With Hands On Horology taking place on June 14th at London’s Protein Studios, let’s take a look at some of the cool microbrands and some of their creative watches you can look forward to seeing in the metal. From the new kids on the block like Nalla Neram to established names like Baltic, there’s a lot to be excited about. Check out more highlights and exclusive Hands On Horology limited editions here.
Baltic Hermétique
Baltic are one of those brands who teeter on the edge of being defined as a microbrand. With a few landmark years under their belt that saw them step up alongside major brands taking part in industry events like the Only Watch auction, the French brand has earned a level of reputation and prestige exceeding that of a humble micro.
One of their biggest releases of recent years is the Hermetique. Their first field watch, which features a distinctive design consisting of a 37mm circular case with hidden crown, making for an uninterrupted silhouette. There have been several versions of the Hermetique including the original series, a textured dial limited edition and even a dual time model. However, it’s none of these that will steal headlines in June as Baltic are set to release a new Summer Dial variant in time for Hands On Horology, making the show one of the first places you can discover the new watch. With its clean field watch inspired display, there’s plenty of room for exciting dial designs ranging from colour to texture and beyond, so personally I can’t wait to see what they have in store.
Atelier Wen Perception
There’s a trend in microbrand design at the moment to throw off the prejudices of bygone eras and rediscover the styles and manufacturing capabilities of Asian regions. That’s what Atelier Wen is all about, combining European and Chinese horological sensibilities, which is why their name is made up of both French and Chinese, meaning Culture Workshop. This steady change of perception is also why one of their core models is called the Perception.
It’s a 40mm steel watch with an integrated bracelet design and octagonal shape, inspired by the luxury steel sports watch movement of the 1970s and 80s. What really makes it exceptional though is the dial, which is produced by what Atelier Wen describe as China’s first Guilloché Master Craftsman, Cheng Yucai. It’s an intricate écaille de poisson pattern paired with a huiwen pattern chapter ring, tying in elements of Chinese cultural heritage. It’s powered by the Dandong calibre SL1588 with 41-hour power reserve. As far as changing perceptions goes, it’s a step (more of a leap) in the right direction.
Brew Metric Manual Wind
Brew watches is the definition of a cult success – specifically the cult of caffeine, with their watches inspired by the art of the perfect brew. Many of their watches feature dedicated scales and timing elements dedicated to how long you should give your bean-based drink of choice, right down to an espresso. Pair that with distinctive retro styling and you have a microbrand hotter than your morning coffee.
Their most recent launch is the Metric Manual Wind, which is the brand’s first manual watch, having previously only explored quartz and automatic options. It’s worth noting that the Metric Manual is a limited edition so there’s a possibility that it will be sold out before we reach Hands On Horology (the more exclusive of the two colourways has already sold out). It’s classic Brew with a cushion 36mm x 41.5mm case in steel with a round dial featuring a retro inspired dial with the signature coffee bean logo at 6 o’clock. The movement inside is the Sellita SW210-1 b.
CIGA Design U Series Blue Planet
In a similar vein to Atelier Wen, Ciga Design are putting Chinese horology on the map in a big way. They were the first Chinese brand in history to win an award at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2021 with the Blue Planet II. That level of recognition is almost unheard of among microbrands. You can see why they broke crowdfunding records for a watch on Indiegogo – twice.
The Blue Planet, which won the GPHG award, is naturally the brand’s flagship model. It features a disco volante style case that’s perfectly circular to match the detailed depiction of the Earth in the dial’s centre. The Earth itself rotates to serve as the watch’s single hand. What makes it special is that instead of having a static minute scale, the minutes also rotate, keeping time with the rotating hour hand. What makes that special is that the minute scale actually has to rotate more than 360 degrees per hour in order to account for the moving hour hand. That’s what makes it a GPHG winner.
Micromilspec Milgraph
Micromilspec is a relatively new name to the microbrand game in a public facing capacity though they’ve actually been around for much longer. That’s because they previously produced milspec (military specification) watches exclusively for military units rather than commercially. Now though, they’ve brought their tactical tool watches to market, albeit still in extremely limited numbers.
Their signature model is the Milgraph, a robust titanium tool watch that features several useful scales and functions to keep you on track during military exercise, or you know, just regular exercise. It’s a combination GMT and chronograph with a destro (left-handed) configuration. Interestingly, despite that configuration it’s still designed to be worn on your left wrist as it simply stops the crown and pushers digging into your wrist during activities. For a more urban and disruptive version, Micromilspec are teaming up with Black Badger for a limited-edition release on May 22nd.
Nalla Neram Kaalam Minutes Timer
Nalla Neram are a microbrand making their debut in 2025 with their first collection. They’re inspired by the heritage of India, one of the largest nations of Earth who have a disproportionately small influence on the watch industry. Their approach to promoting India in watch design is slightly different to Chinese brands as Indian horological infrastructure is even further behind than China. As such, in order to produce high quality watches while representing India with honour and class, their watches are Swiss-made, making use of movements from reputable manufactures like La Joux-Perret.
Their debut timepiece is the Kaalam Minutes Timer. It’s an asymmetrical tricompax chronograph display. At 3 o’clock is a 30-minute timer, at 6 o’clock is a 12-hour timer and at 9 o’clock is a tiny spinning chakra that serves as the running seconds indicator in place of a small seconds subdial. It also features a full minute scale with each marker given an Arabic numeral, which in conjunction with the chakra indicator encourages the wearer to embrace the present moment to its fullest.
RZE Resolute
RZE have the interesting distinction of being one of the first brands to really showcase the versatility of titanium at an accessible price point. Initially it was considered a high end material exclusive to only the top tier brands but microbrands like RZE show that it doesn’t have to be so exclusive. Especially when it comes to versatile adventure watches.
The Resolute is their entry-level field watch with its 40mm titanium case featuring 100m water resistance rating, which makes it ideal for everyday adventures and the occasional spill without being a dedicated diver. One of the drawbacks of titanium is its relatively low scratch resistance compared to steel, but RZE use an UltraHex coating that increases its hardness to 1,200 vickers, higher than the commonly used steel alloys. The dials are super legible with Super-LumiNova indexes and monocolour displays. Although RZE have also added gradient options like the recent Arctic Grey.
Serica Ref. 5303 PLD
Serica are an interesting brand in that while they are relatively young by watch brand standards, founded in 2019, they have the confidence of a much older brand. Creating tool watches and divers that stay within the boundaries of the archetype but carving themselves a unique design space within those constraints.
Case in point the Ref. 5303 PLD. It offers a twist on the traditional dive watch formula by adding one of the lesser-known (this is quite possibly the first time used) dive timer scales that you may have never heard of before. The most common diver scale is the immersion timer, your classic 60-minute bezel with unidirectional rotation. The second most common is the decompression timer, which tells you how long your decompression stops need to be after spending certain time at specific depths. The Serica features the DT Max scale, (in addition to an immersion timer) which tells you how long you can spend at certain depths without then needing any decompression stops. This links to the PLD’s military connections (specifically French Navy EOD) where soldiers need to get underwater and back out quickly, ie. not making decompression stops.
There are of course a lot more watches than these that you can discover at Hands On Horology.
For a full list of exhibitors head over to Hands On Horology.
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