Time to think outside the watch box
There is a moment in time in watch collecting when the familiar names start to feel… well, familiar. Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, and Omega have spent decades—and in some cases, centuries—establishing the visual language of the wristwatch. Their designs are so deeply embedded in watch culture that at a glance, the shape of a case can be enough to tell you what you are looking at.
Even independent watchmaking now has its own familiar names, from Richard Mille and De Bethune to F.P. Journe and MB&F.
But what happens when you’ve seen enough Submariners, Speedmasters, and integrated-bracelet sports watches to want something different?
Enter the independents
At Independent Watch Week, Vintage Grail brought five watch brands to Manila for a closer look at the people and ideas behind some of horology’s less familiar names.
Organized by Paolo Martel of Vintage Grail and David Keel of Les Instruments du Temps SA, with the involvement of Shaan Keswani, managing director of Vintage Grail Hong Kong, the event brought together Bianchet, Breva, Speake Marin, Cvstos, and Jouvenot at The Peninsula Manila.
For collectors accustomed to seeing the same names at boutiques, auctions, and watch fairs, the gathering was a chance to see a different side of the industry without leaving Manila.
Beyond the usual suspects
The story of independent watchmaking is closely tied to the changing place of the mechanical watch itself. When quartz technology challenged its accuracy and reliability, it could no longer compete on those terms alone. In effect, craftsmanship and ingenuity became part of its appeal.
Independent watchmaking grew alongside that transformation, giving a new generation of makers room to interpret centuries of accumulated knowledge in their own ways.
The Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants—established in 1985 by Svend Andersen and Vincent Calabrese—helped support independent makers and traditional watchmaking craft. Today, the category encompasses everything from classically finished timepieces to designs that barely resemble a conventional watch.
The five brands in Manila offered a glimpse of just how varied that world can be.
Five different ideas of time
At the table, Speake Marin makes mechanics part of the design, sitting between traditional Swiss watchmaking and contemporary design. Founded in 2002 by Peter Speake and Daniela Marin, the brand has developed a recognizable identity around its distinctive cases and sculptural movements.
The Ripples Skeleton puts the movement front and center, turning its intricate architecture into a defining feature instead of something to hide beneath a dial.
Meanwhile, Cvstos goes all in on technical drama, with tonneau-shaped cases and architectural movements that give it a contemporary character. Stefan Kunz, the brand’s managing director, was wearing the Challenge Tourbillon 8 Sapphire with its transparent case and blue movement—blurring exterior and inner mechanics, making the movement itself part of the visual experience.
Breva and Jouvenot take their own routes. David Keel represented both brands, with Jouvenot established by Frédéric Jouvenot in 2008 and Breva following in 2013. The Jouvenot Helios Tradition provided a particularly interesting example of how far an independent watchmaker can take the idea of displaying time, exploring its relationship with the movement of the sun.
Bringing mathematics to the wrist is Bianchet. Founder and CEO Rodolfo Bianchet came to watchmaking from the technology and finance sectors. He wore the UltraFino Tonneau Ceramic White at lunch.
As he explained the mathematics behind its sweeping case, the relationship with the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci sequence became apparent, as he raved about his fascination with Italian automotive design, particularly Pininfarina, which is also visible in the watch’s curves. Meanwhile, the Fibonacci spiral is tangibly apparent in the rotor design.
Put these watches together, and there’s no single formula for what an independent timepiece should look like. A Bianchet may add aspects of mathematics and automotive design, while a Speake Marin turns movement into worn architecture, and a Cvstos emulates contemporary engineering.
Meanwhile, Breva adds another perspective to the mix, and Jouvenot follows the sun.
The tipping point
Could it be that there is a tipping point in watch collecting? Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the idea in his bestseller, “The Tipping Point”—a moment in time when enough of something accumulates for the ecosystem to start changing. The world of watches is showing a similar trend.
Collecting has its own learning curve, and many enthusiasts start with the classics for good reason. Their designs have endured, histories are well documented, and generations of collectors have formed communities built on shared interests and tastes.
There’s nothing wrong with that. A Rolex Submariner or Cartier Tank will always be part of the classics.
But familiarity can also create a new appetite—one that makes you stop when you see an interesting, independent watch, and ask, “Just what is that?”
Be it an unfamiliar case shape, an unexpectedly arranged movement, complications such as tourbillons, skeletonized movements, and unconventional mechanisms that don’t hide behind the design, independent watchmaking thrives in this space for freedom.
And for collectors who have spent years looking at watches, encountering something unfamiliar can be its own kind of reward.
That was perhaps the most enjoyable part of Vintage Grail’s Independent Watch Week. The watches required a little more looking and a few more questions, while meeting the people behind them made the ideas easier to grasp. For Filipino collectors, Vintage Grail also offers a practical way into this less familiar part of the industry, with collectors able to inquire about and order watches from the brands represented.
And for collectors ready to wind beyond the familiar, there’s a whole world of independent watchmaking left to find.
