10 Singapore watch brands that should be on your radar

While Singapore may be small, our people are big on watches—yes, affluence might play a part but it’s the enthusiasm for excellent craftsmanship and thoughtful engineering that drive us to invest in the best novelties throughout the year. Although watchmaking is typically synonymous with Switzerland, our little red dot is also home to interesting watch brands that boast avant-garde designs and materials. Below, we explore the best Singapore watch brands that should be on your radar.

1. Azimuth

Founded by Christopher Long and Alvin Lye in 2003, Azimuth produces avant-garde timepieces reminiscent of retro yet endearing robot toys. Equipped with Swiss movements and assembled in the brand’s workshop in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Azimuth watches has cemented itself as a serious manufacturer who isn’t afraid to play with the unconventional. In 2024, the year of the Wood Dragon, the brand launched a limited edition timepiece featuring a malachite dial with Chinese numeral indexes to commemorate this auspicious year.

2. Arcturus

Speaking of malachite, stone dials have experienced a major resurgence over the last two years, especially with vintage pieces before the 2000s. While some of these older models may fetch up to five figures, Singapore’s Arcturus offers malachite and aventurine dial watches at only $2,088 and $2,388 respectively. What’s even more impressive is the inclusion of a tourbillon in the LC-2, also dubbed the Vanda Tourbillon, at an affordable price. As the name suggests, our national flower is carved into the caseback that also features an eyelet for the wearer to peek into the beating heart of the watch.

3. Humism

Horology is often compared to art, and this Singapore watch brand is taking it to a whole new level. Humism draws inspiration from the kinetic art movement and implements it to the dials of its watches that spin and morph as time goes by. The mesmerising art discs are crafted with proprietary technology from Japan, just like the watch’s movement—Seiko NH35A. Humism watches come in 39 and 42mm, fitted with a leather strap or bracelet and available in two colourways of white and yellow.

4. Boldr

It is almost criminal to keep sports watches within a safe and away from the action that inspired their creation and Boldr knows it, which is why it focuses on manufacturing reliable and sturdy watches to be worn in the great outdoors or the depths. Spread across five collections, the watches are crafted in stainless steel or titanium with dynamic colour combinations of pink, blue, green, yellow, orange and even a deep black timepiece with a dial that absorbs 99.4 percent of light. This Singapore watch brand also cares for the environment by using sustainable materials in the packaging.

5. Feynman Timekeepers

This microbrand keeps its production low to ensure every timepiece is executed to perfection matching the highly sophisticated design. Best known for its Feynman One series, the collection boasts intricate guilloche techniques on the layered dials and the off-centred sub-dial for the seconds that feature a warped hand. The brand has also debuted a new model, Feynman VI, with a rounded square case inspired by a vintage TV screen and a brushed dial for a cleaner, minimalistic look.

6. Zelos

Founder Elshan Tang was only 15 years old when he developed an interest in watchmaking and in 2014, he debuted Zelos, aptly named after the Greek god of zeal and passion, which matches his own for horology. The decade-old brand has a one-of-a-kind design language that takes shape with rare materials such as meteorite, mother-of-pearl and aventurine and the pieces are powered by quality Swiss or Japanese movements.

7. UBIQ

Short for ubiquitous, this Singapore watch brand aims to do just that and become a part of everyone’s life with its mechanical watches that pack a punch with vibrant colour palettes. Priced at US$649, the DUAL Series 01 watches feature a MIYOTA 9015 movement housed within a stainless steel case and an aluminium sand-blasted bezel that can be fitted with a stainless steel bracelet or an accompanying rubber strap that matches the accent colours of the watches.

8. Kent Hall & Co.

Founded in 2015, Kent Hall & Co. does not chase trends nor follow the design codes of any famed watchmaker out there. The goal is simple: create humble and contemporary timepieces that are worn daily. Its newest collection—Revival II—sports a modern skeletonised design that shows glimpses of the Japanese automatic movement. The series comes in four variations: silver and black stainless steel, two with matching bracelets and two with leather straps.

9. Horizon

This Singapore watch brand is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Sugiharto Kusumadi and Ukrainian designer Fred Bekher who joined forces in 2021 to realise their dream of creating their own microbrand. Bekher’s decade’s worth of experience designing for other microbrands has truly paid off with Horizon’s niche—the classic diver watch. These timepieces are truly built for exploring the ocean without the fear of damaging the components against jagged rocks and coral or the crushing pressure. The latest collection, ‘Nemo’, is a smaller and thinner version of Horizon’s debut series—N—rocking wave engravings on the dial.

10. Vario

Vario has captured and rendered the essence of vintage timepieces to perfection with military and airforce-inspired designs fitted with in-house leather straps. However, its patent-pending VERSA collection has garnered our attention with reversible dials that provide a pop of colour to any outfit while keeping track of the time of two different timezones, making each piece a versatile and budget-friendly option for casual and formal settings.

This article was originally published in Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.