Microbrands You Should Know...from A to Z - Part 5

Y'all asked for more after the initial post... https://www.watchcrunch.com/ChronoGuy/posts/microbrands-you-should-know-from-a-to-z-448227

and Part 2... https://www.watchcrunch.com/ChronoGuy/posts/microbrands-you-should-know-from-a-to-z-part-2-450432

and Part 3...

https://www.watchcrunch.com/ChronoGuy/posts/microbrands-you-should-know-from-a-to-z-part-3-453282

(Part 4 was a link to Jody from JOMW video)

Here we go with Part 5...

Aragon - founded in 1991 by Wing Liang in Deerfield Beach, Florida USA, Aragon has been producing a multitude of value-priced robust sports watches. Wing launched with a "go big" strategy with massive case sizes for his dive watches and other sports watches with case sizes beginning at 42mm up to 50mm for most references. My brother-in-law Jeff (R.I.P.) was a huge fan of Aragon (and giant-sized watches) and introduced me to the brand many years ago. Wing's videos for his watches are entertaining and it is almost like a special watch club for the owners of Aragon watches. With more than 20 collections now, Aragon has seen great success. Make sure to purchase from their web site as they always discount significantly from list price and there is always a sale going on...

https://www.aragonwatch.com/

Audaz - founded in 2016 in Hong Kong, this is one of those debatable brands in the category of microbrand. With no founder fronting the brand, it appears to operate like a Chinese manufacturing brand. However, it's watches are more in line with the quality and care we see in microbrands. Specializing in professional dive watches, Audaz watches are manufactured for adventure...built really well and designed for action. With 17 different collections, I would put them in the Zelos camp of microbrands...

https://www.audazwatches.com/

Audric - founded in Singapore in 2020 by Akshay Solomon and Niranjan Nitin Parulaker with all watches being Swiss Made in Neuchatel, Swizterland. The owner Akshay named the brand after his son Audric. I only have one in the collection, but I have to say these are the highest quality microbrand watches ever made. These could seriously compete with Tudor they are that good. The finishing is superb, they use Sellita incabloc/elabore execution movements, and the construction is like a tank. You will not find a better dive watch for under $1,000...

https://audricwatches.com/

Axios - Based in Singapore and founded in 2018 by the one and only Elshan Tang of Zelos together with Stuart Ho and Stuart's childhood friend Justin Chiam. They launched with the Ironclad collection via crowdfunding and kept going on from there with four great collections now - dive watches, field watches and sector dial dress watches...

https://axioswatches.com/

Bamford Watch Department - so this is probably stretching the definition of a microbrand, but the notorious George Bamford started his watch business modding Rolex watches until trouble with Rolex landed him in better stead with licenses from LVMH (Bvlgari, TAG Heuer, and Zenith), Bremont, GP, and Franck Muller to create custom designed watches. George also produces designs under his own Bamford brand and these are what we refer to here as his Bamford microbrand. Besides the whimsical Snoopy and Popeye watches, Bamford does produce some really cool references like the GMT Divers below that were collabs with Time & Tide...

https://www.bamfordwatchdepartment.com/

Behrens - another brand that you could be skeptical about calling a microbrand, Behrens was founded in 2012 in Shenzhen, China by young entrepreneurs Lin Bingqiang and Eric So. They chose the name Behrens to honor the German industrial designer, Peter Behrens, as they were both influenced by his designs and creative philosophy. Behrens has been nominated several times at GPHG and has even produced a collaboration with the famous Russian watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin. This is not your typical microbrand copying dive watch designs or pilot watches or mecaquartz chronographs. You really need to check out the link below to get an idea of the breadth of amazing watches from Behrens...

https://www.behrenswatches.com/

DuFrane - based in Austin, Texas USA and founded by Steven Lee in 2016, Lee was initially inspired by pilot's watches, but quickly expanded into dive, dress, field and GMTs. My first experience with DuFrane came as a result of my Watch Crew buddies collectively purchasing me the Travis you see below as a holiday present. It is a beautiful watch and I have yet to explore more of this interesting American brand. DuFrane has one of the best web sites I've seen for a microbrand...truly top shelf web design and functionality...

https://www.dufranewatches.com/

...that's all for now until I get some more time to post Part 6...

Tell me what you think and Enjoy!