Independents

This is exactly why I find myself increasingly disappointed with independent watchmakers. I honestly wonder why we continue to use this term. "Independent"... or shouldn't we? I mean, more and more, they seem to be dependent on third parties - sometimes for design, sometimes for marketing, sometimes for components, and sometimes for the finishing of parts. Of course, the degree of dependency varies, but some are heavily reliant on external sources for almost everything.

I would rather support someone like Aaron Bexei, who may only produce a handful of watches per year, but at least they are entirely crafted by him. With the majority of so-called independent brands, it often seems that 80% of the watch is sourced from elsewhere, and they merely assemble the parts - or in some cases, they don’t even do that anymore.

Take 'Ming', for example. They make cool watches, but do they actually do anything themselves other than the design? Everyone has their preferences, but for me, this approach just doesn’t hold the same appeal (anymore). Honestly, today I’d rather own a Zenith from the LVMH group, a JLC from Richemont, or a Breguet from Swatch. At least with those, you know that almost everything is made in-house, given they have the resources, machines, and capabilities to do so.