7 Smaller Brands That Impressed Me This Year: Microbrands, Independents

So, what I have often found is I have been handling thousands of watches a year and the ones that leave a lasting impact, the ones that impress me the most are usually from brands that I either don't know much about or are ones that I may have an idea of but haven't fully dove deeper into what the brand is about. So, that's what brings us to this video. We're getting to the end of the year. What were some of the brands, smaller brands, micro brands independents that impressed me the most? So, what I'm going to be doing to qualify a watch on this list because there are so many watches that could be included here. I I wanted this to be more of a focus on brands that I got to know a bit more intimately this year. I didn't want it to be all across the industry, but ones that I was able to build a connection with, caught me off guard doing some unique things, whether from a design perspective, material perspective, movement perspective, and really feature those in a video here today. We're going to look at a variety of price ranges. We're going to go all the way up to the high horology of the really bespoke world of watch making down to more entrylevel pieces. Uh but this is more of an organic take on what were some of the brands small list uh that impressed me in 2025 thus far. And as you guys know, holiday season is underway and this weekend we have some incredible list of offers on teddy.com. So we are in the middle of it right now. We have a variety of different offers that will be on the site. a gift with purchases from many brands that we have. Coffee table books from the likes of Orus, a full racing clock with a purchase from Boliva, tote bags from Zenith, gift cards on select purchases, and a lot more. I have a complete link down below where you can see all of the different offers that we have going on. I believe there's 20 different offers at the moment of recording this video around there. It's over 15. It's a lot. That's all you need to know. So, if you want to see what we have available on teddybaler.com if you're in the market for a watch, as you probably are because you're infected like myself, hit the link, check out what we have going on on the website for a limited time. So, now let's kick things off with our first micro brand here. And this is one that it's a brand I I definitely knew about before this year, but we saw one of the most impressive stylistic pivots that I have ever seen in watchmaking, especially of a brand that's just getting started. When you're coming out with a brand, you want to develop this design philosophy that people might recognize. And if you know Echone Neutra, you know that this is a brand that had more of these utilitarian style designs, not uh something that we eventually saw with the model known as the Rivenara. The Rivenara takes a complete left turn from the other watches that we recently knew from this brand. Take the stylistic approach of the Cardier Tank and then marry it with a stealth fighter jet. It's like the only way I could describe this watch. A rectangular watch in general, it fits a certain mold. We think elegant, we think classic. This completely goes in an audacious execution compared to what we typically will associate. The main feature to talk about is going to be the case. You have a blasted anthraite looking case in grade 5 titanium in this rectangular format. It's not something you typically see to say the least. Uh the gamble did pay off as the Riven era is from my understanding completely changing this Italian micro brand and now there's just all these questions. Could this watch now just have created another subbrand from this larger Italian micro brand? There's so much that could be done here. But I love what this brand was able to do. Take a daring risk. Try something adjacent to what many people are looking for more rectangular case options but do it in their own way. uh they have some refinement in the process, but this polished edges, the bevels going the length of the case with that anthraite color, it's not your traditional DNA that you'll typically see. But wearing dimensions also very nice. You have 27 mm for the uh width across the case by 40 mm in length just to give an approximate mirroring of how this might wear. Probably similar to a Cardier Tank XL. Uh that would be similar to what you can maybe expect here. not quite as long uh but very similar. And then on the inside you have a very thin movement. This is the Eta 701 uh Pizzou 70001 movement. Uh if you know these calibers, they're manual wound but also very thin. And that's going to create a case of 5.9 mm small seconds also with this art deco styling. So you do see that but then this monochromatic look that feels thoroughly modern. You have some different colors to choose from. The one that I've been referencing is this like anthraite color. Really unique, specialized to a distinct type of buying experience that you might want when you're looking for a watch of this genre. And I love this pivot. A brand that's not afraid to shake things up. And this was one that really stood out this year. So, let's go back in time. 3 years ago, I was at Watches and Wonders. And I decided that at the end of the long week, I wanted to go check out another event. It was called Time to Watches. A lot of smaller brands at this event. I didn't have really any appointments to worry about. I just went there to explore and see what else was out there. And I stumbled on this one booth. There were like 40 brands inside of the complex and it was a brand known as Bow Blue. It was a French brand. And what I really liked at the initial look was this more avenguard approach with how they were presenting their cases, but especially their handsets. Now, there are other brands that have utilized this larger circular markers for the hands and allowing that to dictate the time, but I love the level of flare that was presented. These watches had a little more sex appeal than other watches I've seen that have tried to do this. And from that, over the last 3 years, I've just been seeing what this brand has been doing. But throughout this year, I saw a watch that I really, really liked. And it has this floating second hand that is suspended beneath by a transparent disc. Uh so this floating second, it shows a second hand just going around and you don't really know where the attachment point is. I showed this to a variety of people on my team and they thought at first when I said, "Oh yeah, it's floating. It's magic." Uh they thought it was kind of a gimmick, but then they're like, "I could figure this out. Just give me the watch. Let me take a look at And then I just can see them becoming very perplexed because they're like, "Wait, how are they doing that? I'm a little confused what's going on here." But the short of this is I think these watches are very fun. You look at the details, uh, you look at the ability to have that mystery dial in its design. It's just something that creates a lot of joy when you get to put these on. And it just left a lasting impression. I remember seeing the watches, wearing them. That's all good. But then being able to talk about that little mystery dial element of how the the floating secondhand is tracking along the outer railroad track and uh indicating the time. I think that's all in good fun. Also getting a multi-layered case. You have some nice dimensions in the process. Generally speaking, very clean visual execution. And on the inside, you get the automatic movement. This is Festina Groups uh the French Bosch FE. So this is assembled in France. I've been seeing more use case of these movements partially because the French micro brand community is thriving right now. So seeing a lot more uh French micro brands and really excited to see what this country can continue to do. Uh this one features four hertz for its operating beat rate, 46-hour power reserve. Uh but really the star of the show here has to be just the visual design and what is being brought forth uh with that floating second hand. If you're looking to improve uh your ability to impress at parties, this might be a watch that can help do it. Uh results may vary though. Uh just something that does get a conversation going. So, several months back, I recall seeing a watch that was just all over my social media on like a single day. So, all these outlets talking about this brand. It's known as Earth & Co. Uh the Summit White Out was the model that I saw everywhere. And at first glance, I'm like, "Okay, you have this white case. It's probably a ceramic case. I like the design style. It has this pilot DNA. And then I learned more about it and then ultimately figured out that these watches are under $1,000 for a full ceramic case. And as I've been inspecting them closer in hand, uh they're watches that truly are unique. I have like a full goodie bag of like watches down here from the brands that I was talking about cuz I just wanted to pull out the ones that really impressed me this year. But just looking at this design, there are many aspects that I like. the case profile, how it is going to be finished uh in ceramic at $900 at the time of recording this video. Wearable 38mm case. You have this blunted hour hand. Very legible though in its process. And one feature I like about this is the reverse counterwe uh for the counterwe on the second hand. You'll see it align perfectly with that 6:00 little circular indication uh logo there. And it's very satisfying. I don't know what it is. I might be, you know, screwed up in the head a little bit, but these are the type of things that get me excited. So, uh, does get 100 meters of water resistance. Uh, this brand is also going to be using the automatic 9 series Miyotas, Hong Kong based brand. These are going to be assembled in Asia, but still for what is being presented here, you can't fault it. The straps also quite nice. Have more of this textile type of strap. Has a rubber uh interior lining, quick release. And then another thing I'm noticing as I'm looking at this watch even further is just the crown. Uh the crown has a nice notching on it, but then on the interior uh point at the inner circumference, uh you're going to also see that rubber uh little detail in there. So, an inset uh rubber blackened detail inside the crown. So, this isn't just a run-of-the-mill type of watch. So, a lot of punch being packed in this $900 package. For the next piece, it's one that I actually have on my wrist right now. So, I first heard of An last year. They uh really just launched this brand rather recently. And one thing I liked about An, and it gets to a concept that I think is often overlooked when you look at micro brands as a way to differentiate. The movements are going to keep you pretty limited when you're trying to produce a watch, say, under $3,000 and make it competitive. So, what are the aspects of a design that can allow you to separate? You can maybe make a dial that can separate material that we just saw with the Earth & Co right before, but this is something that I think is not talked about enough, which is that case silhouette, how a watch is able to present itself to you from across the room and how it's going to look on your wrist. And I'm putting my hand up a little bit more so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. This projects a feeling because of this triangular pebble-l like rounded profile. It's not going to be your run-of-the-mill looking watch. And even if the rest of the presentation is rather minimal, not saying so much, this watch does say a lot when you do wear it on your wrist. And that is just the power of a case silhouette and just deciding to do something a little bit more unorthodox. When you see an unorthodox case, something you might often see also is the inability to pull it off in a variety of occasions and maybe doesn't have this level of nonchalant in its elegance, but Anom's been able to figure that out. So, these watches retail in that $2,500 US range. Uh, my pounds to dollar conversion is not perfect. So, this is a Londonbased independent. uh they burst out of the gate with their geometric A1 and they capitalize on the watch collector's appetite for watches that had this vintage panache. So this brand was founded by one of the gentlemen involved at a collected man. Very ultra curated fine watch making source for ultra high-end watches. And I think they do an amazing job of aesthetics and presenting watches in a unique way. And it makes no surprise that you see a brand that comes out the gate with a pretty wellthoughtout package. Also, the crown and how it's nestled in uh usually a crown is something that you typically will see as part of that silhouette. They've been able to hide it. Now, that does make it a little bit harder to operate than some other crowns, but I like the the give and take that is happening here. I would rather create this soft triangular case that doesn't have any of these protrusions than go for something that's going to be maybe a little bit easier to adjust the time. I I can live with that compromise. This silhouette for the case came from a mid-century table by Charlotte Periend, one of the legends of furniture design of the 20th century. And with this latest model, this is the A1 optical. Takes a lot of the original premise, but raises the game yet again with these engraved and polished dial accents that follow the contours of the case itself. You see the series of 50 offset triangles uh that distort the light in a wonderful set of ways. You kind of see these grooves, these like threepoint of grooves that will start that uh stacking of all of those curved lines that are creating that geometric pattern. Uh this one is available in two different colorways, copper and silver, and they were limited, but An is just a brand that I am actively continuing to look at. You have S SW 100 movements on the inside, 50 m of water resistance, uh, but an intriguing brand with packaging and presentation that feels like a bygone era, and I really like what they've been able to do with, uh, some of the designs. This is a brand that was on my radar, but now is fully going to be at the center of my radar for its price and positioning going forward. If you like this style and approach, now let's take a jump to more of the independent category. And these are two brands that I knew about before this year, but I got to more intimately know the founders and the people behind them and the watches that ultimately are a byproduct uh of their mastermind and creation and what they're putting forth. Uh first up is JN Shapiro watches, Josh Shapiro out in Los Angeles, California uh with the Resurgence series. I have been trying to go out to Los Angeles and shoot with Josh for several years now because I became aware of him probably around 2020 and around 2022 we just started our back and forth of trying to figure out when could we go out to his workshop and make things happen. I think at the time when we first reached out, he said he was in the middle of shifting to a new uh working office environment. And I can see why he wanted us to wait because what he is doing now in the United States is truly remarkable and I love what his philosophy is to his brand. If you've not seen our video highlighting Josh, I highly recommend it. These are some of the most complex watches being produced not only in the United States but really the entire world as you start to learn more about them and uh their approach to production. They follow this Daniel's method of watchmaking, George Daniels method of watchmaking which really comes down to this idea of doing everything as much as possible in one house. Uh it's not about scaling out industrialized techniques. It's really about doing things on a remarkable level. thinking about individual components and taking thousands of hours to really evolve a leading uh way of presenting an artisal work. At the core of what Josh does and in the core of what is being presented in the resurgence series is going to be their dial process. So what you get with the resurgence series is a multi-step dial. So they are producing these dials inhouse. uh they are then going to create these small feet for the dials so that it can create this multilevel format and then all of the designed uh gues that is going to happen on these dials is done in their workshop. Josh also put it upon himself he's a very interesting story of how he was able to learn watchmaking. He basically picked up the George Daniels book of watchmaking and was self-taught and they decided I'm going to buy a rose engine and a straight engine machine and just do this myself. And if you know what the commitment is to get some of those machines, there's not many of them. It's very hard to locate. Uh there are some that were out there. Uh but these are high five figures, six figure level investments to get these things operating and going. And they're heavy, heavy pieces of machinery. Uh but in that dial making process, he actually came up with his own gues pattern. Guay has been used for centuries uh as a decorative technique in dials. And you have either straight line or you have rose engine techniques. basically using rosettes to be able to create a pattern technique uh and based off of how the cutter is going to hit that dial that will then indicate how that pattern will translate. So certain types of patterns can only be achieved through either straight line or through a rose engine. He has a straight line technique. It's uh his infinity weave. And this infinity weave basically is a basket weave within a basket weave. And it is such an unbelievable process for him to be able to do this. He creates a basket weave and then he has to be able to at a very almost like microscopic level identify the untreated element of one small little corner to then make another series of cuts uh right there and line them up by hand. Uh you could imagine how difficult this was and anyone that in their right mind would just be like this is not worth the trouble. Uh Josh has gotten so prolific at the ability to execute these dials. Uh it's remarkable. And I haven't even got into the movement yet. It has an unbelievable execution. When you're looking at hand finish on Galage, you have all of the wheels that are actually going to be produced in 14 karat gold in the United States of America. He found someone who's producing jewels in the United States of America to source those directly. This is, as far as I am concerned, and as far as I know, the most in-housemade watch in the United States today. The watches are expensive, yes, no question about it. But I really love what Josh is doing and give him major kudos for what his team is going after uh in his workshop out in LA. Love what they're doing. A brand that ultimately just blew me away this year. One person I talk to a lot on my team about the world of independent watchmaking is John Callahan. If you've ever been our boutique in Cleveland, Ohio, you've probably met John. Uh he is there basically every single day. If you come into our store, he's been in watchmaking for over 20 years. It's really all he knows. Uh and has operated many stores, but he loved the world of independent watchmaking. And we've been talking many years in our five years of working with one another. And a brand that was has been brought up as a brand to watch. uh we've been talking about him for I think since we've been starting to work together in like early 2021 uh was Crayon and uh the reason really for that is the man behind the brand and what he is pursuing just these unbelievable usually never done complications or even if he is pursuing it uh done in a way that is extraordinary. So uh Remy is the man behind this brand. Uh he is somebody that takes more of a scientific approach to watchmaking. It's almost like this intersection of mathematics, engineering, and art. Uh in the way that he's celebrating his expression of high creativity. Uh the brand's first release was in 2017 uh known as the everywhere. It was a watch that could show the exact times of sunrise and sunset from anywhere on the planet. So you can pick any location on the planet and see that sunrise and sunset time. It utilizes their USS caliber, the everywhere could account for that longitude, latitude, date, and UTC time displaying the exact sunrise and sunset times to that location. And then they added a follow-up known as the anywhere. It simplified the sunrise and sunset complication of that everywhere. Uh however, the complication is fixed to a single geographical location of your choosing. So instead of being able to be user adjusted, you do have to send it back to Crayon to do that. But uh you can select that at the time of purchase and that would allow you to through the help of the cams on the back. I have a full video on how this works uh showcase the sunrise and sunset times of that desired location. So the reason why this watch is on this list is for two. One is that I think it's extraordinary in what Rey's been able to accomplish. But I actually got to personally know him this year. uh went off the beaten path when I was in Geneva for a couple of weeks at Watches and Wonders and doing a variety of other shoots uh for the two weeks that I was there and met Remy at a hotel in a lobby. It was very intimate meeting. Just met him and I just basically was uh trying to understand the brand a little bit more. I wanted to see some of his watches for the first time. I'd seen the Anywhere once in person before that, but this was my first time seeing his new watch, the Any Day. And just his way of going about uh producing his watches is truly something that I think is unmatched by many other makers out there. Uh so this watch, the Any Day, is a mechanical agenda watch. So was introduced earlier this year, has a white gold case, and the main draw is the ability to see the day and the date for the entire month instantly. So to explain how this works quickly, the crescent moon indicator on the outer track shows the day of the month and then the radial set numerals on the outside will indicate the day of the week for an entire month. And then you also will have four dots that will lead into what is ahead. So how you're able to tell what day of the week it is are the blue numerals indicate the weekdays with the first blue numeral in the sequence marking Monday and then the two white numerals indicating Saturday and Sunday. While this complication is a little easier than the sunrise and sunset indication of the everywhere and the anywhere, the Anyday caliber C032 is still remarkable. And then on the inside, you have two sets of cams that will work in tandem to allow the calendar functions to be executed. Certainly not an inexpensive watch, but in terms of the fit, finish, and also the creativity that is being showcased, one that made a lasting impact in the year of 2025. But all right guys, that is my video here today looking at some smaller brands that impressed me this year. I wanted to make this very focused. I didn't want to just include all these different brands. I wanted to really get into the ones that at the end of the year when I was recapping what were the ones that first came to mind. Uh and these were the seven that stood out to me. So if you guys enjoyed this video, you want us to keep doing this in the future, give this one a thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell icon. Really do appreciate that. Was there a single watch that you got to try on this year? maybe from a smaller brand, maybe an independent, but it doesn't have to be. What was the single watch that impressed you the most this year and why? Leave a comment down below. Also, definitely check out teddyar.com, especially during the holiday season. Got a lot going on. Every purchase from teddy.com comes with quick and fast fulfillment, dedicated customer support, and a full factory warranty for all the products that we offer. In addition, if you're ever in the Cleveland, Ohio area looking for a watch, we'd love to be able to help you out with your next watch purchase, whether online, in store. It allows us to keep doing what we're doing here. and we love what we do. But guys, thank you again so much for watching.