How to go about starting my own watch brand?

[tomweston]

Hi,

I am a student who wants to start his own watch brand.

I wouldn't mind the movement being quartz at early stages but I would like to build a submariner.

How would I go about doing it?

Is it is as easy as buying a movement, case, face and strap and putting them together?

Does anyone know any UK companies who do custom faces?

Any advice is appreciated.

Tom

 

[Scalloway]

How much do you have to invest in this venture?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

1. Create & register a brand
2. source/develop products
3. Sell products
4. Make sure you have £££££££££'s in place for marketing

 

[tomweston]

I suppose I could get around 1.5 pounds to start. It depends really. I would start small, one sale at a time.

 

[ethical PR]

Hi Tom

Have a look at the Prince's Trust website - lots of information for young entrepreneurs.

 

[tomweston]

Thank you everyone!

 

[Pish_Pash]

I suppose I could get around 1.5 pounds to start. It depends really. I would start small, one sale at a time.

I can feel a song coming on - "One sale at a time, sweet Jesus, that's all I'm asking of you"

 

[fisicx]

I suppose I could get around 1.5 pounds to start. It depends really. I would start small, one sale at a time.

£1.50?

In any case your marketing costs will be far far higher than the cost of the watch. And you will need packaging which will cost you a wodge to get designed and produced.

 

[Brennerz]

Get a job working for a watchmaker, learn how they are made, then make your own.

 

[TylerJay]

If your looking to start now then i would look to outsource the manufacturing of the product or at least get a price for outsourcing so you have something to weigh against your time.

Then i would look at the price to source each component overseas before getting a price locally..
That way you have an understanding of the market a little

 

[GeoMal]

Start by modding watches and selling them on forums. If you are good then you'll get a name for it, that you can build upon to form a brand.

If you don't know what I'm talking about then you need to stop looking for business ideas in areas you nothing about. Look first for a subject you know in depth, then look to see how you can add value.

 

[Dan Izzard]

@tomweston check out the brand MVMT who have managed to steal some market share from brands such as NIXON with an incredibly aggressive social media marketing campaign.

 

[GeoMal]

@tomweston check out the brand MVMT who have managed to steal some market share from brands such as NIXON with an incredibly aggressive social media marketing campaign.

Interesting. In what way is the marketing aggressive?

 

[Dan Izzard]

@GeoMal - There was a period that I couldn't log onto Facebook / Instagram / view google ads without seeing their ad. Multiple times every day. Massive saturation of social ad opportunities. But it really worked.

 

[GeoMal]

@Dan Izzard ah, so they threw a lot of money at it, basically?

 

[Dan Izzard]

@Dan Izzard ah, so they threw a lot of money at it, basically?

They did, but it was either luck or a very calculated short burst to build brand awareness and take advantage of the algorithms in place on social media that favour increased activity on brand pages and posts in a short amount of time.

 

[GeoMal]

@Dan Izzard What would that cost, would you guestimate - 5, 6 figures, or more?

 

[Dan Izzard]

I'm not sure. Looking at some of the case studies produced off the back of it I would think 5 figures.

https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/...he-path-to-purchase-easily-earn-new-customers

https://business.twitter.com/en/success-stories/mvmtwatches.html

A good example of CRO using social

 

[webgeek]

Or you could just get the liquidator at TAG to loan you the money to take over their UK operations which have shut down (unverified), now that they've moved ops back to the continent after UK ops couldn't hit their numbers.

How many people buy a watch for a reason other than it keeps time and looks good? Fitbit type of fitness chronograph... Divers waterproof, depth, etc...

At your price point, you aren't going to be giving Rado a run for their money, or Apple for that matter.

Trying to build a better looking watch that's cheaper than the market isn't going to happen. Building one with features not common in others, but which inspire loyalty, that's where you need to be....

 

[Deleted member 226268]

Is it is as easy as buying a movement, case, face and strap and putting them together?

Another dreamer !

Go buy a cheap .. mechanical .. watch from the Saturday high street market for £ 2.50.
Take it completely apart, and try to put it all back together again....if you can.

Even if you have all the specialist tools and holding jigs to remove and replace the front cover and back,
it will take you an hour.

It may even still work if you are lucky.

It will just not be financially viable to build your own watches from parts.

An xyz movement will only fit an xyz case, so you will struggle finding parts to match.

Who is going to sell you a £ 5,000 Submariner core movement ?
You will need to find a Submariner case.

==========

Try buying 50 watches from Ali-Express for £ 1 each ...... For example >>>>

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...ual-Quartz-Watch-Men-Sports/32747058949.html?

All you need to do then is buy a hand press to stamp your own branded watch faces out of thin film alloy sheet, and replace the original face.
Get them silk-screen printed with your own designs.

But even that would be a daunting mechanical production challenge in itself.

An even larger challenge would be finding any buyers.

.

 

[TylerJay]

Is it is as easy as buying a movement, case, face and strap and putting them together?
Although i agree with what you have suggested i find it ironic that your photo is 'made in england' yet your sending him abroad haha thought i would add some humour to the chat