microbrand
Straum Opphav Hands-On Watch Review
Straum Opphav The Straum Opphav is the first model from the new microband, launched in 2021. Unlike a lot of new brands, the Norwegen microbrand did not go the way of using catalog parts and sticking its brand and logo on the dial. No, in fact, it took them 5 years to bring this model to fruition, with a few designs and bumps in the road along the way. What they ended up creating is a fantastic bl...
Zelos Aurora Hands-On Watch Review
Zelos Aurora The Zelos Aurora is not the Singaporean brand’s first field watch, but this is an all-new case design and a new model collection. Built from Grade 2 Titanium, with a hard coating, Miyota 9039 Movement with an antimagnetic cage, a choice of quite a few dial colors and materials, and comes in two sizes as well, 42mm as shown here but also a smaller size at 38mm. As usual, Zelos ha...
About Vintage 1926 AT’ Sea Diver Hands-On Review
About Vintage 1926 AT’ Sea Diver The About Vintage 1926 At’ Sea Diver is, of course, a vintage style watch, from a brand out of Denmark, with what they describe as Scandinavian style. I wouldn’t exactly put About Vintage into the microbrand category at this point in time, they have been around 5-6 years and the brand was started by two friends, but nowadays they have a marketing ...
Nautage Diver Hands-On Watch Review
Nautage Diver The Nautage Diver or the Nautage DA221 as it is labeled has been receiving a lot of buzz on social media and for a good reason. The introductory model from this young brand, based out of Denmark, is quite attractive, comes in a few different finishes, and boasts a Miyota 9039 No Date movement for about $430. The design has some similarities to other brands which I will get into short...
Circula Aquasport II Hands-On Watch Review
Circula Aquasport II Circula may not be a brand you know of, but they trace their roots all the way back to 1955. This Circula Aquasport II evokes the brand’s own models from the 70s and just like the originals are still made in Germany. The Aquasport II comes in a few dial variations like most watches do, but the one I have here is the Aventurine quartz dial, limited to 99 pieces and ...
Audaz Seafarer Hands-On Watch Review
Audaz Seafarer Audaz is a brand that has been around for a while, since 2016 and the brand itself causes a little controversy, not for any big reasons, but the argument always is, are they a microbrand or not? A popular microbrand watch group on Facebook lists them as not, but I can’t really find any info to refute it, but most do consider it a factory brand. Either way, they are shipped out...
Serket Reef Diver 2.0 Hands-On Watch Review
Serket Reef Diver 2.0 Have you been watching older episodes of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives? I mean, like really old episodes. Well, I have, but probably because I was looking for episodes where he was wearing this watch. Well, not exactly this watch, but the original version of it. The Serket Reef Diver 2.0, is a watch that in its original form was released all the way back in 2008. A lot of thin...
Aquatico Poseidon Hands-On Review
Aquatico Poseidon Have you always wanted a Seiko Marine Master 300 but just can’t afford or justify the price? Well, like any iconic and popular watch, there is a homage out there waiting for you. The Aquatico Poseidon is an homage to the MM300 and at the discounted price of $250, may just be the one for you, depending on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a watch that is as cl...
Ithyus Abyssi Hands-On Review
Ithyus Abyssi The watch world is amazing, more so than ever these days, and just trying to remember all of the brands, past and present is a task I am not admittedly up to. And within the past 10-12 years, there are so, so many microbrands that seemingly pop up out of nowhere as it is much easier to start a brand than ever before. Enter the Ithyus Abyssi, a model from a young microbrand I somehow ...
Vaer A5 Field Hands-On Watch Review
Vaer A5 Field Looking for a classic and clean field watch? Prefer something that is assembled in the USA? That is the Vaer A5 Field watch, or more specifically, all of the field watch lineups from Vaer. This midnight blue dial version is probably the cleanest of them all, but there are many more variations, many available in either quartz or automatic. This one is an automatic, a Miyota 9039 for t...
Vancouver Watch Blood and Thunder Watch Review
Vancouver Blood and Thunder These days, people are looking for value more than ever, and the Vancouver Watch Blood and Thunder has that in spades. Between ongoing inflation and of course the pandemic, we are seeing prices rising for all products, including microbrand watches. The Blood and Thunder is almost a nod to the past, where we could get a quality watch with a quality movement for under $40...
RZE Fortitude Watch Review
RZE Fortitude This first sentence may sound like I am a fanboy or on the payroll, but RZE is quickly becoming one of my favorite brands to review. The RZE Fortitude is their latest model, going up for preorder on December 13th. The young brand is only 4 models in, well, this will be their fourth model, yet they are really showing what they can do, and not only are they putting out models which can...