Trematic T-Five Beigua Maris, £1,150
Where would a microbrand corner be without a cool, rugged dive watch? Throw in some colourful dials and lashings of lume and you’ve not only filled out your impulse buy bingo card, but described the Trematic T-Five Beigua Maris. The trio of sector-dialled, 1960s-inflected tool watches might look like fun, bright throwbacks, but in grade 5 titanium and powered by LPJ G101 movements, they have the specs of a proper modern diver. Available in monochrome black and grey, a Tiffany-adjacent marina blue, and a desert sand (the last two being the full lume options), it’s a lot of watch for its £1,150 price tag.
Price and Specs:
More details at Trematic.
Minim 嬌(Giul), £1,199
Impressive new British-based, Chinese-inspired brand Minim have made a name for themselves with a range of fantastic guilloche dials and it’s no surprise to see their accessible metiers d’art style leveraged for Lunar New Year. That means a Year of the Horse limited edition with a lucky red dial that fits nicely into the streamlined rainbow of Minim’s initial line-up. Given there’s no horse in sight, it’s also a watch that’s more wearable than most Chinese New Year tie-ins, showing off the collection’s signature CNC guilloche patterns in a new, vibrant light.
Price and Specs:
More details at Minim.
Aurelia KOLLEKTIV Edition 3, €5,500 (approx. £4,800)
Restrained elegance is a mantra for the best of German watchmaking, one that Aurelia have taken on board in a way that belies their accessibility. The first and second editions of their stunning Kollektiv would feel at home in Moser’s line-up and the third is no different with its rich purple griffé fumé dial. The minimalist, single-piece frame to the dial and sub-dial is both distinctive and beautiful and the in-house movement inside is finished with the traditional three-quarter plate and striping. In short, it looks and feels like a serious collector’s piece but at just €5,500, it’s priced to move.
Price and Specs:
More details at Aurelia.
Makina Uriel_VII, $750 (approx. £550)
A mechanical triple calendar for $750. Honestly, that should be enough of a sales pitch to convince most people that Makina’s latest is worth sitting up and paying attention to. And yet the deal’s sweetened by a cool, curvaceous cushion case and smart, tuxedo-esque dial that feels closer to a vintage racing watch than a day/date/month number. Simple applied indexes and a funky date frame round off the unique aesthetics for a watch with some serious wrist presence. Inside is the Miyota 9122, an accessible Japanese number that goes some way towards its painfully tempting price point, but with a 40-hour power reserve and 4Hz frequency, it’s impossible to say you’re not still getting serious bang for your buck.
Price and Specs:
More details at Makina.
Benrus DTU-2A/P, CHF 892 (approx. £850)
We’re used to seeing re-issues of WWII watches, be that the Dirty Dozen or A11. Benrus however opted for a very different era of combat with the DTU-2A/P: Vietnam. A faithful reissue of a watch originally issued to US troops serving in the Vietnam War, the watch is authentic almost to a fault. Yet while the 34mm case might be historically diminutive, it’s amped up both by the high contrast, legible-at-a-glance dial and a rugged bund strap. It’s a handsome field watch with fittingly GADA specs and a price tag that means you won’t mind testing it in the field.
Price and Specs:
More details at Benrus.
MD Watches Emerald Isle, £391
With its clean, modernist lines and palette of delicious colours, the latest from Martin Design is yet another feather in the accessible brand’s jaunty Irish cap. Inspired by the poem “When Erin First Rose” – which is where we get the phrase Emerald Isle; save that for your next pub quiz – the new collection mixes frosted, multi-layered dials in orange, blue, grey and green with sharp, applied indexes and an unusual small 24-hour dial at six o’clock. Set in a case that’s somewhere between a modern field watch and a vintage pilots’ piece (just look at that crown), it’s hard not to love.
Price and Specs:
More details at Martin Design.
Traska Chronograph Ref. 10251, £1,227
There’s no messing about in the name with this one; Traska have built a chronograph and they want you to know about it. As they should, honestly, because while at a glance the tungsten grey, bicompax number looks like many a pared-back trackside timer, this is one with a difference. That’s because the subdials don’t have hands. Instead, they use transparent discs to highlight the correct number. It’s a small touch, less immediately noticeable than the bright red chronograph seconds, but the result is a seriously cool take on the quintessential racing watch that somehow manages to bring something new to the grid. It also helps that I’m a sucker for monochrome.
Price and Specs:
More details at Traska.
Manteio Zeus
Manteio is the Greek word for Oracle. No relation to us, but that little fact goes some way to explaining the brand’s mythological inspirations, something that the Zeus tackles head on with its tribute to the king of the ancient Greek gods. The engraved dial depicts a lightning bolt and an eagle – both symbols of Zeus – against a backdrop of storm clouds, all surrounded by beautiful raindrop indexes. The movement continues the theme; dubbed the MYTH-001, the hand-wound calibre is a beautifully decorated take on the Chronode C101. Those honeycomb wheels are no coincidence either. Look closely and you’ll see Melissa, the bee that found Zeus as a child. There are a lot of details to take in, and this is just Manteio’s first watch in the series. You don’t need an oracle to tell you there’s a lot more to come.
Price and Specs:
More details at Manteio.
Great article. Most of these were new brands for me