BEST MICROBRAND WATCHES OF 2026 So Far - Part 2! Automatic, Manual, Solar & Quartz!

What's going on everybody and welcome back to the shameless watch collector. It's microbrand time again. 2026 might be the most exciting year I've ever seen for microbrand watches and I know that because of the ridiculous number of watches I've had to choose from for this specific series. And today I've got another set of the best microbrand watches of 2026 so far from all around the world. Let's get into it. Let's start somewhere familiar, in Denmark with Henry Archer. This brand is frequently featured in microbrand videos on this channel and it's for very good reason. Henry Archer simply does not miss when it comes to dial textures, material execution, and value. Their new piece, the Arcona, is yet another example of Henry Archer doing what they do best. This watch delivers the exceptional dimensions we've come to expect from Henry Archer. Coming in at 40mm in diameter, only 47mm lug to lug, and 11.5mm thick. So this watch is going to have plenty of wrist presence while still feeling compact and comfortable. The design itself is inspired by the surface of water, featuring a stunning CNC machined guilloche pattern in the center to give the feel of gentle ripples. This is surrounded by concentric rings that represent waves. You're getting a beautiful 316L stainless steel beads of rice style bracelet, which you don't often find on Henry Archer watches. You also have the same surgical grade 316L stainless steel on the case, along with a screw down guarded crown and a screw down transparent case back showing off that gorgeous engraved rotor on the automatic Miota 9015 powering this watch. And it doesn't end there. There's also 200 meters of water resistance, sapphire crystal with an absurd 6 layers of AR coating, and Swiss superluminova on the hands and markers. So per usual, nothing is missed when it comes to specs on a Henry Archer watch. You have a nice variety of dial colors to choose from, and all of them include a color match date wheel, which is a feature that I always love. And the value is not going anywhere either. The Arcona is currently available for pre-order, scheduled to ship in July, and priced at $652. Let's take a trip to my native land of Italy and look at Out of Order. This is an awesome brand out of Veneto, Italy that creates some absolutely stunning pieces that bring both modern and vintage vibes to the table. We're going to focus on one that does both very well. An incredible watch that drops in just a few days. The Forma Venti Aurum Noir. This piece blends an iconic 1920s style case with Out of Order's personality and a jump hour automatic movement. And my goodness, the outcome is a work of art. The case of this watch is 30.5mm by 41mm, with a super impressive thickness of just 10.6mm. The weight is just as well executed, coming in at a feather light 67 grams. Everything here is gold PBD plated 316L stainless steel, including the push-pull crown, which doesn't bother me on a vintage style dress piece. The screw-in backplate includes a black lacquer finish with gold PBD raised logos. It all looks incredibly premium. And the 50 meters of water resistance is consistent with this style of watch. Then you have the dial, which is where I think Out of Order's personality shines through the most. This is a black brioche dial that looks unbelievable and totally puts this watch over the top. Then you have the framed hour, minute, and second discs, which I think are super charming. This jump hour automatic is powered by the ST1721, which has 20 joules and a power reserve of just under 40 hours. The hour disc has BGW9 Superluminova, while the second and minute discs have C1 Superluminova. You have sapphire crystal covering this unique and endearing dial, and the strap is composed with Italian-made vegetable-tanned bovine leather, along with the 316L stainless steel deployment clasp with gold PBD plating. This watch is not cheap, but I think it makes it very, very obvious as to why it isn't. This piece feels one-of-a-kind, and the specs are covered everywhere where it's important. The pre-order price on the Aurum Noir is $910, and that includes all taxes and shipping fees. And you can add custom engraving for $60. And like I said, it starts shipping in just a few days, June 25th. Let's take the quick trip from Italy to France and take a look at Gustave NC. This is a proudly French brand that made its name with its signature single-hand watch. They have since expanded their collection, using that watch as their North Star. Each model remains true to their DNA of paying homage to great French figures who left their mark on history through their vision and audacity. Their upcoming Leon 12-hour silver and linen is a gorgeous example of one of their three-hand pieces. This is a nice, compact watch coming in a 38mm in diameter and a very thin 11.05mm. A lot of that slimness is thanks in part to the premium and beautifully engraved Miota 9015 movement found in this watch, which is on display behind an engraved screw-down caseback with a sapphire exhibition window. You have another push-pull crown here and another 50 meters of water resistance. The engraving on the crown is a beautiful little detail too, and the case is all 316L stainless steel. The Leon collection pays homage to Leon Foucault and his famous pendulum designed to highlight the Earth's rotation. In Gustave NC's words, this watch is designed to reflect the need for balance and precision so dear to watchmaking. This watch is a limited edition expansion of their Leon 12-hour. I actually have the silver and grey version, which we'll be getting an in-depth review on here very soon, and I will say, it's an amazing, high quality watch that checks every box you would want it to. I mean obviously, it's on this list. But let's talk about the limited edition 2026 release of the Leon, the silver and linen. This is the brand's first shot at a limited edition watch, and they're only producing 100 of these. This tasteful dial is directly inspired by the texture of linen, and it's exceptionally executed. You have superluminova on the gold indices, and there's sapphire crystal covering this perfectly minimalist dial. I really can't get enough of this new color variation of the Leon. I think it's my favorite yet, and it might force me into owning two of this watch. What's really cool about this specific Leon 2 is that even though it's a limited edition watch, individually numbered to 100, with your number engraved on the 9015 movement rotor, you don't pay a premium for any of this. This limited edition piece is priced exactly where the regular production Leons are, right at 491 euros. And if you want a real in-depth look at this watch, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out on that video coming soon. Time to take a trip to my homeland of America for a few watches, and to fix the lack of dive watches that I showed in part one, starting with Iconic Watch. This is a brand with a pretty wild story behind it. The watch we're talking about today, the Halocline, is also being called the Redemption Diver. And this watch really represents everything that Iconic and its owner, Ivan Hampton Ennis, have been through over the better part of a decade. This watch is seven years, yes, seven years, in the making. And that is thanks to a combination of a dishonest former manufacturing partner, a pandemic that some of you may have heard about, and years of severe health issues that nearly took Ivan's life. This watch represents the relentless spirit to never give up, no matter how hard things get. And that redemption is never impossible. Oh, and the watch itself is really good too. This is a 43 millimeter diver that is 13 millimeters thick, and 49 millimeters lug to lug. The lug width here is 22 millimeters, but trust me, you aren't going to need to worry about swapping out this bracelet. This is a ridiculously premium and soft that tapers all the way down to 18 millimeters to provide even more comfort on wrist. The case is made with the same marine grade 316L stainless steel, all of which looks top of the line. You have a fully loomed BGW9 Swiss Superluminova 120 click unidirectional bezel that is covered with sapphire, providing a gorgeous glossy look while protecting everything from scratches. You find that same sapphire crystal covering the dial, where it's also AR coated. You also get BGW9 lume on the hands and markers. This is a true diver in every sense of the word, delivering features like a screw-down engraved crown and case back, combining to provide the 200 meters of water resistance that I consider a must if you're going to call yourself a true dive watch. And finally, what is easily the best thing about this watch being seven years in the making, the movement. This is a movement that you cannot find anywhere else anymore in the same universe as this price point. Since this watch was developed years ago, and Ivan is a man of his word, you still get to enjoy the Salita SW201 automatic movement out of Switzerland. And to me, what makes this movement stand above the Miyotas and the Seikos that we find in 99% of watches at this level is that silky smooth sweep that gets close to the level of a Rolex. This watch is truly mesmerizing to stare at, and a lot of that comes from how satisfying it is to watch that seconds hand gracefully work around the dial. And speaking of the price point, this is among the best value microbrand watches you will ever see and easily one of the best of the year. There will be only 60 redemption divers available for sale, with only 120 being produced total. The other 60 are going to the patient and loyal backers who have stuck with Iconic through thick and thin. The 60 available for sale will start at only $424 for the first batch of 5, and then it will increase to $499. This watch is launching around the exact same time that this video is releasing, so if you like what you see, check the link in the description. These are going to go fast, as this is a highly anticipated piece with some of the best value you will ever see, powered by a Swiss automatic movement with no dive specs missed. This is another piece that I personally have in hand and can vouch for its exceptional quality. Everything on this watch is quite literally perfect. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at this watch on the channel in the near future, as well as an interview with the founder of the company. Let's stay in America, stay on dive watches, and drive over to Portland, Oregon to visit our friend, Mr. Eatwell. This is a quirky microbrand that I'm sure a lot of you have heard of, yet I still feel like they're underrated and underappreciated. This has always been a place where you can find fun color variants combined with solid specs and great value, especially on dive watches. Their newest piece, the Screwdriver, is no exception, but it's also a pretty considerable step up when it comes to their usual dialwork and craftsmanship approach. This watch pays homage to DJ Screw, the legend out of Houston, who, in Mr. Eatwell's words, taught a generation that slowing things down is its own kind of clarity. The dial is made with rare, hand-cut, cheroite stone, which Mr. Eatwell claims cost seven times the price of their standard dials. And it sure looks like it. This rare and gorgeous purple silicate can only be found in one place on Earth, the Chara River in Siberia. Like most stone dials, no two will be the same, and your example will be unique to you and you only. The dial material itself is not the only place where Mr. Eatwell is taking a significant step up from their previous work. Everything on this watch is hand-applied to the stone, including the indices and the awesome, quirky as hell logos. Both the Doggo at 12 o'clock and the Eatwell logo at 7 o'clock are details that I just adore, and I love how they look tall and polished on this stone dial. According to the company, a meaningful percentage of the dials break in transit from Siberia to Oregon, and even more break during assembly. So each finished watch represents several attempts. Regarding specs, it's all covered here the way it should be on a true dive watch. This is a 40 millimeter diameter piece with a thickness of 13.6 millimeters and a lug width of 20. The case is 360L stainless steel, while the bracelet is 904L stainless steel, which is the same material that Rolex uses and has a little bit more of a glow than 360L. You also have the option for a purple stingray or a purple gator strap, both with quick release. Covering this sparse stone dial is sapphire crystal with AR coating, so it'll be scratch resistant and look beautiful from every angle. You have lume on the hands, 200 meters of water resistance, and a screw-down display case back that shows off the movement of your choice. Speaking of that, this one is powered by your choice of the Japanese NH35 automatic movement or the Sellita SW201 automatic out of Switzerland. But this is one where that movement carries a significant premium. The NH35 version is priced at $715, while the SW201 is $335 more, bringing the total to $1,050. The price does not change between the bracelet and the strap, and you can add the strap with the bracelet for an additional $85, which isn't bad for such a unique and cool strap option. And finally, one add-on that I think is too cool not to mention, for $75 extra, Mr. Eatwell will make a time-lapse film of your specific watch being hand-assembled. Talk about a feature that makes a watch feel truly special. So while this watch does put Mr. Eatwell in a higher price bracket than usual, they're still making themselves feel like one of the most fun brands out there, and still some of the best value when you consider how unique and thoughtful the execution is here. I've got a couple rugged pieces out of America for you guys next. Let's start by going to my home state of California, and taking a look at Seals Watch Company. This brand was founded in 2014 by Michael Seals up in Northern California. And their whole thing is very straightforward. An independent American watch brand with one designer, five watch lines, and every piece is assembled on-demand in Sacramento, California. The piece we're looking at today is their Land-C True GMT watch, coming back for its second wave very soon after quickly selling out the first. This is a very intentionally designed watch, and it starts with the dimensions. This piece comes in more compact than I personally think it looks, at 38mm in diameter, 46mm lug-to-lug, and 12.5mm thick. The specs are handled in a meaningful way, with a 316L stainless steel case with brushed surfaces complemented by polished lug and bezel chamfers. It comes with a canvas hook-and-loop strap, and is compatible with their entire strap lineup. You also get a screw-down crown and caseback, helping this watch reach 150m of water resistance, which is quite impressive. You have four distinct color options to choose from, which Seals calls Burnt Sun, Olive Drab, Everest Blue, and Summer Teal, with the latter two being my favorites. You have Swiss Superluminova on the hands and indices, and these fantastic dials are covered by AR-coated sapphire crystal. So what makes this a true GMT? GMT movements generally fall into two categories. A Caller GMT adjusts the 24-hour hand, which is useful for tracking another time zone from home, but when you're actually crossing time zones, it can be a little more cumbersome. A True Traveler GMT adjusts the local hour hand independently, meaning you can jump between time zones without resetting the minutes, seconds, or your home reference time. And the Miyota 9075 is a True Traveler GMT. But what I really like about the Lancee is that Seals didn't just throw a True GMT movement into a watch and call it a day. The entire design is built around making that GMT functionality feel clean, wearable, and integrated. Instead of using a rotating external 24-hour bezel, Seals went with a fixed, readily brushed bezel and a recessed internal 24-hour chapter ring. So you still get the day-night reference and the same core GMT function, but it's expressed from within the dial instead of adding more external mass to the case. And I think that design choice makes a lot of sense here. A rotating bezel gives you that classic tool watch interaction, and I do love that, but it also adds more components, more height, more visual weight, and more of that traditional GMT bulk. With the Lancee, Seals seems to be going for something that's a little more restrained and architectural, less external noise, more dial depth, and a cleaner overall silhouette. So it makes sense why the sizing is so compact and so well executed for a GMT. Everything revolves around keeping this watch wearable for daily use. That includes the premium Miyota 9075 automatic movement, which is not only slim, but also gives you that independently adjustable local hour hand and one hour increments without stopping the movement or disturbing the GMT hand. Everything about this watch is about covering the quality of life and usability features you would want from a GMT you can rely on every day, anywhere. You can sign up on their website, linked in the description, to be one of the first to know when they start taking orders for the Lancee again, which appears to be in the very near future. The price looks like it's going to be $899 for this American made true GMT. Let's stay along these lines, but get solar and look at Matermade. This is a small independent brand out of Virginia developed by Hayden Mater with one simple goal in mind, create an everyday watch suitable for a multitude of environments. Their upcoming Ranger Field Watch is exactly that. This beauty comes in two case variations, either 316L stainless steel or what they call Blackout, which is PBD coated 360 now. Either way, the case is brushed and bead blasted with anti-fingerprint coating, which is a quality of life feature that I super appreciate. This is another watch sized perfectly for daily wear coming in at 39 millimeters in diameter, 47 lug to lug and an exceptionally thin 10 millimeters. And when it comes to a watch that's ready to take on anything, this one has those specs covered too. You have a screw down crown and case back to help this watch deliver 100 meters of water resistance, which is what I consider enough for a go anywhere, do anything watch. On the dial, whose design achieves a nice mix of modern and classic field watch, you have old radium superluminova on pretty much everything besides the logos, which looks insanely cool. Covering this dial is flat sapphire crystal with double AR coating. And like I said in the beginning, we're going solar here. I always love a watch powered by the sun and it fits this watch's personality perfectly. The solar movement in here is a winner too. The Seiko VS42A, an exceptional and reliable solar movement out of Japan. With everything I just told you, this price is going to be hard to believe, especially on this video. You can pre-order the stainless steel version for $375 and the blackout model is just $20 more at 395. Only 50 pieces of each variant will be made and they also currently have an early bird code on their website for an additional 15% off. So this is easily one of the best value pieces that we have talked about in this entire series. Alright, time to go overseas again and we're doing it with a purpose. Get comfortable my friends because we have a 21 hour flight to Australia to look at some kangaroos and HZ watches. This is a very new microbrand out of Australia, founded in 2023, but their owner Matt Zillman has already made a big name for himself in the watch community in the land down under, including opening a watch retail store in Melbourne called Watchpoint, which showcases watches like his. Matt and HZ watches are really about two things, affordability and quartz watch innovation. Their blue marble watch showcases that immaculately and just this week, it got new stone dial options that shot this watch to an entirely new level. But first, the core concept of the blue marble itself is so cool and it deserves some coverage. This watch is designed around the most famous photograph ever taken of our earth, captured by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972, known as the blue marble. The goal of this watch is to package that perspective into a timepiece. So the next time you look at your blue marble watch, you're reminded of that perspective and whatever it means to you. And their new stone dials are meant to take that concept a step further, made with three different stones that have formed over millions of years on this planet. The three choices are a Labradorite, which is the blue option, Serpentine with earthy shades of green and Agate, the vibrant red. All of them are a 10 out of 10 as far as I'm concerned. And this one is for you small risking with a diameter of 36 millimeters and a lug to lug of only 43.5 millimeters. And you also have the lack of thickness that you want in a quartz watch, 9.9 millimeters without the crystal and 11.5 with. Oh, and then I mentioned the case is grade 5 titanium. So this piece is crazy premium, super light and daily wearable in just about every way. And that includes water resistance where the screw and case back and push pull titanium crown combined to help this watch reach 100 meters of water resistance. Covering these one of one stone dials is domed sapphire crystal with three layers of AR coating on the underside. So you can fully appreciate all the beauty that these natural stones have to offer. It's important to remember that these stones can vary quite a bit from watch to watch. So don't expect any photo to be identical to what you get. And HC watches is very intentional and passionate about making quartz watches, which means they aren't just going to throw in any quartz movement and call it a day. This watch is no exception, giving you the premium and precise Seiko BD78 quartz movement. What I also love about HC is how little of a premium they make you pay for these unbelievable dials. The standard blue marbles are priced at $249, while any of these limited edition stone dials are just $299. And the same price can be found on their equally gorgeous aventurine edition. Either way, the value is absolutely insane or wicked or whatever they say in Australia. For our penultimate brand, we're going to head to Malaysia and look at Alcadiz. This brand was founded in 2018 by Yuk Hong, a Seiko modder turned head designer, who created Alcadiz to offer a premium yet accessible range of understated and elegant watches. Well, I don't know about understated when it comes to their new Quantra watches, but my goodness, are they breathtaking. This is another one for my small wrist friends, coming in at 36 millimeters in diameter, 44 millimeters lug to lug, and 10.5 thick. The case is 360L stainless steel with anti-scratch and anti-fingerprint coating. And you have a bunch of strap options to choose from, including leather, nubuck, and a five-link bracelet. You have a push-pull crown and 50 meters of water resistance, but that's easy to forgive when we talk dials and movement. There are two main variants of the Quantra, and I love them both equally. First, you have the Gemstone series, which looks more understated, but trust me, it's not. This is a sandwich dial construction, where a translucent gemstone layer sits atop a full superluminova layer, allowing an unreal glow to pass through the stone in the dark, and it looks equally gorgeous in the light. This is the type of nonsense that I go to microbrands for. I love this so much, and I'm always just a sucker for the way a sandwich dial looks. This is available in three beautiful shades. Then you somehow kick it up a notch with the Gioch MOP series, which showcases hand-picked, iridescent mother-of-pearl dials with a precision CNC-machined Gioch pattern that catches light in a stunning way from every angle. On this one, you also have the second sub-dial around nine o'clock, which I think works great. You have boxed sapphire crystal covering the dial with five layers of inner AR coating, so these dials are going to look as good as possible. This is an automatic watch powered by the Hangzhou 5100A, which features a micro-rotor upgraded blue screws, a custom Alcadus rotor, and in-house regulation. And you get a huge transparent caseback so you can really appreciate this gorgeous movement and watch it do its thing. Unlike so many transparent caseback watches, this one is actually designed to be admired both mechanically and aesthetically. The price is the same for both the Gemstone and the Gioch MOP models, and they're both currently marked down to their pre-order price of $662, discounted from what will be the normal price of $800. Well, I have to go back to America anyway, so we might as well make a stop in New York City and the brand that actually designed a watch that I was looking at a very cheap Timu homage of recently on this channel. Let's make a stop for coffee at Brew Watches. Brew makes watches designed around coffee, but a lot of them feel racing-inspired to me. I love coffee, and I love cars, so these watches just work for me. I mean, there's a reason why I was drooling over a $14 homage of one just a week ago. In 2026, they've added some new and exciting dial textures to their signature metric line. We'll start with the standard metric and the new Bloom dial, which is inspired by the flowing movement of espresso poured into a cup. The dial is designed to capture the warmth, motion, and texture of coffee in motion. The standard metric case comes in a 36mm by 41.5mm with a thickness of just 10.75mm and a bizarre lug width of 19.85mm. So I hope you like that retro-style bracelet. Everything on the case and bracelet is 316L stainless steel, and you have a screw-in case back engraved with artwork and the Brew Bean logo, along with 50 meters of water resistance. Covering this new and beautiful Bloom dial is sapphire crystal, and this is a quartz chronograph powered by the BK68 MegaQuartz movement, which still gives you that satisfying sweep on the chronograph seconds hand. The price on this one is a very reasonable $475. If you want a smaller version of this watch without the sub-dials, you have the Metric Light and the wild new dial variant they just dropped, Tahitian Pearl. This dial gives off amazing and vibrant shades of green, blue, pink, orange, and I'm sure missing a couple more. The case on this one is trimmed down to just 30mm by 34mm with a thickness of 10.55mm and a far more normal lug width of 18mm. The specs are identical elsewhere besides the movement, where we go automatic with the 6T27 movement powering this watch. Beyond that, we have the same core design, just with an insane pearl dial and a simple three-hand layout with elegant polished indices. The price on this one is trimmed down from the standard as well, with the Tahitian Pearl edition already nearly sold out and available for $375. And finally, we have the cream of the crop, the manual wind copper, another espresso-inspired dial, but on a three-hand design this time. Before we talk movement, the dimensions are different here again and in my opinion, by far the best. This one comes in at 36mm by 41.55mm and a ridiculously slim 8.5mm thick. Specs are identical elsewhere regarding materials, water resistance, and crystal. But the movement is a special one. This is the Swiss manual wind Sellita SW210-1B, which looks stunning behind the exhibition case back, along with the outstanding movement finishing and visual architecture Breu created back here. The power reserve on this Swiss movement is also 42 hours, so the manual winding only adds charm and visual theatrics. This premium Breu piece is available for $875. And there are so many other amazing Breu watches that have dropped in just 2026 already, but we'd be here all day and have a flight back to California to catch. Thank you all so much for watching another edition of the best microbrand watches of 2026 so far. I am having so much fun with this series, and I'm going to try to get one more of these out before we're too deep into 2026. Comment below which watches from this video were your favorite, and which 2026 microbrand watches you want to see in the next edition of this series. And you can find all the watches I mentioned in this video in the description below. And make sure you're subscribed for more videos like this, along with in-depth looks at a lot of the watches that you saw in this video. Thank you all so much for the support. I'll see you all again very very soon for the next video. But until then, Seamless Watch Collector signing out. And always remember, it's not that serious.