This is an old school 1990s internet style listing of Indie watch brands and watch manufacturers. If you want to be added then please email us at;
thenorthernwatchco@outlook.com
26 Spirits – This bespoke Swiss brand was founded by the grandson of Raymond Weil, yeah that guy, so you can bet that quality and style will be on the button. Reasonable prices too at £150-£180.
Adina Watches – Australian watch producer that’s been around since 1971, with models like the Noosa Longboards edition highlighting their affinity to the Aussie surfer lifestyle.
Advisor Watches – Bronze case dive watches, with 300m depth and Sellita movements.
Aerotec – Canada based Indie brand making some eye-catching dive and tool watches, (pic above) with bright dial colours and lots of lume. Usually Seiko powered, reasonably priced.
Allemano – This stylish Italian brand has been around for decades and their latest 1919 and Shark ranges are beautiful to look at, plus they make an official MV Agusta watch. Cool.
anOrdain – A genuinely handcrafted feel to these watches, made in Scotland and featuring enamelled dials – difficult skill to learn. Even more impressive is the fact that they make their own hands. Expensive at £1500, but you pay for old school skills like these.
Aquadive – Austrian brand making some very cool dive watches, ETA movements, some cases have 1000m depth ratings.
Aquastar – One of the legendary names in dive watchmaking is back. The Deepstar chrono is pure tool watch heaven.
Aragon Watches– Florida based manufacturer, offering a range of good value automatics and mechanicals. Parma Bronze II model is visual delight.
Aries Gold – Singapore brand, great range of Seiko powered auto watches, plenty for the open heart/skeleton fan here.
Armin Strom– One of the great technological feats in modern watchmaking is expressed within the Armin Strom twin barrel, twin balance, ARF17 movement. Just saying.
Arnold & Son – Swiss based, drawing on the heritage of English watchmaking and producers of beautiful skeleton, moonphase and 8-day watches.
Atelier Wen – This Singapore brand is creating some striking dress watches with very high standards on dial decoration, case materials and more. Expensive, bespoke and interesting.
Atowak – This Hong Kong based brand produces some complicated mechanical watches, kinda jump hour style, limited editions – and they call some of them Windows models, does Bill know?
AUDRIC Watches– Singapore based, value prices, Sellita movements
Auteur Watches – This HK based brand makes the Ephemeris model, which features a solar system dial design, also a walnet bezel watch with no crown. Quirky is good.
Autodromo – US based motorsport themed watches. Minimalist Monoposto is a striking black/white chrono, bit like a Landeron from the 1940s, whilst the GT Endurance has that pop-art 60s vibe going strong. Expensive for Seiko powered quartz/auto watches some might say.
Axios Watches – some interesting automatic dress, dive and explorer watches from this indie brand. Usually new models make a debut on Kickstarter so you get pre-order discounts.
Azimuth – Swiss based producer of very unusual timepieces, some quirky car themed models. plus Space age skeletons. Definitely different.
BA111OD – Quirky name and a unique watch project; luxury Swiss manufacture for Omega level prices. Tourbillon for £3500 plus VAT? That’s worth a look.
Baltic Watches – Some stunning dive models from this French company. Aquascaphe dual crown is a stunner we reckon.
Balticus Watches – Seems to have ceased trading, now getting a Page does not exist message.
Bamford Watch Department – Custom Swiss watches, luxury detailing manufactured to owner spec. Unique skunkworks approach to remixing Rolex, TAG, Zenith etc.
Beijing Watches – One of the older names in the Chinese wristwatch industry, they’ve been making them since the 1950s. They make movements in-house, including a tourbillon. Classic gents mechanical is about £300.
Bohen Watches – Based in France, this new brand has launched its first dive model, with 1000m depth rating and a unique date window feature.
Boldr – This Singapore brand has some stunning dive models, a cool Medic Field watch that has check-your-pulse gradations on the dial, plus other eye-catching models.
Bremont– You have to admire the founders Nick and Giles English, who are building an actual watchmaking factory in England. No easy task. Luxury timepieces for sure, expensive for what they are some say, but if you want cheap stuff, try China.
Bruvik – This Norwegian brand captures the natural landscape and outdoor spirit in models like the tonneau cased Pulpit, plus Svalbard and Fjord.
Cerberus Watches – Two watch repair specialists from Nottingham England decided to make their own watches. Some good value skeleton dial watches being produced.
Christopher Ward – UK brand on the up, some very handsome designs, Swiss movements, nice military themed models too. C3 Tourer is one of our fave motorsport chronos.
Circula Watches – This German brand has been around since the 1950s and recently started to expand its presence online. The AquaSport dive model is our fave design.
Collins Watch – US based, top value dive Sonar models have SW200 engine, 300m depth rating, all for $695. Fair value.
Crafter Blue – Hong Kong based brand making some beautiful watches and straps for Rolex, Tudor and Seiko. Hyperion chrono is a winner for us.
Creux Automatiq – Australia based watch brand, some very striking skeleton dial, Swiss powered models in the range.
Cyrus Watches – Swiss watchmaker which chooses the difficult route of making each part in-house, no easy task. Our fave is the Klepcys alarm, limited to just 38 pieces.
Dan Henry – Dan Henry is a lifelong watch collector who started a modern watch company to see if he could capture the essence of classic design, yet manufactured at an affordable price. Retro 1962 racing chrono in blue is our fave.
De Bethune – Indy Swiss that is proud to produce some very different watches. Love the DB21 model which has five hands on the cannon pinion all controlled with one winder/button.
Deep Blue Watches – This US based brand sells a range of dive themed watches, with a mix of Seiko and Sellita movements used. Decent prices for the spec we say.
Delma – Indie Swiss brand with almost 100 years of history. Interesting 4000 metre dive watch for under £2500. Yep, four thousand metres.
De Witt – Innovation, technical excellence and a quirky love for the unusual timekeeping solution. That sums up this unique Swiss house of horology. Expensive of course, as hand-finished one-off designs can only ever be.
Dietrich – Swiss based, Dietrich has recently launched a handsome Skin Diver model at around $1000.
Draken – Based in NZ, inspired by the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. Tough dive watches, retro military styles too.
Duckworth Prestex – This British company makes some good looking, retro styled quartz and automatic powered timepieces.
Egard Watches – Unusual, striking and offbeat designs from this N American company
Eliana – This Singapore brand was founded by a woman who got the passion for mechanical watches. Featuring Miyota movements they look elegant (pic below) and retail at around £315. Plus import duties, VAT etc.
Enoksen – Belfast based brand, German assembled watches – amazing 1000m Deep Dive model costs under 400 quid.
Etien – Unusual guilloche dial watches from this Singapore based brand. Very jewel-like.
Eza – German watch brand, using ETA 2824 movements, bronze and steel cases. Assembled at their German factory no less.
Farer– UK based company combining Swiss Sellita SW510 movt tech with Brit design. Some really cool chronos.
Fears – Fears watches have been around since the 19th century but recently revived actual manufacturing. Hand made, 30s/40s styling, and very expensive.
Ferro – Canadian watch company, making customisable watches – you choose quartz, Miyota or Swiss ETA movement. We like that angle, also the Le Mans inspired Distinct 3.0 is a Gulf Racing winner.
Firle Watches – Kickstarter backed, Cornwall designed, a dash of the Movado about these gentlemens timepieces, Swiss Movt naturally.
Focke-Wulf – the legendary name in German WWII aircraft is now a watch brand, with some excellent value military style timepieces on the runway.
Forge and Foster – This London based brand make great value automatics and quartz models, with skeleton dials being a favourite feature.
Formex Watches – Swiss brand with some unusual features, how about a case with built-in shock absorbers? Or a strap that has a sliding wrist adjustment in the clasp for the perfect fit? Beautiful Reef COSC Chrono dive, with a sunray green dial is our current fave from the line-up.
Fortis – Still very Germanic, functional and pure engineering excellence. The Marinemaster and Stratoliner are a bit more money than some Indie dive/chrono watches, but they have an appeal for those who want something Swiss, tool watch tough and high quality.
Forzo – this British brand is mad keen on motorsport and with models like the red Fogarty chrono, or the Drive King they offer decent value for VK64 meca-quartz watch fans.
F P Journe – This Swiss watchmaker produces under 1,000 units per year, with bespoke in-house movements and ultra high quality finishing. Old school craft.
Gevril – Luxury Swiss watch brand, low volume but interesting as they have their own factory. Often seen on the Secret Sales website at discount prices.
Gorilla – Swiss based, quirky designs and automatic Miyota movements. Unique.
Great British Watch Co – Low volume production of the Spitfire watch, which is being made by hand from genuine old WW2 Spitfire aircraft parts. Old school watchmaking.
Gronefeld – netherlands watch brand making truly bespoke pieces, how does a limited edition of 10 sound? Hand-crafted engineering, beautifully finished, prices circa 50K.
Gruppo Gamma – Singapore based, and producing some classy ETA/Miyota powered automatics. Bronze case Vanguard is a winner for us.
Halios – Canadian brand, Fairwind auto model uses SW200 power, steel case, under $800. Fair value.
Harold Pinchbeck – Made in England, minimalist designs, craftsmanship in the details
Harriot Watches – Based in South Korea, this manufacturer produces value watches for the fashion market, inspired by the engineering expertise in South Korea.
Heimdallr – great value replicas of popular Seiko dive watches. They also sell Cronos, Shirryu and other associated brands, some nice IWC and Rolex look-a-likes too.
Heinrich – This Indie brand started recently in 2021 and the Taucher 2 retro 70s design is a winner for us, great spec for the price.
Hemel – This USA brand has some tasty aviation themed chrono models, plus some great value field watches.
HMT Watches – Basically this company is the Timex of India. Set up in 1961 with money from the government and expertise from Citizen they’ve been making mechanical watches and clocks ever since. Like Timex in Dundee these are watches built for Everyman – and woman – not for the Swiss collectors market.
Hoffman Watches – NYC based, making striking motorsport themed watches, mainly chronographs, classic Panda dial designs.
HYT – The balance is the heartbeat of the mechanical watch of course, but HYT have taken things futher by using luminous fluid and bellows as the engine of timekeeping. Unique.
Ikigai – This new Japanese brand was founded in 2020 and their Maru diver is a winner for us. See pic below. Superb superlume abounds, sharp retro styling and Kickstarter discounts too.
Iota Watches – This UK brand has a range of affordable GMT watches, which are made in Switzerland, with Ronda quartz movements.
Itay Noy – bespoke handmade watches, based in Isreal this watchmaker is creating offbeat designs. Something truly different.
Jaipur Watches – Based in India, this company make highly decorated, exquisite bespoke pieces, plus some unusual peacock feather dial designs. ETA movements, old fashioned watchmaking.
Kartel Watches – This brand is based in Scotland has a range of very Skagen/Danish style minimalist designs in its range. Nice auto at £255 is good value, recycled straps help save the oceans from plastic waste too.
Knut Gadd – Stockholm based watch company with a range of chrono, dive and fashion watches, mostly Seiko quartz powered. Unusual TV dial retro gents model too.
La Touraine – This US brand has just launched its first dive model, the NH35 powered Nautica model. On the up and built by enthusiasts.
LIV watches – US brand has some wild colours, Swiss movts, big case sizes, rugged chrono models and more. If you love the Valjoux 7750 movement the top of the range LIV watches are amongst the best options for bang per buck.
Maen – Swedish brand with the good looking ETA powered Skymaster retro chronograph in their range. Hudson auto is currently sold out.
Magon Watches – This new brand is based in Ireland and offers a Swiss powered Chronograph model. Expensive but interesting.
Magrette – This NZ brand has some beautifully engraved models, some limited to just ten pieces, in their range. Maori themed cases that look like skin art, and dive models that give you a real taste of the Southern ocean life.
Makina Watches – This Phillipines based brand makes a range of offbeat watches with bold dials, big numbers. Some similarity to a revolver with six chambers from certain angles. Just launched the Raum Sellita SW200 auto.
Marathon Watch – This UK based brand specialises in military style watches, in both automatic and quartz powered formats. They do an impressive 300m dive watch with some very nice lume (pictured below).
Marchand – Stylish motorsport themed watches, including chronographs, steering wheel designs, 70s tonneau case etc. Based in the UK, so good way to avoid paying import duty, VAT, plus bogus delivery service admin invoices.
Marloe Watch – Inspired by adventurers, some interesting Donald Campbell Bluebird themed models.
MCT watches – This Swiss luxury brand makes some stunning micro-rotor models, with in-house movements too. The Sequential S200 is our fave, but at 99K CHF, it’s one for lottery winners.
Meia Lua – Portugal based brand making some interesting Miyota auto powered watches in limited production runs. You can’t argue with £369 for a sapphire crystal auto.
Melbourne Watch Company – based in Australia, MWC make some handsome automatics and quartz models. Reasonable prices, nice touches like ceramic dials, logo engraved auto rotors etc.
MHD – UK based watch designer, formerly creating Morgan cars, now producing minimalist watches often with an art deco twist, Miyota auto powered.
Minase Watches – This bespoke watchmaker is based in Japan and produce about 500 units per year. The accent is on traditional Japanese balance, precision and aiming for perfection. The Divido (above) is our fave model right now. Modified Swiss movements used by the way.
Ming Watches – This Malaysia based brand has only been going a few years, but their Swiss-assembled, ETA 2824 powered watches, look sharp and all models produced so far utilise a 20mm lug size.
MMI Watches – this Singapore based brand makes a beautiful Turret Marine retro chrono, plus a 300m dive model. Good prices.
Momentum Watches – Canada based; dive, dress, field and more, plus Ladies models. MH30 Open Heart, featuring Seiko power and 44mm case is one of our faves at 449 euros.
Monta – US brand, with automatic watches assembled in Switzerland. Great quality GMT, 1000ft dive model and more. Customisable dial colours/strap options.
Monsieur Watches – This Singapore based brand makes chronographs, plus the Helm One Seiko powered dive model coming soon.
Montiek – Dutch brand making flying tourbillon watches for a relatively low price. Love the unusual view from the see-thru caseback.
MVMT – This US based brand make minimalist, clean design fashion watches, plus accessories. They ship to the EU and UK by the way.
MWC watches – This Swiss brand specialises in military style designs, with quartz and automatic movements. Some nice replicas of WW2 pilot/army watches, plus they sell military boots too.
Nako Timepieces – This new brand from Botswana is doing it African style, the quartz Dikgosi Rattan (above) is an interesting dress watch and the auto Heritage model has a Sellita SW200 movement inside.
Newmark – UK based, military themes, plus 71 Sports Diver is a beauty
Nine Four Watches – US based brand with stylish chronographs and the Successor Automatic, which bears a resemblance to a famous AP model. Or the Tissot PRX maybe. Decent value, arabic numbers on the chronographs by the way.
Nite Watches – Tritium lume gives the Nite brand a USP, with that uncanny glow. Fab looking dive models too.
Nivada Grenchen – A famous Swiss brand gets the revival treatment with some beautifully finished chronos and dive models in the line up. Nice refurb job on the Valjoux Cal 72 as well.
Novowatch – Canada based brand, making some genuinely hand-crafted, one-off timepieces. Reassuringly expensive.
Objest Watches – London based, producing ETA Swiss movement automatics with very clean, modernist lines and curves. Competitive prices too.
Ocean Crawler – This indie brand from the USA makes beautiful watches, plenty of lume and not bad on pricing either.
OceanicaWatch Co– Based in New York City USA, these guys are making the Reef and Stingray dive models. Great prices for early bird supporters on Kickstarter too.
Octon – This Sweden based brand has some great models; NH35 automatic, 300m dive watch for £232 anyone?
Omologato – Italian motorsport watches. Very cool Alfa, Le Mans, Monaco and retro dial designs, quartz and Miyota automatic movements.
OSO Watches – Some very retro Panda dial designs here, pre-order deals on Indie-gogo platform too.
Pagani Design – top value Chinese brand which is renowned on Ali Express for homage models to Rolex, AP, Patek, Omega, Seiko and more. Generally decent automatic movements, nice finishing, sapphire crystals.
Paulareis – China based company making low cost watches, many are automatic models. Patchy quality, but tempting at under £30 for most models via AliExpress or from their site. They do a nice Panerai Luminor replica for £90.
Phoibos – This Hong Kong based brand specialises in dive watches and a decent 300-500m depth resistance, plus keen pricing makes them worth a look.
Pierre Gaston Watches – Swiss based, producers of striking, and unusual automatic and tourbillon watches.
Pinion Watches – Designed and built in England, great eco-friendly refreshment of classic Swiss movements. Feelgood factor on this one is strong.
Prim.cz – This Czech based manufacturer has been around for many years and makes its own movements. Great to see a brand celebrate its heritage too, displaying Czech national colours on some models.
Prisma – Netherlands based manufacturer, with a great value range of fashion, dive and a superb Master Blue quartz chronograph that captures the 70s retro motorsport vibe.
Raven– US brand making Seiko and ETA powered watches, interesting bronze Trekker concept is on the blocks for late 2020 launch.
REC Watches – Here’s a novel idea, recycle classic cars or aircraft metal into wristwatches. Panda dial, steering wheel themes – decent specs from this Denmark based brand.
Reverie – Some interesting retro chronographs here, liking the GT in deep blue or Panda dial white/black. Seiko Meca-quartz power.
Romanson – This South Korean brand has a range of automatics and quartz models.
RZE – Singapore based brand selling a range of titanium case dive models. Useful 200m depth, auto movements, reasonable prices.
San Martin Watch Co – This China based brand makes Seiko powered dive and military watches, including a luminous dial model. Keen prices, usually a voucher on the website too.
Schofield – British designed watches with a quirky edge. Some UK manufactured parts, some Swiss and German input too. Keen on enamelling, and for that alone, we salute you Schofield.
Seals – US company which draws inspiration from tanks and motorcycles, which is all good. Interesting A5 auto, hexagon case, S logo on the strap remarkably similar to Suzuki some might say.
Second Hour – Australian watch brand, creating some hi-spec models, the new Mandala is a strikingly different looker.
Seestern Watches – these dive watches are a cut above the usual Ali Express models and cost about £130. They make a nice Rolex Sub homage too.
Seven Friday – Offbeat urban hipster, or something for the Newquay camper van weekend – 7Friday have it covered.
Soldat Watch – These motorsport themed chronographs are made in Japan, with the Seiko NE88 movement inside the retro case. Sharp looks and well priced at $1250 too.
Spinnaker – Beautiful dive watches and more, Bradner and Amalfi ranges are on our wish list.
Stella – NYC based watch company, using Swiss STP movements, featuring bold dial designs with standout numerals and colours.
Straton Watches – this US based brand makes some cool retro 70s chronographs, quartz or ETA automatic engines. Pure motorsport heaven.
Tapferkeit – Now that’s a name to conjure with, no we don’t know what it means. But they make low cost watches, with a sort of Junghans feel to them.
Tempore Lux – This Spanish brand is based on Majorca and makes some stunning 70s style motorsport chronographs and the V-One automatic.
Tempus Machina – You don’t see many companies bold enough to MOD Rolex watches, but Tempus have created some very tasty remixes of Rolex faves. Even the Milgauss looks great. Small production volume and long waiting times, as you’d expect.
Throne Watches – NYC based brand producing clean chronographs, kinda similar to Skagen and Junghans.
TPW – This Chinese brand make some incredibly cheap quartz watches that NWC mag has tested and you know what? They’re top value at under £12 including P&P.
Undone– You have to visit the Undone website just to check out the titanium case Batman 80 chrono. We love it when movie merchandising looks this good.
Unity Watches – Barcelona based manufacturer, producing striking titanium case designs and using Swiss movements, Italian leather straps.
Urban Jurgenson– Swiss specialist, luxury timepieces featuring in-house P4 movement, which is a work of art. Reassuringly expensive.
VAER – US based brand who assemble their products in America, which is a change from the norm. Great looking dive and field watches, very similar to Hamilton/Seiko black dial styled watches.
Van Der Gang – This Netherlands based watch house makes bespoke high quality autos and mechanicals. Some beautiful detailing helps justify the high price.
Vapaus – UK watch brand looking to revive the classic 60s motorsport themed chronograph. Seiko Meca Quartz movements, keen prices, striking dial colours on the Vorcut range.
Vertex Watches – UK based brand with a long history, in fact the 1950s/60s Vertex Revue is a great collectors item if you can find a gold one without an inscription on the back. Modern Vertex watches have a military theme and aim high in terms of build quality and durability.
Vertigo– Italian style, what can we say? The Tornante motorsport chrono is a serious homage to the great Heuer, Breitling, Tissot & Yema watches of the 70s.
Vescari Watch Co – This Indie brand was founded in 2016 and looks to sell affordable watches. The Chestor chronograph is fair value at £199 but there are better meca-quartz options out there.
Vilhelm Watches – Based in Singapore, this brand makes a striking Sellita powered Prism model. Several models sold out on the website, but a handsome skeleton dial option on pre-order in Feb 2021.
Vinmov – Hungary based MOD watch specialists, producing very competitively priced refurbs based around older Swiss movements. Some striking Omega, G Perregaux and Longines designs, starting at £260.
Viqueria – Italian designs capturing the spirit of motorsports, new projects available at discounted prices on Kickstarter
Von Doren – From Norway, this brand offers a range of Swiss movt powered automatics and quartz models. Some striking limited editions.
Vostok Europe – The Russian brand has been around a long time, but the Lithuania operation transformed the range from 2004 onwards. Great value dive watches, adventure themed models, widely available online.
Wainer – This Swiss brand has a range of skeleton dial watches, plus some very nice retro/vintage models.
Waldhoff – Luxury watches made in Germany. Lots of models feature skeleton dials, very trick co-axial tourbillon too.
William Wood – This UK based watch brand makes distinctive chronographs with the Triumph being the top of the range. Unique fire service emergency themed caseback with `Break Glass’ graphic.
Winton Watch Company – This British micro brand designs elegant dress and sports watches, with Swiss movements and a decent spec for the sub-£500 price point.
Weiss Watch Company – Handmade in the USA, including the movement. Yep, there aren’t many Indie brands thatc an say they actually manufacture a movement. Old school watchmaking right here.
Wolbrook – This French brand make some nice looking mechanical and skin diver watches. Decent spec for the price. They also revived the old Douglas sub brand as well.
Xeric – This quirky Indie brand makes some unusual designs, our fave is the Halograph motorsport themed watch, which looks like a fuel gauge. The Leadfoot with its twin displays is very cool also. Often do Kickstarter pre-order deals, so Xeric is worth following.
Yazole Watch – Chinese budget brand making basic fashion watches. Some decent everyday models for under £10 on Ali Express – can’t really fault that.
Zelos Watches – The Abyss Teal dial and Hammerhead divers amongst our faves from Zelos, who are Singapore based. Fab value automatics.
