The microbrand scene is at its best when it stops trying to imitate the big houses and starts doing things the big houses probably wouldn’t approve in a boardroom.
July 2026 brings exactly that mix, with jumping-hour displays, retrograde mechanics, embroidered dials and 3D-printed titanium cases all landing at prices that still feel connected to real-world collecting.
These aren’t safe, neutral watches for everyone, and that’s the point.
At a glance
- July’s standout microbrand watches include new releases from Sans Arrêt, Alexander Alboum Design, S. BYON, Ercigoj and Apiar.
- The strongest ideas range from double retrograde timekeeping to custom embroidery and personalised celestial casebacks.
- Prices run from £273 for the Sans Arrêt Rewind Moonlight to €2,500 for the Ercigoj Cornely, with several limited or made-to-order runs.
Small brands are getting braver with displays
The Sans Arrêt Rewind Moonlight is the most affordable watch here, but it’s also one of the most distinctive.
There are no conventional hands on the dial.
Hours appear through a small angled aperture in the upper half of the brushed blue face, while minutes track across a curved lower window.
The result is a cut-corner square watch that feels more architectural than decorative, helped by a very slim 6.7mm stainless steel case.
The back brings the most personal touch, as the caseback is designed to hold a small photo and effectively turns the watch into a wearable locket.
With Swiss quartz, 50m water resistance, a sapphire caseback and a pebbled Italian calf leather strap, it’s a charmingly odd proposition at £273.
Alexander Alboum Design takes a very different route with the RippL.
Its dial uses concentric guilloché that spreads outward like ripples across water, with four colourways named Imperial Velvet, Electric Azure, Verde Hydra and Artisan Gold.
The titanium case adds another layer of theatre, using polished vertical slats across the middle case and smooth blade-like lugs.
At 40mm wide and 10mm thick, it keeps the sculptural concept wearable rather than turning it into a desk object for the wrist.
Inside is the Hangzhou 5000A micro-rotor automatic, visible through a sapphire exhibition caseback.
Each colour is limited to 32 numbered pieces, making 128 watches in total, with pre-orders priced at $875.
Mechanical character without familiar layouts
S. BYON’s Double Retrograde is the kind of debut that immediately gives a new name a point of view.
The Atlanta-based brand uses a modified Miyota 9015 automatic to drive separate retrograde hour and minute displays, each sweeping across its own arc before snapping back to the start.
A central seconds display is handled by a disk, giving the watch a strange instrument-panel quality rather than a conventional three-hand look.
The case is bead-blasted 316L stainless steel with polished accent edges, paired with an integrated wings-cut leather strap and a Fitwell M1 micro-adjust buckle.
The two launch dials are Eggshell White and Slate Black, and both will be retired once sold through.
The first production run totals 500 watches, though only around 400 are planned for sale, with the rest kept back for warranty support and replacement parts.
Retail is targeted under $2,000, while Kickstarter pricing is set around 30 percent below that level for roughly 200 campaign pieces.
Embroidery and printed titanium move into the spotlight
The Ercigoj Cornely brings one of the least common dial materials into watchmaking with unusual credibility.
Ercigoj is a Slovenian embroidery studio founded in 1923, with a history stretching from church textiles and ceremonial banners to large-scale photorealistic embroidery art.
The Cornely is the fifth-generation family firm’s first wristwatch, named for Ercole Cornely, the 19th-century figure associated with the chain stitch embroidery machine.
Even the hands nod to the craft, with shapes inspired by hooked chenille needles.
Each dial is custom embroidered to order in a colour chosen by the buyer at no extra cost, and the studio sends progress images while the dial is being stitched.
The 40mm stainless steel case is polished and sandblasted, and the movement is a top-grade Sellita SW200-1b regulated to plus or minus 4 seconds per day.
Decorated bridges, blued screws and an edition-numbered rotor are visible through the exhibition caseback.
Apiar’s Gen1.1 White Meridian is just as personal, but its language is engineering rather than textile craft.
Each buyer chooses a meaningful date, and Apiar creates a bespoke celestial artwork for the caseback with the coordinates, moon phase and constellation from that night’s sky laser-annealed into the titanium.
The case uses the British brand’s additive-manufactured Grade 23 titanium, produced in Wales by laser powder bed fusion before being CNC-machined, polished and assembled in England.
The estimated weight is around 40 grams, which should make the 39mm case feel notably light on the wrist.
The dial is a 0.5mm CNC-milled natural white mother-of-pearl plate, hand-polished to draw out blue, pink and green flashes.
Apiar prints the numerals on the underside of the sapphire crystal, creating the effect of markers floating above the dial.
The movement is a La Joux-Perret G101 automatic with a 68-hour power reserve, and production is made to order at fewer than 10 pieces, with a four-month build time per watch.
Details & Specifications
| Sans Arrêt Rewind Moonlight | 32.5mm stainless steel case, 6.7mm thick, blue dial, Swiss quartz, hours and minutes, 50m water resistance, pebbled Italian calf leather strap, £273 |
|---|---|
| Alexander Alboum Design RippL | 40mm titanium case, 10mm thick, concentric guilloché dial, Hangzhou 5000A automatic micro-rotor, 42-hour power reserve, FKM rubber strap, $875, 32 pieces per colourway |
| S. BYON Double Retrograde | 39mm stainless steel case, 12.4mm thick, Eggshell White or Slate Black dial, modified Miyota 9015 automatic, double retrograde hours and minutes, 40-hour power reserve, under $2,000 retail target |
| Ercigoj Cornely | 40mm stainless steel case, 12.5mm thick, custom embroidered dial, Sellita SW200-1b automatic, 41-hour power reserve, dark brown suede strap, €2,500 |
| Apiar Gen1.1 White Meridian | 39mm Grade 23 titanium case, 9.2mm thick, natural white mother-of-pearl dial, La Joux-Perret G101 automatic, 68-hour power reserve, made to order in fewer than 10 pieces |
Which July microbrand watch makes the most sense
The Sans Arrêt is the easy pick for anyone who wants maximum personality for minimal spend.
It’s slim, simple and genuinely different, with the photo caseback giving it a sentimental edge that most sub-£300 watches lack.
The Alexander Alboum RippL is the stronger choice for collectors who want visual drama with an automatic movement and a hard production cap.
Its titanium case and micro-rotor calibre make the price feel especially sharp.
The S. BYON Double Retrograde is the one for enthusiasts who care about mechanical display architecture more than universal legibility.
It has a clear identity from day one, and the retired launch dials add an extra layer of collectability.
The Ercigoj Cornely is the most artisanal of the group, and probably the most emotionally involving if the idea of a made-to-order embroidered dial appeals.
The Apiar Gen1.1 White Meridian sits at the engineering-led end of the spectrum, pairing 3D-printed titanium with a personalised celestial caseback and a strong Swiss automatic calibre.
None of these watches is trying to be the default daily watch for everyone, which is exactly why they stand out.
For collectors bored of familiar case shapes and safe dial colours, July’s best microbrand releases prove there’s still plenty of imagination happening far from the industry’s biggest names.
