9 Watch Brand Success Stories [2023]

Updated: January 18th, 2023
Start A Watch Brand

Starting a watch business can be lucrative and rewarding for those interested in fashion and accessories. The key to this industry’s success is offering a unique selection of stylish and high-quality watches that cater to a specific market.

One potential business idea is to focus on eco-friendly and sustainable watches. With a growing emphasis on environmental responsibility, consumers are looking for products made with recycled materials that have minimal impact on the planet. You can tap into this demand by offering a selection of eco-friendly watches and differentiate your business from competitors. Another idea is to specialize in vintage and antique watches.

This niche market is full of collectors and enthusiasts willing to pay a premium for rare and historical timepieces. By sourcing and restoring vintage watches, you can create a unique and exclusive product line that appeals to this dedicated audience.

Finally, you could also consider starting a personalized watch business. With the rise of customization and personalization in fashion, many consumers are looking for unique, one-of-a-kind watches that reflect their personal style. You can create a bespoke product that truly stands out by offering a range of customization options, such as engraving and interchangeable watch bands.

Starting a watch business can be an excellent venture for those passionate about fashion and accessories. You can build a successful and sustainable business in this exciting industry by focusing on a specific niche and offering unique, high-quality products.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a watch brand:

1. Branzio ($300K/year)

Ronnie Teja (from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) started Branzio over 5 years ago.

Revenue
$25K / month
Team
1 founders / 10 employees
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Case Study

Hey guys, my name is Ronnie Teja and I am the Founder and CEO of Branzio Watches.

We are doing about $25k/mo in sales right now, which is poised to double in the next 6 months at least as we open and explore new markets.

how-i-built-a-booming-watch-brand-from-nothing

2. Theo & Harris ($1.8M/year)

Christian Zeron (from New Jersey, USA) started Theo & Harris over 8 years ago.

Revenue
$150K / month
Team
1 founders / 3 employees
Location
New Jersey, USA

Case Study

I’m Christian Zeron, I’m 23, the founder of Theo & Harris and I get people excited about old watches.

Really, I should be getting out of law school in May (with 200k in debt) but instead, I’m turning out over $2M in vintage watch sales a year.

how-i-started-a-1-8m-year-vintage-watch-company

Learn more about starting a watch brand:

Where to start?

-> How to start a watch brand?
-> How much does it cost to start a watch brand?
-> Pros and cons of a watch brand

Need inspiration?

-> Examples of established watch brand
-> Marketing ideas for a watch brand
-> Watch brand slogans
-> Watch brand names
-> Watch brand Instagram bios

Other resources

-> Watch brand tips
-> Watch brand manufacturers
-> Watch brand hashtags
-> Watch brand calculator

4. Delray Watch Supply ($3.84M/year)

John Pietrasz (from Miami, Florida, USA) started Delray Watch Supply about 6 years ago.

Revenue
$320K / month
Team
2 founders / 4 employees
Location
Miami, Florida, USA

Case Study

Hi! My name is John Pietrasz, and I am co-founder of Delray Watch Supply, DelrayWatch.com - informally known as Delray Watch. We are a tech-driven luxury watch dealer with a focus on the true watch collectors, casually known as “watch geeks”. By aid of a proprietary algorithm, we, my business partner Federico Iossa and I, are able to offer collectors the most for their pieces on trade, while still remaining competitive in our listing prices.

I started this business with my partner, Federico Iossa (popular from the YouTube series ‘Federico Talks Watches’) 20 months ago with $4,000 in a kitchen, and now see sales of over $3.3 MM annually, at the age of 28.

how-we-started-a-3-3m-watch-business-selling-on-youtube

5. Button Watch ($1.32M/year)

Chema Echanove (from Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain) started Button Watch ago.

Revenue
$110K / month
Team
3 founders / 5 employees
Location
Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain

Case Study

Hello to you all! I’m Chema Echanove, one of the three co-founders alongside Javier Echanove and Daniel Ferrandis.

After almost two years we’re going to close 2019 with $1.5M in revenue.

how-we-started-button-watch-and-grew-to-1-5m-year

6. Bruder Watches ($18K/year)

Marcus Taylor (from Bristol, UK) started Bruder Watches almost 3 years ago.

Revenue
$1.5K / month
Team
3 founders / 1 employees

Case Study

I’m Marcus, Co-Director of Bruder Watches Ltd, the youngest of three brothers from Bristol, United Kingdom. We pride ourselves on offering high-quality, timeless watches that don’t break the bank. Our company is in its infancy but we have already seen a fantastic appetite for our new range of timepieces called "Fortis". The range consists of five watch styles each designed to look great whatever the occasion. Our company was born at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, so as you can imagine, logistically, it wasn’t without its challenges getting to where we are today.

Success in 2021 for Bruder is about continuing to grow our brand and engage with our customer base. We will expect to break even around August from our initial start-up cost of around $17,000.

how-these-three-brothers-started-a-1-5k-month-watch-brand

7. NOVO watch ($240K/year)

Steve Christensen (from Alberta, Canada) started NOVO watch over 11 years ago.

Revenue
$20K / month
Team
1 founders / 0 employees
Location
Alberta, Canada

Case Study

Hi! My name is Steve Christensen and I handmake watches using reclaimed materials such as military tanks and train tracks at Novo Watch. I consider myself a horologist so my profession ends in -ist and my mom thinks I made it.

It is an iconic place to many people and it’s where we found our original traction. It even made the National news in Canada, which was wild. We completely sold out of our first limited 15 piece editions immediately and had our first-ever $16,000 day!

steve-christensen-is-building-watches-from-old-train-tracks

8. Elliot Havok ($1.8M/year)

Steven Elliot Ng (from San Francisco, CA, USA) started Elliot Havok ago.

Revenue
$150K / month
Team
1 founders / 5 employees
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA

Case Study

Hi! I’m Steven and I’m the founder of Elliot Havok and Dash Wallets. Elliot Havok focuses on luxury watches and Dash Wallets offers minimalist wallet solutions.

Simply, we want to make high quality, functional fashion accessories at an affordable price, direct to consumer. To date, we’ve sold over 250,000 wallets in 95 different countries. We’re doing over 150k in sales monthly and are on track for more product lines in 2019.

how-steven-elliot-ng-makes-150k-per-month-launching-kickstarters

Pat Walls,  Founder of Starter Story
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