Microbrands of Oceania
White Tee Watches
5,891 views
Forget Switzerland, some of the most unique, high-spec, and value packed watches in the world are coming straight out of Australia and New Zealand.
Welcome to Episode 1 of Around the World in 80 Microbrands, a series where we travel region by region to uncover the best independent watchmakers on the planet.
Today, we’re kicking things off down under with five incredible Oceanic microbrands: from a Cartier Tank alternative with a twist to natural stone dials, jumping 24 hour complications, high-altitude titanium tool watches, and breathtaking hand engraved Māori art.
Featured Watches & Brands:
01:03 Second Hour (Melbourne, Australia) — The Memoir
03:10 HZ Watches (Melbourne, Australia) — HZ.03 Blue Marble
05:09 Ocean to Orbit (Melbourne, Australia) — The Himalayan Project
07:32 Erebus Watches (Sydney, Australia) — The Twenty-Four
10:24 Magrette (Auckland, New Zealand) — Leoncino Matariki
If there's an Aussie or Kiwi microbrand I missed, drop it in the comments so I can add it to the shortlist for round two. Don't forget to Like and Subscribe to follow the rest of the world tour!
#Watches #Microbrands #WatchCollecting #WhiteTeeWatches #AustralianWatches
12 Comments
Great Oceana selection.
Very happy with Magrette, Houtman, HZ, and Draken Watches to name just a few local keepers.
I aim to acquire a Magrette Matariki and NH watch one day
The old K1W1 saying is true
“Dunt liv home ‘til yuv sin the cuntry”
Oceana is holding its own.
Looking fwd to the next regional explorations.
O for Oarsum Bro😉
...yes, that Erebus is extremely cool, but dismissing the Hamilton Khaki Field is perhaps a bit, well, questionable. They are classics that even the hardcore geeks among us respect for a reason. I own three, a Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze, the spectacular limited edition Khaki Field Mechanical America 250 and the 38mm Khaki Murph. They're great and extremely wearable watches. The Erebrus is beautiful and a very cool watch (and I've been looking at them) but it's a different animal. Both exist and neither should eliminate the other.
Talking about Oceania Microbrands and ignoring Asia is, well, a choice. I'm just going to point out two here, one you probably know because they're definitely an enthusiast's darling and the other is a sleeper.
Obviously, Kuoe out of Kyoto Japan should be mentioned, they're gorgeous, beautifully made, people will notice them on the wrist and other watch people know and respect them.
Now for a micro brand that is relatively obscure and absolutely shouldn't be. Vario. They're out of Singapore, a husband and wife team (he's the designer, she handles logistics) and, not unlike Kuoe they are fixated on 20th century field and military watches. The difference is that Vario really zooms in on WWI & WWII. I've always wanted a WWI Trench watch but have never bought one because, a watch that age is almost impossible to maintain and repair. Then a friend turned me on to the Vario 1918 Trench watch, this one's a stunner in a brass case with a cream dial and orange lume (it actually looks quite a bit like Longines trench watches from the period), small seconds, screw down crown at 4 o'clock, fixed lugs that come with either a passthrough or a Bund strap (more on the strap in a minute). After years of hunting the right one, I've now waiting on my 1944 Longines Broad Arrow Dirty Dozen watch to arrive but I also know that this is a delicate watch that I won't be wearing every day — Enter Vario and their 1945 D12, and extremely faithful WWII era "Dirty Dozen" infantry watch. This one's in a bronze case with a neat textured dial, great lumed arabic numerals, etc. Both Vario Watches are using quality Miyota automatic movements, sapphire crystals, screw down crowns and good water resistance. Vario has also been doing some interesting collaborations with some other, more avant garde micro brands out of Malaysia and they look fantastic. Now for the straps. The Vario bund straps are fantastic and ridiculously inexpensive. There are certain watches that, to me, bund straps just look right on, military watches from either of the great wars, racing chronographs, etc and most of the bund straps I've bought over the years haven't been comfortable or insist on being cuff style, etc and the Vario bunds are pretty much perfect. I've got a Vario strap sitting here waiting for that Longines Broad Arrow right now.
Microbrands of Oceania
White Tee Watches
5,891 views
Forget Switzerland, some of the most unique, high-spec, and value packed watches in the world are coming straight out of Australia and New Zealand.
Welcome to Episode 1 of Around the World in 80 Microbrands, a series where we travel region by region to uncover the best independent watchmakers on the planet.
Today, we’re kicking things off down under with five incredible Oceanic microbrands: from a Cartier Tank alternative with a twist to natural stone dials, jumping 24 hour complications, high-altitude titanium tool watches, and breathtaking hand engraved Māori art.
Featured Watches & Brands:
01:03 Second Hour (Melbourne, Australia) — The Memoir
03:10 HZ Watches (Melbourne, Australia) — HZ.03 Blue Marble
05:09 Ocean to Orbit (Melbourne, Australia) — The Himalayan Project
07:32 Erebus Watches (Sydney, Australia) — The Twenty-Four
10:24 Magrette (Auckland, New Zealand) — Leoncino Matariki
If there's an Aussie or Kiwi microbrand I missed, drop it in the comments so I can add it to the shortlist for round two. Don't forget to Like and Subscribe to follow the rest of the world tour!
#Watches #Microbrands #WatchCollecting #WhiteTeeWatches #AustralianWatches