Aera C-1 Shadow
Every day seems to bring about a new watch brand or other, bringing something new, be that fresh or otherwise, to the watch industry. Or at least, whatever they think is new. Most of these, let’s be honest, are jumping on the bandwagon of microbrands, turning around cheap watches with a few interesting ideas.
Despite ostensibly falling into that catchment however, seeing as they were founded as late in the day as 2022, Aera have managed to separate themselves from the crowd for two reasons: some incredibly cool designs and a story decades in the making.
Co-Founder Jas Minhas didn’t come to watchmaking on a whim or for a quick buck. His grandfather was a watchmaker in Punjab and his father Surjit, continued the tradition here in the UK, repairing watches at the kitchen table. Needless to say, he knew his way around a movement. It was enough to inspire a then very young Jas to decide he would one day own a watch brand. It’s unlikely he realised just how far away that ‘one day’ would be.
Years later, well into his job as a distributor of watch components, Jas met Olof Larsson, of Swedish retail royalty. The two hit it off immediately over a mutual appreciation of art and design, and before long decided that one day they would own a watch brand together. Another link to watches, another ‘one day. And like many conversations, it could well have ended there, a pipedream that was never going to become reality.
Flash forward 35 years. Most of us would have forgotten that conversation by now, let alone be ready to act on it. But just as Jas was between jobs and wondering what to do with himself, the idea came back to him. He met Olof, not really expecting much to happen. Instead, in all of about 30 seconds, they’d decided to jump headfirst into a new watch brand. Easy, right? After a few serious conversations, it became apparent that both men had the same vision for what their watches should look like. They should be around the £1,000 to £3,000 mark, the price point normally dominated by your Swatch Group workhorses like Hamilton and Longines. They should be tool watches and, most importantly, should be just as appealing to someone buying their first watch as to someone with a collection of minute repeaters. It was a pretty tall order.
Aera M-1 Field
Before they even got to the watches though, they needed a name. They’d toyed with the name Era, to denote the kind of timelessness they were after, but something about it just didn’t sit right. Until one day a fellow shareholder mentioned that he liked the specific A at the beginning of Aesop. After a quick bit of research, the pair realised that Aera is simply the Greek version of Era and, perhaps more pertinently, Jas’ father used to own a watch shop in Birmingham called Aero. Some things are just meant to be, and Aera was born. So then, that tricky task of actually designing a watch.
Plenty of brands, especially British brands, opt for tool watches. If you want to keep things accessible, it’s the logical place to start. The difference is that, rather than taking a template and riffing on it like, for example, something as iconic as the Ministry of Defence commissioned Dirty Dozen Aera look at what those designs are trying to accomplish. Essentially, same destination, different routes. And, of course, no shortcuts. That’s when you get watches like the M-1 Field and Blackbird.
Aera M-1 Blackbird
On a very surface level, both watches fall into that mil-spec, MoD look with high contrast dials, white on black. They’re easily read and simple enough to take a few knocks and not impact their usefulness. But Aera’s versions don’t quite feel the same as, say, Timor’s version. I’d describe them as utilitarian without being severe. What I mean by that is everything from the tactile case to the solid lume indexes to the curved dial adds up to a watch that has equal levels of charm and practicality.
It’s a difficult balance, but this is just the latest illustration in Aera’s catalogue of a similar concept. The one that really got me, for example, was the C-1 chronograph. It took the barest elements needed to read the bi-compax layout and left the entire rest of the dial blank. That’s especially striking in the Cloud, with it’s white on white look interrupted only by a sky blue second hand. Pair that with a beautifully curved 60-second bezel and you have a pretty zen chronograph. Where most watchmakers are tempted throw tachymeters and luminous highlights on them, the C-1 Cloud is an island of calm in a storm of faux-racing watches.
Aera C-1 Cloud
While it might seem that Aera’s story has only just started, it’s one that actually began at a kitchen table nearly half a century ago. It was an idea gestating over the course of decades, one that just needed the right timing, the right environment and the right people to become a reality. And now that it’s here, it looks like it’s here to stay – at least, if watches like the M-1 and C-1 are anything to go by.
More details at Aera.
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