| Hi there! It's Chris Rovzar, editor of Pursuits and chronicler of cool timepieces. I'm currently lining up my schedule of product previews at Watches & Wonders, the annual trade show in Geneva which is somehow timed every year to ensure that I spend my birthday on an airplane. :-( Nevertheless, I'm excited to see the new offerings from many of the big brands—last year Rolex made a splash with a GMT for lefties, and I loved a gorgeous green perpetual chronograph calendar from Patek Philippe.  This Rolex GMT-Master II has a crown on the left side, making it easier to wear on your right wrist. Source: Rolex But one of the things I always love best about trade shows is learning about watchmakers I know less well. I've marveled at the liquid smoothness of Ressence watches, and daydreamed about how cool it would be to own one of the Gattaca-esque, extremely limited units from Laurent Ferrier. Louis Moinet makes Steampunky pieces with racing complications that you can customize to your delight, and every time I stop by an Urwerk booth they hand me something that I swear is from the future. People often ask me why I like watches so much, and I say, "Watches are so much more than you think!" TIME FOR A QUICK DIGRESSION: I'm going to start a Watch Club for Bloomberg Pursuits readers, which will have a newsletter featuring exclusive watchmaker interviews and which will also offer access to private events and previews. It's gonna be informal for now, but if you want to be added to the list, please shoot an email with your name and address to AskPursuits@bloomberg.net. Thanks! It's the smaller brands, which don't have a century's worth of Swiss watchmaking history and aren't backed by huge corporations like the Swatch Group, LVMH or Richemont, that are the focus of a big package from Bloomberg Businessweek last week. Geneva-based writer Andy Hoffman, an expert on the Swiss watch industry, uses the example of Horologer Ming to demonstrate how some of a group of creative entrepreneurs has started a range of new companies in recent decades that are creating their own design codes.  The Ming 17.06 "Copper." Source: Ming Thein Just five years old, Horologer Ming is based in Kuala Lumpur, but uses Swiss manufacturing to make its pieces. The watches use luminescent materials in an innovative, strikingly simple way. Since the brand was first created by photographer and private equity guy Ming Thein and his friends, it has grown in popularity and its small batches of watches regularly sell out. (They're priced in the range of $3,000 to $10,000.) And Ming is not alone. A lot of independent brands have seen soaring interest in the past few years, due to a confluence of factors. First, the pandemic kept people at home and put a little extra discretionary cash in some bank accounts, which boosted interest in timepieces generally as new fans began to research the field and buy small luxuries that felt indulgent and personal. This growing enthusiasm from new collectors, plus a wave of speculation from people in crypto community, who began trading watches for bragging rights and profit, put a crunch on the blue chip makers like Rolex and Patek. It was difficult to buy the most-coveted models at retail, and secondhand prices skyrocketed (although that has since abated). This also encouraged enthusiasts to explore brands they might not have known as well before, because the old faithfuls became unattainable.  MB&F's Horological Machine No. 1 in 18-karat red gold. Source: MB&F "Right place, right time," says Thein, 36. "But we're also aware of the work we put in to make the product as good as we can possibly make it." Thein's point is so right on. It's true that these independent brands, like all watchmakers, benefitted from certain market conditions in the past couple of years that brought them more attention. But the reason this interest transferred into profits is that these companies were already out there making wonderful timepieces. They were ready to go. (And most of them already had dedicated fan bases.) I admit that Andy's article exposed me to some companies I really hadn't known before, so I suggest even the most ardent watch aficionado go read it. Some of them are very expensive, I'll warn you. But I have my eye on an $995 Baltic GMT that shouldn't break the bank for whichever one of you out there wants to buy it for me for my birthday. I'll just pick it up when the plane lands, thanks. Connect with Chris on Twitter or Instagram | 
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