A Conversation with Axon Watches: Accessible Complications

Picture the watch industry like it’s a pie chart. You will have a big chunk taken up by conglomerates like the Swatch Group (Omega, Blancpain, Breguet, Hamilton, etc), Richemont (Cartier, IWC, JLC, Vacheron Constantin, etc.), and LVMH (Tag Heuer, Bryan’s favorite brand Hublot, etc). After that, you’ll see another big chunk for Independents like Rolex, Oris, and Nomos Glashutte. Since Christopher Ward first launched and became one of the pioneers of microbrands, the slice dedicated to Microbrands has grown steadily. Within that slice, however, lies another sub-set: Crowdfunded Microbrands. 

For every Studio Underd0g Kickstarter success story, there are a dozen other - no offense intended - forgettable microbrands with watches that don’t offer anything that mainstream brands or even other microbrands already do. Then I saw Axon Watches and their debut model, the Axon Origo. At first glance, I immediately thought it was a nice, vintage-inspired dress watch, not unlike the industry-favorite Furlan Marri with his holy trinity-inspired watches with modern, more affordable touches. When I took a closer look, however, and learned about what made this watch tick? Well, let’s just say that there’s a reason why I jumped at the chance to interview Axon Watches’ co-founder, Tommaso Esposito. 

Axon Origo - Black Enamel Dial

Accessible Grand Complications

Take a look through their Kickstarter project, or their website, and you will see the words: Grand Complication. But, what does that even mean? 

To paraphrase a bunch of different notable watch publications - Luxury Bazaar being one of them - a grand complication watch is when a watch combines multiple high complications, such as a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar, and a split-seconds chronograph. It’s important to note, however, that each brand has differing definitions or qualifications for what makes a grand complication watch, and you will likely find that Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, and Audemars Piguet have different definitions. This means that a watch can have a grand complication, and still not be counted as a Grand Complication Watch. You need to have at least 2 different grand complications to qualify. 

Three examples of Grand Complication Watches - IWC, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe (Robb Report)

This is why outside of the holy trinity, there are only a handful of other brands that have even a single Grand Complication Watch (JLC, A. Lange & Sohne, and Breguet are just a few examples). These are all, to put it simply, incredibly expensive watches that - even if one had that kind of disposable income - may not even be available for purchase. 

“I love these complicated watches, but I - like many other collectors - just couldn’t afford these complications.” 

So when Tommaso took the leap of faith to launch his own brand, it was to bring a complicated watch to the wrists of consumers without costing over a hundred thousand euros (at minimum). After a year of research, he learned, unfortunately, that releasing a debut watch at under a thousand euros with a grand complication like a perpetual calendar or minute repeater was literally impossible, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do the next best thing: A watch with a lot of great complications. 

An Engineer’s Perspective

The Axon Origo features a moonphase, three windows for the day, date, and month indicators, as well as a day-and-night indicator. It is made using a Miyota 9 movement as its base with the additional complications layered on top as different modules. When I asked him about this in further detail, Tommaso explained it - just as his background as an engineer would indicate - from a technical point of view. 

He explained that the different modules, unfortunately, were not symmetrical or centered, which meant that he couldn’t simply stack them one on top of another with reckless abandon. Instead, he and his co-founder Cristian had to keep the balance and the design on the dial in mind. The moonphase, for one, was not centered, and it had to be re-built from scratch so that it would be centered. Thanks to their engineering expertise and their 3D printer, however, they were able to constantly rebuild and rework the Origo until they had it down to a science.  

Of course, after months of work on the movement, Tommaso and Cristian couldn’t resist showing off a little bit. 

“Once I saw the movement, I just had to make it visible for everybody.” 

The movement has an engraved balance wheel, showing that it was designed in Italy, and features their motto and mission: Memento Audere Semper (Remember to Always Dare). In my opinion, it’s really well done, and it shows that even if you use a workhorse movement like a Miyota as a base, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be well decorated. However, this made me wonder - what’s the thickness of a watch with all these different complications and an exhibition caseback? 

12.2mm. When I asked how this was possible, Tommaso once again showed off his functional expertise by telling me it was thanks to the construction of the case, as well as the flat sapphire crystal. 

Marketing: The Most Difficult Frontier?

“[We] don’t want to overcharge, and accessibility is a main part of what we want to achieve. So, it means cutting into our margins a bit, and finding ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality [...] like our straps. Our first supplier was charging a high price, and it would’ve meant that we would charge more for our watches. But, we found a leather craftsman here in Italy using quality buffalo leather, and we became partners instead. Maybe we only saved a few euros per strap, but we believe in their straps, and they believe in our watch, so it was perfect.”

As an engineer with an MBA for a luxury car maker, the most challenging part of launching his own brand seemed to be marketing. Not in the sense that he didn’t know what to do, of course, but in the sense that it was quite different from his past expertise. Additionally, marketing - as many of us in the industry unfortunately know - has the potential to be the most costly part of launching a watch. In fact, it was part of his answer when I asked him how he is able to keep the Kickstarter price at 499 EUR.

Instead of hiring a marketing agency or spending recklessly on Meta ads, Tommaso and Cristian have focused on organic marketing, and loaning their prototypes to industry experts. Their website was even made by them. Saving a few euros here and there quickly adds up, allowing them to keep the price as low as possible for their customers. 

Axon Watches: Passion is Everything

At the end of our meeting, I asked Tommaso what message he wanted to convey with his brand and the Axon Origo. 

“I want them to feel the passion and the work behind it [...] I want them to feel that the final product was the end result of many iterations and trial and error behind it.” 

The watch and the people who made it may be complicated, but the passion behind this project is simple and clear. Going back to that pie chart from the beginning, Axon Watches may currently be part of that tiny slice for Crowdfunded Microbrands, but I firmly believe that it has the potential - and the passion - for a much bigger slice. 

You can sign up to be notified of the launch by going to the following link: Axon Watches.