Knis: The Japanese Microbrand That Deserves Your Attention

The introduction of cheap (at least, compared to their Swiss counterparts) off-the-shelf, no-frills automatic movements by Seiko and Miyota (Citizen) is responsible for the birth of dozens, if not hundreds, of microbrands in the past decade. For better or for worse, there are many microbrands that wouldn’t exist today, were it not for these affordable yet reliable movements. The likes of Baltic (from France), Trafford Watch Co (from the US), and so, the Japanese microbrand Knis (yes, that’s a silent K) is no exception.

Macro shot of the Knis KN001-RD

This relatively young microbrand was founded in Kyoto by Niii Keisuke, who had spent years working in the Japanese watch industry. The main goal of the brand would be to create high quality watches without artificially inflated prices. As someone who also works for a Japanese microbrand, I can not only relate to this desire, but I can also understand how it is possible. When you have a huge conglomerate like the Swatch Group (Breguet, Omega, Hamilton, etc.), or even the Seiko company (Seiko, Grand Seiko, Credor, & King Seiko), you have more resources, but you also have more overhead costs. Simply put, it’s not easy - or even possible - to lower prices without undesirable ramifications. 

A microbrand doesn’t have the same challenge of having to maintain its brand image from the very beginning; instead, its challenge is to create one in the first place. That’s what led Keisuke to Makuake, which is the Japanese equivalent of crowdfunding titan Kickstarter. After the success of his first campaign to create the flagship collection for Knis, they have since gone back to Makuake a few more times to crowdfund the creation of additional collections - all of which have been successful. But why did I mention artificially inflated prices? That’s because I can see that almost all of the money has gone straight to the watches. 

Where has all the money gone? 

For the purposes of this article, I’ll use the KN001-RD as an example. Full disclosure, I received this for the purposes of a review, so keep that in mind. This watch features a gorgeous sunburst wine red dial (or as Knis calls it, sunray), sharp sword hands, equally sharp indices, a decent - if unremarkable - 5-link jubilee style bracelet, and most importantly, a 38mm case size. What I have just described would be a really good, slightly dressy, slightly sporty daily watch, especially during summer, and I would consider it an absolute steal at 500-600 USD. Except, it’s not even 500 USD, and you can get one right now for less than 270 USD. 

Knis in slightly darker lighting (6.5 inch wrist)

In addition to its great looks and extremely wearable case size and shape, the watch has a fully automatic Miyota 8215 (not hi-beat, but reliable, at least) movement with a signed KNIS rotor, a flat sapphire crystal, and surprisingly good of anti-reflective coating. I’ve been wearing this almost everyday for the past three weeks, and it’s been downright shocking how legible it remains even while I roast beneath the harsh Japanese sunlight. I may be sweating and out of breath, but look at that dial! I mention all of these details, because as I mentioned, I work at a Japanese microbrand. While I don’t know the exact costs that Knis may be dealing with, I do have a general idea, and suffice it to say that with what they’ve brought to the table, their profit margins are surely lower than what the average consumer may expect from an up-and-coming microbrand. In my opinion, this is just evidence that Knis and founder Keisuke Nii have fulfilled their promise.

In the description page of their Makuake projects, they briefly discuss the SPA Model (Specialty Store Retailer of Private Label Apparel), which is a “vertically integrated business model in the clothing industry that controls the entire supply chain.” This model, as you can probably tell from its de-acronym-ized name, is typically followed by clothing companies, which is why I find it interesting that a watch microbrand like Knis uses it. Like almost every microbrand not named Christopher Ward (I mean, CW is basically an independent anyway), Knis does not produce their own movements, which technically means that the SPA Model should not work. However, the fact that they have chosen this business model tells me that they are willing to sacrifice a bit more of the profit in order to achieve a much closer, intimate interaction with the consumer. 

From Knis' project page on Makuake (google translated).

Is Knis Profitable?

Don’t worry, I’m not saying that Knis is not profitable. In fact, I’m pretty sure - or perhaps that’s just my hope - that they are doing quite well for themselves. However, I believe that the reason they are able to achieve success in such a competitive, niche market is because they have lowered one of the main barriers of entry: price. Their competitive advantage over a bigger brand like Citizen (which makes their movements, by the way) is that they have less overhead costs to deal with, and they were able to start from scratch with their brand. Instead of trying to achieve as much profit as possible by tripling or quadrupling their cost price on their website, they have clearly done as much as they can to offer the best possible watch at the most affordable possible prices.

The Knis AR coating diffuses direct light, creating a lighter red color for the dial.

Why Should I Take This Chance? 

I will be the first to admit that 270-300 USD is not an insignificant sum of money. I’m sure that there are thousands of people for whom that is an insignificant amount, but for me, it’s definitely not. So, when you’re making the choice between a Knis watch - specifically this Knis with a red dial - over something nice and safe like a Seiko 5, shouldn’t you just go for the Seiko 5? To be honest, I can’t answer that, but for me, I would almost certainly choose the Knis.

The reason is that I already have a Seiko 5 - one which I will never sell, because it was a gift from my girlfriend - and because there are a thousand of Seiko 5s out on the street at this very moment. As contrarian as it sounds, I genuinely think that if the quality is more-or-less the same, choosing a microbrand is the more interesting or adventurous choice. Of course, if I hated how this watch looks, that would be another thing entirely, but I’ve already explained that this watch is as well-built or well-made as any other major brand equivalent. In fact, I would even say this Knis more than holds its own weight against watches that cost more. 

The Downside

Just like any other watch, this Knis watch has its flaws or quirks that I would rather have improved, changed, or outright eliminated. As far as I know, the Miyota 8215 has a date-function, which should mean that this watch has a ghost-date. A ghost-date is when the movement has a date, but the dial simply doesn’t have a date-window. It’s not a deal breaker for me, but I have noticed it once or twice when I pull the crown to the first click that I’m changing the invisible date instead of the time. The crown is unsigned, which is rather typical of microbrand watches in this price range, but again, not a deal breaker for me. 

The watch lacks lume, but as this is a dressier piece, it's not something that I would expect to begin with. It's similar to the original Citizen Tsuyosa in this regard, and considering the Tsuyosa costs more, it's not something I hold against the Knis watch.

The bracelet is fine, but I definitely think this watch would be better on a brown leather strap instead. Thankfully, Knis chose to develop this with a 20mm lug width, so there are an abundance of strap options both from Knis, and from your favorite strap brands. The bracelet uses a butterfly clasp, which is… fine. Finally, it has an exhibition caseback, which I always love, but I mention it here in the downside because depending on how much you trust a microbrand, this may be a negative for the people who really want to test the rated 100M of water resistance. 

A closer look at the Knis watch on my wrist

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Knis is just one of the many Japanese microbrands that have really captured my eye and my admiration, but I genuinely believe that its greatest strength - its price and its everyman’s watch appeal - have somehow contributed to the brand becoming overshadowed. Knis should be proud that they have created a fine watch, and I would say that this is the perfect start to this brand. However, it's not exactly groundbreaking either, nor is it attempting to do that.

As other microbrands are constantly trying to go for the Wow factor and trying to reinvent the wheel (or in this case, the watch), there’s something to be said about creating watches that truly look like they could be worn every day without any issues.