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Modernahab's thought-provoking post challenges the WatchProSite community to reconsider which brands truly qualify as 'underdogs' in today's luxury watch market. He argues that perceptions shift over time, highlighting how brands like Chopard have ascended from overlooked to highly respected, while others, such as Arnold & Son, continue to deserve greater recognition for their horological innovation and distinctive design language. This article synthesizes community insights on brands that, despite their quality and heritage, remain underappreciated.
Underdog: Someone who is hardly noticed (The Urban Dictionary)
I’m sure many of us have brands we think of as over-hyped and overrated (names will not be mentioned ;-D), but perhaps likewise some that we admire and feel worthy of more attention and respect. Members have posted from underappreciated or underrated individual watches or even brands in the past, but as times, fashions, and markets change, I believe the topic of underrated watchmaking companies may be one worth revisiting.
Apropos, my candidates
for the title of ‘Underdog’ are different now than they were perhaps a decade
or two ago. Consider Chopard. I wonder how many would have doubled over laughing
if told in 1990 that the jewelry firm known for its quartz-powered Happy
Diamond watches would evolve into a serious force in the world of mechanical
watchmaking? 
LUC Twist (Photo:Europa Star)
LUC Quattro Regulator
But as the LUC line matured from the sometimes whacky-tacky design language (or was it just gawky adolescent charm?) of the early 2000s to the sublime elegance of the Heritage Grand Cru or the Quattro Spirit 25, Chopard no longer seems underappreciated and garners plenty of respect on these boards. (For the observant, the original and now revived LUC 1860 was a portent of things to come.)
LUC Héritage Grand Cru
LUC Spirit 25 (Photo: Monochrome Watches)
On the other hand, there are also companies, whether well-established or newer, which still seem to me underrated in the public eye. Among the most exemplary to me would be the firm of Arnold & Son. True, the modern company started as a ‘zombie’ brand resuscitated in the 1990s by The British Masters Group. True also that the watches produced during the British Masters phase, though sometimes equipped with nifty exclusive calibers from Le Joux-Perret, were, shall we say, rather awkward and gimmicky in design.
Arnold & Son Scout (Photo: Delray Watch)
Arnold & Son White Ensign (Photo: European Watch Company)
Surely, the tide has surely turned since Arnold & Son has effectively become the retail house brand for Le Joux-Perret, and yet I find it interesting that A & S doesn’t even have its own brand forum here at WPS, while, say, Moser, Habring, Ming, and Montblanc (Montblanc?!) do. Wouldn't it make sense if the company that’s given us the Time Pyramid and the Luna Magna, to name but two highly awarded designs, were more widely appreciated?
Time Pyramid, Rose Gold
Luna Magna (Photo: The Watch Pages)
So, please share – what mechanical watch brands do you think merit greater recognition halfway through the third decade of the 21st century?
Speake Marin is/was a brand that seemed to fly under the radar. Possibly so was Ulysse Nardin.
I think they deserve credit for their individual and idiosyncratic design language, though I wonder if that also impedes their popularity. Ulysse Nardin is an interesting case, I think. I felt that they were much more in the public eye a couple of decades ago, especially during the Oechslin period, when they were releasing some really innovative in-house calibers and showcasing their acquisition of Donzé Cadrans enamel works in beautiful grand feu and flinqué dials. After that there was an inter
Depending on perspective this could apply to many brands. As you say, Chopard in many ways still lags in perception behind the quality of watches. The LUC line generally sports nice and horologically sound pieces, the AE fully fits the current era / customer preferences but some of the other lines are between petering out and living a zombie like existence (Mille Miglia for instance). And they don’t get rewarded for many of the solid choices like 14 day service turnarounds. Secondary values stil
Regarding Chopard, I agree that the Mille Miglia line seems like an adipose appendage at this point. I also think that the jewelry watches in the Happy Diamonds mode may continue to damage the perception of Chopard as a serious player in the mechanical watch market, Geneva Seals and Qualité Fleurier designations notwithstanding. Funny, meanwhile, that I almost mentioned Glashütte Original and Blancpain in the original post. You make a great point that Swatch Group would have been better off usin
I guess Blancpain is where Biver’s journey and the resurrection of mechanical watch making started but the creative drive has now long petered out 🤷🏻♂️ Another one I could mention is Montblanc. The Villeret pieces remain underrated for what they are and the rest of the line somehow struggles. The NR is an exciting watch that continues to fly under the radar, they have killed the only distinctive model from a design perspective (Time Walker - whether one liked it or not, it was clearly MB) and t
They are one of the few houses in the Richemont portfolio, along with the utterly tragic Roger Dubuis, where I question the conglomerate's brand management. I've been impressed by some of the Minerva-derived higher end pieces they've released, and the Nicolas Rieussec chronographs are indeed very distinctive. Their mid-range offerings leave me scratching my head, however, and the one Montblanc I owned (an 1858 Geosphere) suffered from poor build quality, subpar finishing and cheap-looking compon
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