gate Burgundy
Case/dial: 39mm diameter x 14mm thickness, rose-gold-tone stainless steel
Dial: Burgundy fumé, sunray guilloché
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: Olto-8 calibre OT.G102, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 40h
Functions: Jumping hour
Strap: Leather strap
Price: $1,769 (approx. £1,310)
More details at Olto-8.
Delma Midland Meteorite Automatic
Delma swaps the colourful dials of the existing Midland line-up for something rarer at this end of the market: a genuine meteorite dial. Cut from actual Muonionalusta meteorite, the Widmanstätten pattern means no two examples will ever quite match. Everything else stays sensible around it, an SW200-1 doing the work, 100m water resistance, and a run limited to 100 pieces.
Model: Delma Midland Meteorite Automatic
Case/dial: 40.5mm diameter, stainless steel
Dial: Muonionalusta meteorite
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW200-1, automatic
Power reserve: 41h
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: $1,900 (approx. £1,410), limited to 100 pieces
More details at Delma.
Beaubleu La Pièce n°2
The dial is the reason to look twice at La Pièce n°2. It’s silver, finished with a fine radial striation, and struck at the Monnaie de Paris, France’s national mint, rather than made by a conventional dial-maker. A floating seconds hand sits just above the surface rather than flat against it, and the indices catch the light rather than sitting flush. That’s about as independent as watchmaking gets, a solo-founder Paris studio going outside the watch industry entirely for its dial, then pairing it with a France Ebauches movement, one of the few companies left building movements in France.
Model: Beaubleu La Pièce n°2 Silver
Case/dial: 39mm diameter x 10.2mm thickness, 316L stainless steel
Dial: Silver, struck one-piece radial pattern
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: France Ebauches calibre FE, automatic
Power reserve: 46h
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: €1,890 (approx. £1,620), limited to 888 pieces
More details at Beaubleu.
Furlan Marri Songlines
The Furlan Marri Songlines is their second timepiece dedicated to Australia, this time based on the Red Hunter from 2025 with its distinctive hunter caseback protecting the exhibition window. It’s dial is a combination of deep brown and rose gold laid over a grained, lacquered finish – warm tones that tie directly back to the Outback. Curved, applied indexes and steel half-spheres add texture while the gold works nicely as a metaphor for the Australian heat. Inside is the La Joux-Perret automatic G100, the same calibre as the Red Hunter’s, good for 68-hours of power reserve and accurate to within +/-7 seconds a day.
Model: Furlan Marri Outback Songlines
Case/dial: 39mm diameter x 12.06mm thickness, 316L stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Deep brown and rose gold, grained lacquer
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: La Joux-Perret calibre G100
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 68h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Brown calf leather strap
Price: CHF 1,850 (approx. £1,700)
More details at Furlan Marri.
Makina Cassiel_II
Makina’s whole thing is industrial design that makes horology feel modern, and this is its take on a chronograph. Straying as far from motorsport nostalgia as possible, the case is faceted and sandblasted, 316L steel finished to look machined, not polished. Two-pronged hands and sharp metal indices cut across that matte surface, and rather than standard subdials, cut-out discs sit beneath the dial, revealing the chronograph minutes, hours, running seconds and day-date through small apertures. Power comes from a Valjoux/ETA 7750 with a custom black rotor, and in the dark the whole face lights up as a hidden second dial.
Model: Makina Cassiel_II
Case/dial: 42mm diameter x 15mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Matte black, graphite-grey
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Valjoux/ETA calibre 7750, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 44 to 48h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph, day, date
Strap: Rubber strap
Price: $2,300 (approx. £1,705)
More details at Makina.
Atelier Nossedh AN.01
The AN.01 is a compact, vintage-styled bi-compax chronograph and that’s really all it needs to be. There are no extra flourishes here, no carbon fibre or racing livery, just a crisp white dial with chronograph indicators, a tachymeter and simple, steel pearl hour markers. It draws on the heritage of chronographs past, particularly early Patek Philippe, but at a fraction of the price of those rarefied grails. The appeal is straightforward: a classic done right.
Model: Atelier Nossedh AN.01 White/Silver
Case/dial: 37mm diameter x 12.5mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: White
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW510 M, manual winding
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 63h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph
Strap: Leather strap
Price: €2,200 (approx. £1,885)
More details at Atelier Nossedh.
Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Chronograph
Before 2026 it had been six years since Christopher Ward produced a core collection chronograph. That changed though with the introduction of the C63 Sealander Chronograph. It measures 41mm x 13.9mm in stainless steel and while it still has the core Light-catcher DNA there are some significant updates. The smooth bezel has been replaced with a black ceramic insert featuring a tachymeter scale and flanking the screw-down crown at 3 o’clock are two brand new pushers with elongated cuboid shapes. Available in white, black, pink, pistachio or sky blue and powered by the Sellita calibre SW510-1.
Model: Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Chronograph
Case/dial: 41mm diameter x 13.9mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Sky blue
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW510-1
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 62h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph
Strap: Integrated rubber strap
Price: From £1,895
More details at Christopher Ward.
Yema Navygraf Barracuda CMM.20
Yema’s marking 400 years of the Marine Nationale, founded by Cardinal Richelieu back in 1626, with a whole collection of watches, and the Navygraf Barracuda CMM.20 is the one to actually want. It landed on Bastille Day, fittingly, complete with a commemorative Marine Nationale patch in the box. The dial’s forged carbon, water resistance runs to a serious 300m, and rather than a standard dive timer the bezel counts down. It’s handy for timing a mission or keeping an eye on how much air you’ve got left during a dive, which suits a watch built around a naval anniversary rather well. Power comes from Yema’s own in-house CMM.20, tungsten micro-rotor and all, visible through a translucent red caseback.
Model: Yema Navygraf Barracuda CMM.20
Ref: 21.26.20.66.SNL.D6
Case/dial: 39mm diameter x 9.75mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Matt forged carbon
Water resistance: 300m (30 bar)
Movement: Yema calibre CMM.20
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 70h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Fabric strap or stainless steel bracelet
Price: £2,040 on fabric strap (£2,260 on steel bracelet), limited to 400 pieces
More details at Yema.
Vertex M36
Vertex built its name reviving the Dirty Dozen legacy, and the M100 leaned into every inch of that 1940s military brief: big, tool-like, uncompromising. The M36 takes the opposite tack. Sized down to a genuinely vintage-correct 36mm, it’s a tribute not to the era’s biggest watches but to the specific broad-arrow field watch Vertex made for the British military in 1944, syringe hands, moulded lume and all. It’s a smaller, quieter watch than the M100, but no less military in its detailing, and considerably easier to live with day to day.
Model: Vertex M36
Case/dial: 36mm diameter x 11mm thickness, stainless steel, screw-down crown
Dial: Moulded Super-LumiNova with broad arrow marking
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Sellita calibre SW260-1
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 38h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet
Price: £2,150
More details at Vertex.
Baltic x SpaceOne Seconde Majeure
The Baltic x SpaceOne Seconde Majeure is a collaboration in the truest sense. It’s not fully a Baltic watch but neither is it a SpaceOne, it’s something new and in between. Its case has been designed from scratch for this project and measures 38.5mm in diameter x 12.3mm thickness in 904L stainless steel. The dial features a partially openworked regulator style jump hour display. A regulator means the hours, minutes and seconds are displayed on separate parts of the dial instead of superimposed on top of each other as with a normal three-hand watch. This seemingly complex display is based on the classic Soprod P024 movement.
Model: Baltic x SpaceOne Seconde Majeure
Case/dial: 38.5mm diameter x 12.3mm thickness, 904L stainless steel
Dial: Brushed maillechort or charbonné
Water resistance: 50m (5 bar)
Movement: Soprod calibre P024, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 42h
Functions: Jumping hour, minutes, seconds
Strap: Alcantara strap
Price: €2,500 (approx. £2,160) for the brushed dial, €3,500 (approx. £3,000) for the charbonné dial
More details at Baltic.
Blütezeit Wien N°4
Vienna’s Blütezeit Wien has made only a handful of watches, and on the N°4 the hand-guilloché dial is the standout. That draperie pattern comes from Yann Von Kaenel, a guillocheur whose client list usually sits several price brackets higher, worked here in an anthracite that suits the thin 37mm case. Underneath, a hand-wound La Joux-Perret 7380 runs to 90 hours of power reserve and is finished with Côtes de Genève, blued screws and counter-rotated wheels, regulated in five positions.
Model: Blütezeit Wien N°4
Case/dial: 37mm diameter x 6.9mm thickness
Dial: Anthracite, hand-engraved draperie guilloché by Yann Von Kaenel
Water resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: La Joux-Perret calibre 7380
Power reserve: 90h
Functions: Hours, minutes
Strap: Leather strap
Price: €5,000 excluding VAT and shipping (approx. £4,280)
More details at Blütezeit.
Sherpa Ultradive Tuxedo
Sherpa builds on the old Enicar name, paying tribute to the Lengnau manufacturer’s mid-1960s designs, and the Ultradive Tuxedo takes that brand’s practical dual-crown compressor case, actual bayonet caseback included, and dresses it up a bit. Silver dial, black rotating inner bezel, red date, it’s a sharp look, though the chunky crown guards on the 40mm case mean it’s never really going to pass as a dress watch despite the name. Where it does score points is legibility: that dial reads cleanly at a glance. Inside, the Ultradive’s own Mantramatic MM01, a Sellita SW200-1 base with mantra-engraved wheels, is a nice bit of theatre on top rather than the actual reason to want one.
Model: Sherpa Ultradive Tuxedo
Case/dial: 40mm diameter x 13.5mm thickness, stainless steel
Dial: Silver sun-brushed
Water resistance: 200m (20 bar)
Movement: Sherpa Mantramatic calibre MM01, based on Sellita SW200-1
Power reserve: 38h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Strap: Rubber strap
Price: €6,500 (approx. £5,570)
More details at Sherpa.
Formex Aria
You expect Sellita movements and friendly prices from Formex, that’s the brand’s whole deal. So the Aria is a bit of a curveball, easily the most expensive watch they’ve made. Horage, their neighbour in Biel, builds some of the most sought-after movements around, and Formex is the first brand outside Horage itself to use their K2 micro-rotor calibre, finished here with black gold bridges and hand-bevelled edges instead of the usual Côtes de Genève. That movement is just 2.9mm thick, which is how the case stays at 6.9mm despite a full titanium bracelet, built by Dexel, the Granito family’s other company, whose clasps show up on watches costing £10,000-plus.
Model: Formex Aria
Case/dial: 40mm diameter x 6.9mm thickness, grade 5 titanium
Water resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Formex calibre FX01, based on Horage calibre K2
Frequency: 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
Power reserve: 72h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Titanium bracelet
Price: $7,900 (approx. £5,860)
More details at Formex.
Horage Tourbillon 3 Skeleton Relik
Relik is a new case shape for Horage, gently curving lugs, a smaller crown with no protectors, and a coin-edge bezel set right into the lugs, the start of a loose collection of Horage-ified complications. The bigger change is size. Horage has typically opted for 41mm cases for its tourbillons, but the Relik brings that down to 38.5mm, a proper improvement that makes it easily its most wearable high complication. The dial’s another story, skeletonised bridgework machined into a grid with deep purple, forest green or pale blue-green fills, somewhere between a circuit board and a ruined wall.
Model: Horage Tourbillon 3 Skeleton Relik
Case/dial: 38.5mm diameter, stainless steel
Dial: Skeletonised with mosaic pattern
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Horage in-house calibre K-TOU
Frequency: 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
Power reserve: 120h
Functions: Hours, minutes, power reserve indicator, flying tourbillon
Strap: Rubber strap
Price: CHF 10,990 (approx. £9,960)
More details at Horage.
