I love independent watchmaking as much as I love watch manufactures that have been around for centuries. I have a soft spot for the independents because I admire their disruptive behavior, tenacity and the high impact creativity they bring to the watch industry. From brands like MB&F to Urwerk and everything in between, I have a little bit of love for each and every one of them for many reasons. While some of the now long gone independents were just smoke and mirrors or followed a very gimmicky brand strategy, others like MCT or HYT —the latest to join the chopping block— were simply amazing and ended up disappearing in less than a decade. HYT watches sent out a letter at the end of February of 2021, communicating that they were filing for bankruptcy and that the after sales service would be handled by their sister company Preciflex.
While the list is longer than I realized, I will just mention some of the well-known deceased independent brands like Franc Vila, MCT Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps, Badollet, Breva Genève, JeanRichard —not really an independent as they were owned by Girard-Perregaux but worth listing—, RJ Romain Jerome, and Cabestan —defrauding clients, ADs and suppliers from what I’ve heard— among others.
While I would expect that some independent watch brands would be capitalizing on the current shortage of timepieces from Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Rolex, and selling watches more than ever, there are many brands that due to their lack of news/novelties I don’t even know if they are still alive or not. For instance, Hautlence had not had any news since December 2020, Maîtres du Temps has an outdated website that has not been updated since 2014, and I haven’t heard anything from Manufacture Royale in a very long time.
And when it comes to brands that I am unsure whether they will be here for the long run or not I can think of brands like Christophe Claret who hasn’t released anything in years, Clerc, Cyrus, Angelus, or Le Rhöne. Then there are those independent brands that continue to wow me non-stop with names like Greubel Forsey, F.P. Journe, MB&F, De Bethune, Urwerk, Purnell, Laurent Ferrier, Ferdinand Berthoud, and even Armin Strom a brand that has pretty much killed their previous collections in lieu of repositioning their brand with new designs trying to cater to a different type of watch collector.
Now, do I think that most of these well established independent watch brands are here to stay for years to come? I really don’t think so. First of all, independent watchmaking is not for everyone. Second, trying to sell watches with little to no advertising is not necessarily the best strategy when you have an industry flooded with advertising from the Swatch Group, Richemont, and LVMH. And then, if I add to the mix that the two most important watch shows —Baselworld and the SIHH— didn’t take place for two years in a row the future seems quite uncertain.
Do I think that the recently created Geneva Watch Days will bring some light at the end of the tunnel for the independents that will be part of it? Not so sure if I am quite honest. I think that those independents that continue to innovate, advertise and release novelties regularly will survive; however, the rest, I doubt they will make it for another two years.
Now, to those of you —I am calling the brands here— that seem to be long gone, if you are not, please drop me an email.
