Defining Independence - Part I
What is Independent Watchmaking?
“It’s the real watchmaking….because watchmaking as I know it is about humans, it is about craftsmanship, and it is about individualism and charisma. And I think in independent watchmaking this is exactly what you can find. It’s not a construct of numbers and business, watchmaking is about humans.”
— Felix Baumgartner of Urwerk on Independent Watchmaking in his Interview with Wei Koh from January 22, 2021 (https://youtu.be/YbHMO8KjhG0?t=451)
Denis Flageollet of De Bethune at his forge in Sainte Croix, Switzerland
Independent watchmaking is where history, engineering, and artistry collide. It’s a canvas for self expression. Independent watchmaking can be found in the hands of a singular artisan, or in brands crafting hundreds, or thousands, of timepieces annually.
From creating watches, concepting and developing watches for a larger brand, restoring watches or clocks for auction houses, museums, or brands, or working as a teacher and designing watches in your free time, independent watchmaking takes many forms. Some independent watchmakers even do some combination of all of these things. As long as the watchmaker has creative and financial independence, you will find independent watchmaking.
Regardless of the approach, as Felix Baumgartner so beautifully stated, watchmaking is about humans. It is about the people and the watchmaker behind the brand. Independent watchmaking provides a watchmaker with an opportunity for self expression, for the collector to look at an artist’s soul and understand their values, their views, and see their struggles and their personal relationship with watchmaking. It is deeply personal. It inspires you to do things you likely wouldn’t do. It dares to be different.
And that is exactly why independent watchmaking matters in an era of global luxury.
It’s often this desire to express something that lives in a watchmaker’s mind that lends them to creating their own watches and working toward building their own brand. Some brands began as single watchmaker workshops and have grown into larger brands, crafting hundreds to thousands of watches annually. Within independent watchmaking, there exist three different levels of watchmaking, largely based on production numbers. I break watchmaking down into three main categories, industrial watchmaking like Rolex or Omega, who each produce millions of watches annually, Group Brands, like those belonging to Richemont or LVMH who produce a wide range of watches annually, and independent watchmaking.
I believe there are three tiers that comprise independent watchmaking and can help brands, collectors, journalists, and retailers speak in the same language about independent watchmaking. The three categories that exist within independent watchmaking are independent artisanal watchmaking, industrialized independents, and independent brands. This trifecta covers everything from the singular watchmaker alone in their atelier to more established brands that have been promoting and pioneering modern independent watchmaking. These three tiers represent the vast majority of the independent watchmaking space.
1. Artisanal Independent Watchmaking
I would argue that any brand producing less than 500 watches annually qualifies as independent artisanal watchmaking. Within this group there is a great deal of nuance, ranging from an independent watchmaker who makes all of their own components, buying a minimal number of components, and focusing on hand-crafting as many pieces as possible, to a brand who makes every component and has few suppliers, or who has purchased one or two suppliers. At this level, artisanal watchmakers have the highest opportunity for self-expression, for really crafting a view on time and timekeeping to differentiate themselves from everything else on the market.
Examples include: De Bethune, Khemea, Kari Voutilainen, MB&F, Rexhep Rexhepi, Romain Gauthier, Sylvain Pinaud, Urwerk, Vianney Halter, etc.
2. Industrialized Independents
In the industrialized independent tier, you have brands that have grown from smaller workshops to brands that are producing 500 to 10,000 watches annually. These brands are still innovative and very talented, yet produce more watches annually than a smaller workshop might. In many cases, they have accomplished this through acquisition of their suppliers, continuing to build, grow, and scale their team over years. To do this, the watchmakers and their team have to have a desire to grow and the demand to grow. This in no way, shape, or form takes away from their independent spirit or the quality of their watchmaking. In fact, this level often allows for more innovation and experimentation because there is just more capital available for research and development.
At this level, many of these companies are also supplying other brands with components. H. Moser & Cie. is a great example of this, with their Precision Engineering company in house, they develop and manufacture many of their own components, but also supply other brands.
Examples here include F.P. Journe, Richard Mille, H. Moser & Cie.
3. Independent Brand
At the independent brand stage, these are companies that produce 10,000 watches or more annually. These brands are not held by a larger group, they remain creatively and financially independent and have the ability to produce many more watches than other independents because they have either been privately held for a long time and grown, continued to scale and built their sales channels, and appeal to a global base of collectors.
Examples here include Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.
In this series, I will dive into the history of independent watchmaking, explore various ways in which one can become an independent watchmaker, and help build a better definition of independent watchmaking. Exploring all of these avenues and building a deeper understanding of independence can help watch aficionados build a true appreciation for what it means to be an independent watchmaker. Independent watchmaking may represent only a tiny fraction of the overall watch market, but to me it represents human ingenuity, what happens when art, engineering, and history collide in real life.
