Zach Kazan is the managing editor of Worn & Wound, and he’s covered microbrands as closely as anyone for the last decade.
In two weeks, Worn & Wound puts on its Windup Watch Fair in New York (Oct 16–18) with 160+ brands under one roof. I’ll be there, along with some of you, so I wanted to get Zach on to talk about the state of the microbrand.
We talk about whether “microbrand” still means anything, and why some brands hate the word (while others embrace it); the boom of a decade ago and the more experimental one happening now; Ming, and the point where a brand stops being micro; pre-orders as interest-free loans; why Zach keeps coming back to watches made by people he knows; the founders who still answer their own DMs and Reddit threads; how Serica and Anoma collect feedback before a launch; Halios, and the case for staying small; the AP x Swatch, the Bulgari x Vianney Halter, and other watches built to be loud for a week; Moser’s move into the main hall at Watches and Wonders, the Streamliner 34, and the $4,900 ana-digi Off-Grid; whether a shakeout is coming; why the Apple Watch isn’t the cool thing to have anymore, and which brand should be saying so; the Gallet relaunch.
I also ask which watches from Geneva Watch Days he’s still thinking about, a few weeks later.
“It’s all gone from my brain, Tony,” Zach says.
Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS.
Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com
Show Notes
Windup Watch Fair NYC, October 16–18
Behind Lorier’s Acquisition by Worn & Wound, Unpolished
The Geneva Watch Days Debrief, The Worn & Wound Podcast
Gagà Laboratorio Labormatic Superleggero, Monochrome
Royal Popped, Unpolished
Late to the trend, and better for it | Moser Streamliner 34 Review, Unpolished
Gallet’s Flying Officer used to go somewhere, Unpolished
Unpolished Store: shop.unpolishedwatches.com to shop our collection of Canvas and leather straps. Everything has been restocked for the fall.
Pick up a 3 Canvas Strap Bundle for $169, a 10% off the single-strap price ($157 member price!)
Shop the new Textured Taupe, made of high-quality Epsom leather.
