Independent watchmakers surge as Rolex, Patek remain unattainable

The pandemic rekindled a love affair between consumers—particularly those in the US, who overtook buyers in China—and luxury mechanical watches. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Inside a sprawling white tent that garnished the grounds of Geneva’s posh La Réserve hotel in November, the hammer came down on a most remarkable watch.

The Ming 17.06 “Copper” was sandwiched on the Phillips auction block between gold Patek Philippe perpetual calendars, rare “Paul Newman” Rolex Daytonas and flashy Audemars Piguet “Jumbo” Royal Oaks. It was remarkable not only for its uniqueness but for being there at all.

The histories of Patek, Rolex and Audemars are measured in centuries, but the Horologer Ming brand is just five years old. Based in Kuala Lumpur and legally domiciled in Switzerland, it produces Swiss-made watches with innovative designs that use luminous materials for deceptively simple ends. Ming’s presence at the Geneva sale—and growth in a short period of time—underscores the level to which independent watch brands have risen among collectors and enthusiasts.

“Right place, right time,” says Ming Thein, 36, a photographer, designer and former private equity executive who’s the brand’s founder and design chief. “But we’re also aware of the work we put in to make the product as good as we can possibly make it.”

The pandemic rekindled a love affair between consumers—particularly those in the US—and luxury mechanical watches. Flush with disposable income usually spent on holidays and in restaurants, people had the time to research and the cash to nab pricey timepieces.

For some, a watch became a piece of luxury to wear at home and flash on Zoom calls or Instagram. Swiss watch exports had their best year in 2022, surging to more than 23 billion Swiss francs ($24.9 billion), a record driven by the US, which overtook China to become the top export destination. And independent brands such as Ming are poised to satisfy an increasingly knowledgeable buyer or a collector searching beyond the more traditional Swiss fare.

Richard Mille, the eponymous brand founded in 2001 and known for its open-faced, boundary-pushing (and divisive) racing-inspired timepieces that can cost more than a Ferrari, recently joined a select group of just seven Swiss brands with more than 1 billion francs in annual sales. It makes only 5,000 watches a year. And after its best year ever, British horologer Bremont announced in January that American investor Bill Ackman purchased a substantial minority interest in the company, alongside prior Bremont backer Hellcat LP, totaling $59 million in new investment.

The handmade timepieces of the curmudgeonly Swiss‑based F.P.Journe are now discussed and venerated alongside the most complicated Pateks. Combining the creative and technological advances of late 18th century watchmaking with modern finishing, materials and movement innovations, Journe’s watches have risen in price so drastically that the brand, founded in the 1990s, has become a veritable blue chip, headlining sales from the top auction houses. His brand produces fewer than 1,000 watches a year.

This sudden success is because of, in part, a lack of availability and access to traditionally dominant brands, whose most popular timepieces can’t be easily purchased at retail boutiques. As demand has risen, watchmakers including Patek Philippe and Audemars haven’t meaningfully increased supply, and that’s left many potential clients frustrated. “The single most impactful reason for people going beyond Patek, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Rolex is that they just want to buy a bloody watch,” says Adrian Barker, a watch-focused YouTuber with more than 250,000 subscribers and the co-host of the podcast About Effing Time. “And they can’t because of the waitlists. So you look beyond the high street, you look beyond the main brands, and then suddenly you find this world of independents where arguably you get a better product.”

Well-heeled clients and collectors can build relationships with smaller watchmakers, says Oliver Müller, the head of LuxeConsult, an industry adviser who’s worked with independent brands such as Laurent Ferrier and Akrivia.

“To them it looks more authentic,” Müller says. “It’s the encounter with the people making the products. It’s like when you visit a vineyard and you meet the guy growing the grapes and making the wine. You assemble an experience.”

The growing interest and trust in nontraditional marques has allowed Ming to expand from an obscure microbrand to a high-profile independent in less than a decade. “Fundamentally, we just want to make interesting watches that we ourselves get excited about,” Thein says.

Despite his youth, Thein drove a circuitous route to creating his company. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a physics degree while in his teens. He then worked for KPMG, Boston Consulting and a couple of Asia-based investment funds. All the while, he was a photographer exploring architectural subjects as well as a watch collector.

In 2017 he banded with five friends and fellow enthusiasts to create the Ming brand. “I think my experience as a photographer has given me the opportunity to observe how light interacts with things, and that translates into the choices of materials and case finishing,” he says.

Ming’s first watch sold for just 900 francs in 2017. Although it didn’t make a lot of money for the fledgling brand, each subsequent batch of 100 timepieces sold out almost immediately as the consumer revival in watches slowly built.

The brand now produces from 3,000 to 5,000 watches a year, depending on which models it’s offering. It works with suppliers including Manufacture Schwarz Etienne SA, which makes movements and is Ming’s primary Swiss production partner, as well as renowned Swiss complications maker Agenhor; Manufacture la Joux-Perret SA, another movement maker; and French strapmaker Jean-Rousseau. Annual sales are 15 million francs, according to the co-founder and chief executive officer, Praneeth Rajsingh, who’s 28.

It’s been a profitable venture from the start and has produced more than 50 models so far, ranging from unique takes on chronographs and GMTs to even dive watches. Most models are selling for 3,000 francs to 10,000 francs with some limited-edition project models going for 30,000 francs. The most experimental and highly limited pieces cost as much as 60,000 francs. (Those limited pieces can be restricted to runs of just 50, while the more mainstream models are dropped in batches of 500 or 1,000 watches or more.)

All of Ming’s watches are sold through its website; most sell out within minutes of their release. Rajsingh says among the biggest challenges for the company has been managing its supply chain. After putting down a 50% deposit, customers must now wait up to 15 months for delivery. Ming is trying to reduce this period to three to six months.

For the buyer not willing to wait, the Ming 17.06 “Copper” at the Geneva auction proved a tempting proposition. With its two-tone dial with an interior guilloche pattern, luminous hour markers and hands framed by the brand’s signature flared lugs, it sold for 5,670 francs, well above its pre-auction estimate of 2,000 francs to 4,000 francs—and more than 350% above the original retail price of 1,250 francs.

The value of Ming’s watches aren’t quite at the same level as that of the big-name brands—in the same auction, a pair of rare Patek Philippes sold for more than 1 million francs each. But Thein’s “Copper” had already won the esteem of his watchmaking peers in 2019 when it was awarded the “Horological Revelation” prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the annual industry awards.

Ming is now developing its own in-house designed movements in the belief that it will give its growing customer list another reason to come back to the upstart brand.

“It’s not just about building a sustainable business and having current customers,” says Thein. “It’s also about doing something where you buy a watch from us and then you want to come back and buy a second one because it’s different enough and we give you a different experience. We ask ourselves as collectors, ‘Is this going to make us excited?’ ”

Twelve More Independent Watchmakers Shaking Up the Old Swiss Guard

For collectors and enthusiasts looking to move beyond the traditional big Swiss names, here’s a wide-ranging—though certainly not exhaustive—roundup of important independent watchmakers:

Baltic

The French brand manages to offer ridiculously good value with vintage-inspired design that even scores cred from watch snobs. Prices start at around €600 ($652); the brand’s latest Tricompax chronograph runs about €1,700. Founded less than a decade ago, the once online-only watchmaker now has small appointment-only showrooms in Paris and London. To keep costs in line, Baltic sources movements from Switzerland, Japan and China that it houses behind gorgeous retro dials, like this black-on-white Panda. Get on the mailing list to know when the next drop is—they tend to sell out fast.

Greubel Forsey

The pricey brand, named for its founders, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, returned to true independent status last year, buying back a 20% stake in the company from Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont. Now Greubel Forsey can focus on what it does best: making six-figure watches with highly complicated mechanics. One model boasted an incredible four tourbillons. This one, the $445,000 GMT Balancier Convexe, uses a 30-degree inclined balance wheel “orbiting” above a rotating globe instead.

Grönefeld

Dutch brothers Bart and Tim Grönefeld have been making their own luxury timepieces in the Netherlands since 2008, and they’ve been racking up the GPHG awards going against the best Swiss makers. Their 1941 Grönefeld Grönograaf—that’s a Dutch take on “chronograph”— won the GPHG prize for the complication last year thanks to an innovative “soft reset” mechanism. The tantalum-cased version seen here was limited to just 25 pieces and costs about €165,000.

Philippe Dufour

One of the few master watchmakers able to rival F.P.Journe, Dufour crafts stunning, one-of-a-kind timepieces without the aid of modern industrial tools. As a result, his extremely limited production allows for watches to be tailored for specific clients. A Philippe Dufour Grande & Petite Sonnerie minute repeater wristwatch, the first of its kind, sold for 4.7 million francs at auction in 2021. Shown here in yellow gold, it was originally owned by the sultan of Brunei.

Voutilainen

Considered among the most humble of master watchmakers, Kari Voutilainen racks up GPHG awards the way Tom Brady acquires Super Bowl rings. From his workshop perched on a mountainside in the Swiss Jura, Voutilainen and his team produce extraordinarily decorated dials—like the Japanese lacquer on the Ji-Ku piece unique—to showcase the precision of his exquisite watch movements. His rare timepieces regularly fetch more than 100,000 francs at auction, with some selling for as much as five times that.

De Bethune

Led by master watchmaker and brand co-founder Denis Flageollet, De Bethune watches feature cutting-edge technology and unique case designs. The 20-year-old brand is now majority-owned by US luxury watch retailing giant WatchBox, which gives it the financial stability to offer the Sensoriel Chronometry Project: Buyers of a watch such as the DB28GS Grand Bleu will have the chance to wear a test timepiece with sensors that gather data to determine the type of lifestyle they lead. De Bethune will then adjust the chronometry of each customers’ watch before delivery to account for daily movements, temperature and potential shocks. The brand makes just a few hundred watches a year; prices for preowned models on WatchBox range from about 65,000 Swiss francs to as much as 258,000 francs.

Naoya Hida & Co.

Japan’s Naoya Hida was always searching for his perfect watch. He couldn’t find it, so in 2018, after more than three decades in marketing with the luxury timepiece industry, he started his own brand. The resulting models draw from classic dress watch design codes but with high-end modern finishing— numerals on the NH Type 1B are hand-engraved into the dial, then filled with urushi, a Japanese lacquer. The case sizes are relatively small (about 37 millimeters, or 1.5 inches) and balance architectural elements with understated elegance. They’re produced in small batches of 10 to 15 pieces and cost from 2,145,000 yen to 2,860,000 yen ($16,600 to $22,100).

F.P.Journe

The heavy hitter on the list, F.P.Journe is the closest the independent watch world has to a blue-chip sure thing. Founded in 1994 by France-born watchmaker François-Paul Journe, the Geneva-based brand began producing its own timepieces in 1999. The hand-finished, intricate and complicated works bring modern innovations to classic watchmaking; the brand makes chronographs, tourbillons, perpetual calendars and even a quartz watch that hibernates if not in use for 30 minutes to preserve battery life. A Journe Tourbillon Souverain in platinum with a pink-gold dial sold for $1.24 million in December at Phillips in New York, more than quadrupling its pre-auction estimate and tying the world record for the model. Shown here: a Vagabondage I Gold, limited to 68 pieces and priced at 86,000 francs.

Laurent Ferrier

A former 24 Hours of Le Mans race-car driver and an ex‑Patek Philippe executive, Ferrier makes sports watches that offer an independent’s alternative to the Patek Nautilus and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. He started the brand in 2009 at age 63, and his Tourbillon Double Hairspring won the best men’s watch prize at the GPHG the following year. Now hopeful buyers of the Sport Auto Blue, inspired by the time Ferrier and his co-pilot finished third at Le Mans behind Paul Newman, have to endure multiyear waits for the 46,000‑franc titanium timepiece.

H. Moser & Cie.

With its striking designs and fine in-house movements, family-owned H. Moser isn’t afraid to be irreverent toward the Swiss watch industry it’s now very much a part of. The resurrected brand has made timepieces spoofing the Apple Watch and mocking the restrictions of the “Swiss Made” designation with a creation made of cheese. It’s best known for its fumé dials with vibrant colors and its Streamliner sports models with an integrated bracelet, like this perpetual calendar. Prices start at about 14,000 francs and average around 42,000 francs.

Akrivia

Switzerland’s Rexhep Rexhepi apprenticed at Patek Philippe and was a watchmaker with F.P.Journe before starting Akrivia when he was 26 years old. Now he’s got a couple of Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève trophies to display at his workshop in the city’s old town, including one for his Chronomètre Contemporain II, a 50-piece limited edition priced at 125,000 francs each. That watch boasts a hand-painted grand feu enamel sector dial (seen here in black with a platinum case) and a new mechanism with two mainsprings—one to supply energy to the balance wheel to keep time and another to drive the jumping seconds hand without affecting precision. The child of immigrants to Switzerland from Kosovo, Rexhepi and his complicated timepieces are widely regarded as the future of Swiss independent watchmaking.

Halios

From the watchmaking hotbed of Canada springs Halios, a vintage-inspired marque known mostly for its dive watches—the Seaforth model is its most popular, available with jaunty dial colors such as yellow, orange, pastel blue and pink. The brand was started in 2009 by self-confessed “watchaholic” Jason Lim in Vancouver. Built with partners in Asia with movements from Switzerland and Japan, Halios’s water-ready designs nod to the 1960s. Prices range from about $800 to $1,000, when they’re available.

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