Most microbrands tend to compete over price - i.e. offering incredible prices for watches below what these mainstream brands would typically offer. Other microbrands try to compete by creating something entirely unique - something that you can’t just walk into any boutique to add to the collection. Orphic Watches, like Christopher Ward with their Bel Canto, has somehow managed to combine both things with Project 0: a Wandering Hours Watch inspired by the James Webb Telesc

The majority of microbrands seem to skew between varying degrees of uninspired yet reliable homages to avant-garde, kind of crazy designs. Somewhere in between is where a microbrand can truly create its value - this is the area where brands like Vario, Minim, Kuoe, Traska, and many others have established themselves. Thus, the question for Sero Watch Company, a relatively new microbrand hailing from the Netherlands and founded by Sergino and Robert (the name is an amalgamatio

I often think of luxury watches as time machines you carry on your wrist: they measure the passing of hours, yes, but more importantly, they preserve moments. My Omega Seamaster Diver 300M, ref. 212.30.41.20.01.003, bought new from an authorized dealer in 2012, doesn’t just tell time. It tells us that time once stood still.

Imagine the “friend zone.” We’ve all been there. It’s that awkward place where you adore someone’s vibe, you laugh at their jokes, you even gush about them to your friends, and yet you know, deep down, they’re never making it past “platonic brunch buddy.” Watches have their own friend zone, too. These are the brands and models we admire from a safe distance.

KNIS is a Kyoto-based Japanese microbrand founded by Niii Keisuke, offering high-quality automatic watches at affordable prices. With models like the KN001-RD, featuring a sunburst red dial, sapphire crystal, Miyota 8215 movement, and strong everyday wearability, KNIS proves that microbrands can compete with major players.