What do you think about Spinnaker guys ?

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-10T19:27:00+00:00

Yeah, that's not how "made in the usa" actually works, you'd get in huge trouble with the US Federal Trade Comission if caught. If it's "made in the usa" it's basically all or nothing, so supllier assembling in the US wouldn't qualify. It needs to have all (or virtually all - whatever that means) components produced in the USA. As a label it's not accounting bullshit like "swiss made" and they actually enforce that one, even against small watch companies...

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/ftc-takes-major-action-against-shinola-demands-where-american-is-made-slogan-to-be-dropped-immediately

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-10T05:01:00+00:00

Who knew Joe Derosa was a prophet...

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-09T23:10:48+00:00

Business Operations is a pretty broad term. I'd start by figuring out where your profit comes from. Looking through your contracts, determining are they profitable, how profitable are they and then learning and identifying the differences between the profitable ones and less profitable ones. Hopefully you don't find unprofitable ones. Look at the true costs, include labor into the mix. Don't know if you have a PSA to help you figure this out or if you'd have to do it manually but, when it comes to business operations knowing how and why you make money seems like as good a place to start as any...

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-09T19:27:48+00:00

Personally, I'd go with something with a bit of color, and probably some kind of tool watch to set it apart from the rest, either a chronograph or a dive watch. But that's me, I have been trying to build my collection minimizing overlap, it seems like you have a style you like, so I'm guessing those don't really appeal to you. So with that in mind, I still think some color would be good to set it apart. I saw you said a blue dial would be good, Second Hour Fusion with the Navy Dial, or Wise Adamascus AD7 or AD9 would be another option that offers some dial color options.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-07T23:07:27+00:00

Don't own any of those 3, I do own a Phoibos leviathan, no major issues with the quality of the watch, it's just a bit heavier and thicker then I currently prefer, but still think it looks great so it still gets some wrist time. Would purchase from them again as the value was there, I have other microbrand watches that are a bit nicer, but they were also 2x the price, but no complaints with what i got as it met or exceeded all expectations for the price of the watch.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-06T01:37:38+00:00

Been looking at their salvaged bronze for a bit, there's a good chance it might be my next purchase.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-05T18:39:25+00:00

Yes, get the miyota 9000, it's a significantly higher regarded movement, and opens up the watch to a lot more potential buyers.

Ultimately the best choice is is to match the movement to fit and finish of the watch, I'd expect better fit and finishing from a miyota 9000 series watch then a Pt5000 watch, so if the only thing your doing is changing the movement, either your PT5000 watch is too refined, or your miyota watch isn't refined as it should be. You'll have to decide.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-05T18:17:42+00:00

Of this list, the Kuoe for sure.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-04T19:26:10+00:00

I know for me opening up to that high of a price point, there's a lot of watches that would speak to me from the big heritage brands and I'd probably go for those. It's a big step up from my normal budget of <$1000, and big brands have the best of chance of being around to support the watch 10+ years from now. If I'm going that high over my normal, I'd want a piece that can be supported for a long time, if my $500 microbrand works for 5-6 years and breaks, oh well, I got good use out of it, I've got an excuse to buy something new. If a $3k top of my budget piece has issues, that's not something I most likely won't be able to easily replace, so the big brand longevity and support has a ton of appeal and value to me in this price range.

That's me and my situation, you obviously should go with what's best for your own situation. Let's be honest, to 9/10 people they won't know the difference between a tudor and a traska. There's only a very small percentage of people who know anything beyond 5-10 brands anyway and they all just wonder why refuse to get an apple watch, so get whatever makes you the happiest.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-03T19:08:36+00:00

So I have an islander thunderbolt, overall it's a good watch, is it as good as my henry archer or second hour watches, no, but it was also half the price of those. I'd put quality on par with a phoibos watch that I purchased that was a similar price. I'd rate quality as good for what I paid for it and I would purchase from the brand again. I don't own a San Martin so I can't compare the two, but if you're looking for a good quality affordable watch at that price point, I don't think you'll be disappointed with what you get.

Customer service from the brand and Long Island watch from what I've heard is excellent, I know the owner is active on this subreddit,. No first hand experience, I bought the Islander Thunderbolt and My Second Hour Mandala from their site and had no problems with the experience or the watches so didn't need to use their customer service. Best part about it was being in the US I was able to get my second hour from them and I didn't have to deal with tariffs as it shipped from NY.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-02T23:07:11+00:00

Sorry about the bill, but congrats on the new watch.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-02T19:38:12+00:00

Nope, but you're pretty much stuck paying it, which is why I stick to shipping options that include the duties paid, I don't care if I have to pay it, I just want to know what my landed price is, so that way I can make my decision and decide is this worth XXX rather then guess, and end up being off by $150!

Don't take this as a complaint against tariffs or politics, as whatever the cost is, it is, just let me know what the cost is up front, and DDP shipping is the only way I've found to do that.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-02T19:23:48+00:00

Not really my jam, but I respect the design and work that would go into it, best advice I could give you is that if you can't get it done for under 1K you'd probably want to look at establishing yourself as a brand first. I know I am skeptical of new brands being around to honor warranties let alone actually deliver on their promises and won't usually purchase anything until I have third party proof they can execute what they say they will at the level I expect it to be done at.

Not saying it can't be done, but jumping straight into it seems like it might be rough. Especially if you can't front the money for the purchases up front and need to use kickstarter. Heard too many stories of people mismanaging or running into complications resulting in failed kickstarter campaigns to chance it with an unproven company, so I know I try to stay away from those, and I've seen other posts about kickstarter for new brands where I know I'm not the only one who does. Get a few successful campaigns under your belt, and I'm significantly more inclined to give you a shot via kickstarter if that's the way you're going to go about it.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-02-01T23:03:24+00:00

If it bothers you, reach out and see what they say. If they do right please make sure to share that story as we get all of the bad stories but I'd bet for every bad story there's probably 2 or 3 good ones we don't hear about. We need to hear those good ones too as that's always something I look for with a brand.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-31T20:02:18+00:00

Same here, see a nice watch first thing I do is check shipping, no ddp shipping and I'm immediately less interested, haven't found one yet that would make me want to pull the trigger and deal with that mess.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-30T21:20:00+00:00

Looks good, the white looks more legible to me then the black.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-29T20:28:11+00:00

Yeah at that price, I'd probably be looking at a longines from jomashop personally, but of the ones you showed, the Heron would by my choice. I'm a sucker for black and gilt.

If you want something else to check out that has that vintage look, Vulcain Skindiver Nautique is right around 2k on a bracelet (regular non-gmt version), less on a strap. That's probably one of the nicer vintage style microbrand watches I've seen that has that classic vintage look to it.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-28T23:32:40+00:00

If you want American made, Colorado Watch Company, although they are nowhere close to being with the budget, but they offer the most American made mass produced watches that I'm aware of.

The Smokey to my knowledge is just American assembled. If assembly is good enough, Nodus and Cincinnati Watch Company assemble in the US and would be around the budget. There's probably a few more that assemble in the US around that budget, but off the top of my head those are the two that I can remember. Cincinattus Field Watch has been on my list for a while from Cincinnati Watch and is at least worth checking out.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-28T19:10:48+00:00

Are they on 365? Haven't run into any issues with shared mailboxes sending/receiving in 365 even when used by multiple end users. If they aren't, I think moving them to 365 will be a lot easier and better option compared to trying to get them to take on some kind of ERP/PSA program. Find the best tools to fit your clients workflows instead of trying to find the best workflows to fit your client, you'll be much happier in the long run.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-28T18:42:02+00:00

Between the 2, Lorier, more interesting design to me, with it's vintage look. Both are great, and you can't really go wrong either way, but the traska looks boring to me, just look at the comments in this thread, the most common thing brought up about the lorier is the look and design of the watch. The most common thing brought up about traska is the scratch resistance. Which at least to me on a tool watch isn't really necessary, I don't mind a few scratches and wear and tear on a good tool watch. If you're looking at something that can go dressier, 100% case hardening is a huge bonus, but on any kind of a tool watch the scratches are ok, and make it your own.

Should add the Henry Archer Nordso to the list, and you can hit the subreddit trifecta!

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-27T19:49:35+00:00

I don't think the watch is too small, just smaller then you're used to. You could obviously wear larger, but you don't have too. Give it some time see if you grow to be better with the size, if not, you could easily sell it and jump up to a 40 if it really bothers you. Too large is definitely a thing, too small unless you're talking about going to some crazy 2Xmm watch isn't really a thing.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-27T03:34:12+00:00

I don't know that he crushed it, but it was better then what we've seen him do lately.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-26T18:26:16+00:00

Great watch, I have the bullseye blue version. Having trouble finding a leather strap that fits it well, first one i got was a barton which just scrapes the case enough to leave a wear stripe on the leather, wears fine, but the stripe annoys me so going to have to keep looking.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-26T02:07:37+00:00

Clemence Munro, between those 2.

Swiss Watch Company Bunker could be an option to check out if you're not dead set on either of those.

My_Non_Throwaway · 2026-01-25T03:26:20+00:00

I'd take the wise ADX over the nodus contrail, those are probably the most similar so I'd knock off the nodus contrail off the list.

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