Vario Futurist
Channelling Rado DiaStar energy, the quirky faceted crystal of the Vario Futurist turns the brand’s previous vintage vibes on their head. With a fluted top case, a 12 o’clock crown, and a range of eye-catching colours, this is a space-themed watch with a healthy dose of 1970s optimism and retro looks worthy of a World’s Fair. The soft, fume sunburst green here is gorgeous, though there’s a lot to be said for the grey monochrome version, too.
Price and Specs:
More details at Vario.
Sero Signature
What makes a classic dress watch? Jaeger-LeCoultre fans may say a rectangular case; Breguet collectors plenty of guilloche. But for Sergino Röntgen and Robert van de Stadt, it’s all about mid-century jumbo Calatravas – an aesthetic they’ve translated into the Sero Signature. That means a 37.5mm case, a vertically brushed, engraved dial, and a manual-wind movement. It’s a solid, easy-to-wear template available in blue, red, gold and – our clean, restrained favourite – silver.
Price and Specs:
More details at Sero Watch Company.
Tangens Komposition Automatic
All sharp angles and deep-rooted 1970s flavour, the first automatic watch from Danish retro obsessives Tangens is industrial cool at its finest. The utilitarian brushed dial and small indexes pair perfectly with the broad, flat-linked bracelet straight out of a vintage catalogue. The entire watch looks like a funky auction find but priced like the modern, accessible Japanese automatic it is. Win-win.
Price and Specs:
More details at Tangens.
CIGA Hunter Tourbillon
Given the price points of most tourbillons, it’s not often we get to include one in our accessibility-focused microbrand round-up. And yet CIGA’s incredible Hunter Tourbillon doesn’t just fit the price bracket, it does so while looking and feeling orders of magnitude more prestigious. An exoskeleton-like case, skeletonised dial with blued bridges, and a maximalist, more-is-more attitude add up to a beast of a watch that demands notice. A restrained dress watch this is not. Instead, this is Chinese watchmaking at its most extreme.
Price and Specs:
More details at CIGA Design.
Marin Instruments Standard Skin-Diver
The Standard Skin-Diver is exactly what a dive watch should be. A matte black dial with white printed lume plots for instant legibility, a fully lumed 60-click unidirectional bezel in PVD-coated stainless steel, and a Sellita SW200-1 movement that’s earned its reputation as one of the most reliable in the business. Its own design, its own identity, built for the water and looks the part out of it too.
Price and Specs:
More details at Marin Instruments.
O&HoraPictor SMOKED OCEAN Volcano Grey
Proving that anOrdain aren’t the only small brand working with some truly exceptional enamelled dials, O&HoraPictor’s latest strips away the excess for a simple, daily wearer around beautiful grand feu enamel. Layers of translucent grey enamel fired over a silverleaf base give the entire thing the visual texture of igneous rock; wearable but undeniably dramatic. With a simple, elegant chapter ring and a versatile 38mm case, it makes this fiery metiers d’art more wearable than ever.
Price and Specs:
More details at HoraPictor.
