The Great Exhaustion And The Small Brand Antidote
The Great Exhaustion And The Small Brand Antidote
Affordable auction finds, including a quick story about TAG Heuer vs. Zodiac.
Featuring a few releases from new or smaller brands I’ve covered recently. After that, auction links, with plenty of photos along the way.
In this update: Anoma, Cornell, Oak & Oscar, Abercrombie, TAG Heuer vs. Zodiac, Universal Geneve, and more. Tap the heart (❤️) above if you like it:
What will the watch world look like in 2026? That $6.5 million Tiffany 5711 will feel like a lifetime ago – has it really only been five years? Anything “Gerald Genta” will feel so 2022. We’ll be more exhausted than ever by AI everything, social media, Grand Seiko reference numbers, and learning what dial color is supposedly “in” at Watches & Wonders 2026.
A couple of weeks ago, WGSN, the top trend fashion forecasting firm,1 circulated a new report about “The Great Exhaustion” of 2026. The report’s title is basically self-explanatory, but it refers to the feeling of widespread burnout that comes from any number of factors. So many things are causing “consumers” – that’s people, in non-marketer speak – to feel exhausted. Many of these are serious topics like war, elections, and inequality that we don’t have to get into in a very not-serious watch newsletter. But you get the idea.
Of course, watch brands also contribute to this exhaustion and surely you’ve felt it. Release after release, price hike after price hike, and somehow you still can’t get the watch you want. Much of the discussion around watches is already circling around this idea of exhaustion towards the status quo. According to WGSN, this is going to cause (1) us to get off our devices more, or at least off of social media, and (2) less consumerism, or the feeling that we need to buy something just to feel something.
(1) and (2) are also related, considering most social media tells us to buy stuff. Honestly, this all sounds kind of good though, right? But it’s not good for brands who need to keep selling their tchotchkes. More people will look to slow down their consumption, or at least be more thoughtful about it. So what’s a brand to do?
According to WGSN, one result of this exhaustion will be more people looking for “glimmers,” or small moments of joy that help us deal with the exhausting world.
For watch brands, that means creating opportunities for these small moments. It can’t be just about the big watch purchase with lots of zeros behind it, but also about creating little moments and touchpoints in between those. I won’t extol the virtues of clichés like building community, but surely you're starting to get the idea.
Small Brands, Big Opportunity
I use this all as a lead-in to mention a few small brands I’ve covered for Hodinkee recently. When I started paying attention to watches, I’ll admit, I scoffed at many of the smaller or microbrands. But over the past couple of years, seeing the development of some projects, sometimes from the outset, has made me appreciate them more.
I’ve seen all of the brands mentioned here engaging with enthusiasts and collectors up close. Earnestly seeking opinions and feedback. Even simple gestures like giving a new client a special serial number that means something to them.
As we all become more exhausted, these small brands seem well-positioned to create more of these small moments. They can feel like an antidote to big brands. It seems like there’s a ton of opportunity that we’re only beginning to appreciate. No doubt, some small or upstart brands won’t last, but a few will.
Anoma A1
First is Anoma, a new U.K. outfit from Matteo Violet Vianello (formerly A Collected Man). If you’ve been on Instagram the last few days, you’ve probably seen the Anoma A1. It uses a familiar formula: vintage inspiration, modernized and made relatively affordable (about $1,600), but the A1 looks a little different.
The A1 takes as inspiration a table created by designer Charlotte Perriand in the 1950s, but you might pick up on other threads of inspiration too: Gilbert Albert designs for Patek Philippe and others, the Hamilton Ventura, even the Cartier Pebble. The steel case is a polished triangle measuring 39x38mm (9.45mm thick) but wears a touch smaller thanks to its lug-less design.
You can read my full review in Hodinkee later this week. As you’ll see, there are some pros and cons, but that’s with pretty much any watch at this price, or really any watch, period.
It’s a deliberately divisive watch that isn’t designed to please everyone, and I like that.
Oak & Oscar Atwood Chronograph
Next are a couple of local brands. Unlike the other two, Oak & Oscar isn’t a new brand, but it recently added the first regular production chronograph to its collection. The Atwood continues Oak & Oscar's cohesive design that dates back nearly a decade, and at 39 x 12.9mm, its size hits a sweet spot.
The Atwood illustrates everything Oak & Oscar does well. Size, the design is clean and balanced, and the specs are a solid proposition at its price ($2,650 on bracelet). Offered in three dial colors, the panda is my favorite. Full intro on Hodinkee.
One To Watch: Cornell Watch Co.
If you're going to revive an old American watch brand, partnering with watchmaker Roland Murphy is as good a place as any to start. The Lancaster, PA-based watchmaker is American watchmaking to many, so when Chicagoan John Warren decided he wanted to relaunch Cornell Watch Company, a 19th-century maker of pocket watches founded in his home city, he decided to reach out to Murphy.
The result of the collaboration is the Cornell 1870 C.E., which pays homage to the original Cornell pocket watches. The inspiration starts with the Grand Feu white enamel dial with black Roman numerals and blued steel hands. Warren also lent me an antique Cornell pocket watch, and the resemblance is clear, though the 1870 C.E. obviously features some of the best of RGM's modern craftsmanship.
While it was a limited edition of just 10 watches, Cornell has aspirations to do a lot more, and the 1870 C.E. is an impressive first step. One To Watch: Cornell Watch Co. Aims To Put A Spotlight On American Watchmaking
Thrifting for affordable finds
Feedback is that affordable eBay finds are the most fun, so here a few quick ones from Heuer, Zodiac, & Abercrombie, including a quick story about an evil banker.
1990s Zodiac Formula 1, your no-hype, $100 alternative to the KITHified F1
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 has received all kinds of renewed attention because of that recent KITH collab. They were $1,500 and while you can find vintage TAG F1s for a few hundred bucks, the real secret is that Zodiac also made the same Formula 1 watches in the ‘90s that, if you’re lucky, you can get for under $100.
The Zodiac F1s are a product of the short-lived Willy Gad Monnier era at the brand. Monnier had previously been the finance director at Heuer. According to Jack Heuer’s autobiography, Monnier helped the banks push Jack out in a little Swiss watch industry Game of Thrones when Piaget acquired Heuer in 1982. Monnier then briefly became CEO.
I’m pretty sure it didn’t go well for him – at least, I’m gonna go with the ‘80s finance-guy-as-villain narrative until someone corrects it (Michael Douglas definitely plays Monnier in the movie version of this story). Anyway, he split from Heuer just a few years later, then went on to acquire Zodiac. In our little Monnier-as-villain story, all turns out right: Zodiac went bankrupt with him at the helm in 1998.
In a turn of events that will surprise no one, the finance guy didn’t have many original product ideas and ended up introducing a lot of watches at Zodiac that looked like a lot of TAG Heuers. He probably even swiped some suppliers.
One of those was the Zodiac Formula 1 that’s basically the same as those TAG F1s. And you can have that whole story for ~$100 with this Zodiac Formula 1 on eBay. The strap does suck though.
If true, vintage Zodiac is more your speed, there’s also this Sea Wolf ending June 15. Max Braun wrote an article about Zodiac’s original dive watch for Rescapement a few years ago. While the orange doesn’t look to pop as much on this eBay find, these are underrated dive watches that, at just 36mm, wear nicely.
Abercrombie Alarm Pocket Watch
Vintage Abercrombie watches are awesome and kind of hard to find, but here’s a 1960s alarm pocket watch. I’ve gotten into more non-wristwatches lately – the last watch I bought actually wasn’t a wristwatch – they sit nicely on your desk and can be fun to carry around and whip out if the vibes at the watch meetup are just right.
The listing says it “looks like chrome,” in which case this is less interesting, but it might be steel? I don’t know, I just feel like chrome watches this old usually look more worn and pitted, even if the photo quality is mid. On The Dash also has an A&F catalog that shows this model as steel. Full disclosure: I’m actually the higher bidder right now, whoops 🤑. eBay auction ends June 10.
A Quick Buyer Beware. A couple of UG Film Compax examples have come up in the past few months. There was that one in kinda crappy condition that sold for $10,000, then Eric sold what’s generally regarded as the best known example a few weeks back. Anyway, there’s a bad redial on eBay now – watch out! My preview of the large New York auctions on Hodinkee also had a buyer beware about another old Rescapement favorite, the Patek 1578GM for General Motors, at Christie’s.
Finally, I found that report on the Great Exhaustion from this post on Back Row by
, a solid newsletter about the fashion industry. Thanks for reading and please like this post or leave a comment!-Tony
Yes, this exists. A few years ago, 99 Percent Invisible did a great podcast about trend forecasting and WGSN.
A very fun read. Can hardly believed you plugged a watch on auction that you were bidding on. Nerves of steel, not chrome, obv :)
Tony, love your keen insights into the less glamorous (affordable) side of vintage. Please keep it up. Thanks.