Feature: Which Brands Are In The 'Hundreds Club' ?

You can see the appeal of limited-edition watches. Finding a timepiece that hasn’t been manufactured en masse is no easy task. And even if you’re lucky enough to own something iconic from the blue-chip golden boys of the industry like Patek Philippe or Rolex—a Calatrava, say, or a Submariner—their instantly recognisable designs have been copied to death by countless lesser brands.

Yet even with limited edition watches you still stand the chance of wearing something that your next-door neighbour or that annoying bloke in accounts owns, especially if the watch is one of several hundred—which, let’s face it, is not very limited at all.

For discerning types who crave originality, spotting an identical watch on the wrist of someone in the same room must be like an actress turning up at the Oscars and seeing a rival in the same dress. Cue awkward smiles and all-night-long avoidance tactics.

So what does a luxury watch-lover do to truly stand out from the horological crowd?

Well, if you’re pockets are sufficiently deep you could buy a watch from a member of what we'll call the ‘Hundreds Club’, a select band of high-end watchmakers whose annual output is in the mere hundreds—or significantly less—rather than tens of thousands.

We look at some of these small-scale but high-end brands whose watches are rarer than Loch Ness Monster sightings.

The ‘Solo’ Artisans

Some watch ‘brands’ can hardly be considered so in the traditional sense as they comprise little more than an individual watchmaker and a handful of assistants. These include the likes of Britain’s Roger W Smith, secluded away in his workshop on the UK’s Isle of Man where he continues the work of his late mentor, the exalted George Daniels.

Smith’s output is miniscule—between 10 and 15 pieces a year. So if you can get your hands on one of his watches give yourself a celebratory back-slap, you’re in rarefied company.

Speake Marin, an independent high-end brand, make around 300 watches a year

Prolific in comparison is the esteemed FP Journe who, with an output of around 900 pieces a year, makes Smith look bone idle. That said, his company employs around 130 employees so it’s on a much bigger scale.

And then there’s the legendary Philippe Dufour, the watchmaker’s watchmaker, who takes brand scarcity to a whole new level. Since branching out on his own around thirty years ago, this low-key stalwart of high-end independent watchmaking has made somewhere in the region of just 250 pieces, many of which are unique.

Indeed it was Philippe Dufour who told the Finnish watchmaker Kari Voutilainen to go solo after inspecting one of his movements at Basel in 2004. Wisely, Voutilainen took the advice and is now one of the most in-demand independent watchmakers around. He and his staff of around fifteen make no more than 55 watches a year from their Swiss base.

Double Trouble

The high-end watch world boasts a number of double-acts who have pooled their talents to create some of the most interesting timepieces on the market today, albeit in tiny batches. Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey of Greubel Forsey fame have garnered huge acclaim in recent years for some of their outrageously intricate watches, which feature everything from unique micro-sculptures within the watch case to showboating quadruple tourbillons in asymmetrical white gold cases.

Greubel Forsey's hundred -strong staff produce just a hundred watches annually

Even with a fairly sizeable staff count of around a hundred, they only produce a hundred watches a year which are sold in as few as 35 stores worldwide. Similarly Speake-Marin, founded by Peter Speake and his business partner, Daniela Marin, have an annual output in the low hundreds.

Maximilian Buser & Friends (MB&F) releases around 250 of their sci-fi-inspired watches, often limited to no more than 50 pieces each, while the young English watchmaking brand Struthers, comprising husband-and-wife team, Craig and Rebecca, make as few as two pieces a year at their workshop in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.

Wallet-friendly Options

The good news is that not all brands who make watches in these tiny numbers are ultra-high-end. There are plenty of newbie microbrands out there selling watches in limited runs. But be careful, these brands come and go like the seasons.

In an industry where such importance is placed on heritage, do you really want a luxury watch made by a brand whose lifespan is less than the average goldfish?

Austrian brand Habring are surprisingly affordable considering their tiny output

That said, relatively new brands like the Austrian company Habring² and German brand Borgward both make around 200 watches a year and seem like they’re here to stay, with Habring² already 24 years old and Borgward just passing its first decade.

Habring² makes its own movements, yet its watches start from around $7,000—something of a bargain when you consider how scarce these watches are. Borgward uses ETA movements with prices starting from around $1,500, but you get a quality watch that hardly anyone else will own, and their designs are far from pedestrian.

Getting a watch from the Hundreds Club is not quite as unattainable as you think.