Introducing Swiss Watch Company

7207 Views 94 Replies 42 Participants Last post by pnojazz, Feb 7, 2022

JRoem

Discussion Starter · Sep 23, 2019

Hi everybody, my name is Josh Roemer and I run the marketing for Swiss Watch Company.

My dad (Stephen Roemer) founded the company back in 1996 after nearly two decades working within the Swatch group. Those of you who have followed us on Instagram for the past 2 years are very family with his, as well as our, brand's history. For those who are not familiar; my dad after leaving the Swatch Group moved to the United States and began manufacturing watches for the U.S. armed forces as well as first responders. In 2008 he began facilitating the manufacturing for other watch brands, large, and micro (something we continue to do to this day). In 2017 we decided it was time to create our own line of watches and after a successful Kickstarter campaign in October of 2018 that dream became a reality.

My dad and I have truly enjoyed getting to know people within the watch community on Instagram and wanted to expand onto Watchuseek. Not only to get to know more of the community, but because forums seem to be more conducive to long form conversation, which we prefer. We get a lot of questions from people not only regarding our brand, but on the microbrand market as a whole (specifically how to start a microbrand) and these are topics we love discussing!

Here are some images and the specs for our dive watches which are currently available (with the exception of the orange model, which is sold out). We will also be releasing a chronograph (based of our of dive watch design) and announcing completely new model family later this year.

We look forward to getting to know you all!

Specifications:

Swiss Made
SW 200 Swiss Made Automatic Movement with 28800 A/h (4Hz)
26 jewels
316 L solid stainless-steel case
120 step uni-directional divers bezel
Ceramic diver bezel ring
Oil pressed case back
Sapphire crystal
5x Anti reflective coating
30 ATM / 1000 ft water resistant
20 layers of Swiss Made Super-Luminova for the indexes
Solid 3 link 316 l stainless steel bracelet
Capsa pins
Solid integrated divers buckle

Measurements:

Case: 44mm
Lug Width: 22mm
Band Width: 22mm/20mm
Case Thickness: 13.2mm
Case 9h3h: 48mm

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Green

Analog watch Watch Watch accessory Strap Fashion accessory

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Orange

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Blue Fashion accessory

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Minorcollector

· #41 · Sep 24, 2019 (Edited)

I think you missed the boat on the 44mm watch trend. Nice looking watches, but way too big. The name screams Chinese mushroom brand. I have all the same reservations as others have stated. Price point is good. I always shake my head at these startup micro brands advertising a standard equipped watch for $1500. It's like they are trying to fake the luxury. If your divers were in the 40-42mm I'd be interested. I sold all my 44mm divers long ago.

Reactions: 1

vintorez

· #42 · Sep 24, 2019

I'll echo what everyone else has said about the name.

"Hey what's that watch you're wearing?"

"Oh this? It's a Swiss Watch Company"

Reactions: 1

Glencoe

· #43 · Sep 24, 2019 (Edited)

Good story and nice price point. The bezel is cool, something interesting about the curvy shape and textured lines. Overall, very nice looking watch.

If I was to pick on some minor things, just based on my personal tastes, it would probably be the logo / text, name and size. The text feels like its been condensed / squished into a small space. My preference would have been an abbreviation, as others noted, or perhaps making the text a lighter shade of the dial colour so it does not pop out as much. Also, the name does not feel personal enough to me, as opposed to something like Roemer Watch Works. If it were smaller, around 40, I might be tempted.

Overall, congratulations on a nice watch.

Minorcollector

· #44 · Sep 24, 2019

Suggestions....I know you want to keep "Swiss" in the name, how about Swiss Roemer? Or at least shorten "Company" to "Co". I think "Swiss Watch Co." looks better than the full name.

Also, it says your dad got started making military watches. There are a lot of people on here interested in "military" watches. What were the products he worked on? Maybe some product lines that are similar to that. In the US military watches are primarily G-shock style. There aren't any mil-spec watches here (20 years in the Marines and I was never issued a watch). I'd be interested in your dads military designs (I assume they were for European militaries).

Reactions: 1

IndependentGeorge

· #45 · Sep 24, 2019

JRoem said:
Here are some images and the specs for our dive watches which are currently available (with the exception of the orange model, which is sold out). We will also be releasing a chronograph (based of our of dive watch design) and announcing completely new model family later this year.[/B]

1. I really like the overall design of the watch - it's great to see something besides just another submariner knockoff - but the size is a bit too large for me. That said, I believe larger watches still sell better than smaller ones, so this is just my own tastes speaking. I would prefer 38-40mm for a dive watch, but that may or or may not be the best marketing decision for you.
2. I'd need to see it in person, but I'm a little unsure of the square pattern on the dial. I like that you have some texturing on the dial - I'm just not sure that I want a square within a circle. It is understated (which I like), so it seems very likely has a different appearance in person rather than in a zoomed-in photograph.
3. As others have stated, 'Swiss Watch Company' is a bit much to have on the dial; I don't have a problem with the name itself, but I think having just the logo on the front (without the text) would look better.
4. I absolutely love the design of the bezel.
5. I love the orange chapter ring on the black watch. I'm not usually a fan of orange, but that looks like just the right amount of color to be bold without 'shouting' visually.
6. Normally, I want the date complication to match the color of the dial; in this case, the white date complication seems to take the place of the hour marker and make the dial more balanced. I'm a bit unsure on this one - I have dueling OCD on whether my desire to have the date match the dial outweighs the balance between the 9 o'clock hour marker and the date complication.

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Minorcollector

· #46 · Sep 24, 2019

IndependentGeorge said:
2. I'd need to see it in person, but I'm a little unsure of the square pattern on the dial. I like that you have some texturing on the dial - I'm just not sure that I want a square within a circle. It is understated (which I like), so it seems very likely has a different appearance in person rather than in a zoomed-in photograph.
3. As others have stated, 'Swiss Watch Company' is a bit much to have on the dial; I don't have a problem with the name itself, but I think having just the logo on the front (without the text) would look better.

I kind of dig the football field pattern on the dial. It's different, but not obnoxious. Really like the sword hands as well. The "Automatic" on the bottom of the dial needs to be a bit bigger. Probably not even readable in person and there is a lot of open space. That might be a good place to put the name. Leave the logo on the top (maybe make the logo a bit bigger), and move Swiss Watch Company to the bottom above "Automatic".

Swiss Watch Company
Automatic

Or

Swiss Watch Co.
Automatic

JRoem

Discussion Starter · #47 · Sep 24, 2019

Minorcollector said:
I think you missed the boat on the 44mm watch trend. Nice looking watches, but way too big. The name screams Chinese mushroom brand. I have all the same reservations as others have stated. Price point is good. I always shake my head at these startup micro brands advertising a standard equipped watch for $1500. It's like they are trying to fake the luxury. If your divers were in the 40-42mm I'd be interested. I sold all my 44mm divers long ago.

Size is definitely something we will be re evaluating in the future. We are looking at an option to have the next version of our diver run at 40mm or 41mm, but we will have to be absolutely certain that it is something our current customer base is OK with changing.

I can see where you are coming from with the name. Many backers within our campaign disliked it as well, but by the end of the month almost all opted to keep it on the dial. It gives off the vibe that we aren't "microbrand" run by individuals when it is first encountered. It is something we are working on but it will be tricky to find a final solution because we will be dealing with the other side of the coin where many people will push us to keep the name. We think the best solution may be to switch to SWC for branding and keep the full name for our company and licensing.

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JRoem

Discussion Starter · #48 · Sep 24, 2019

vintorez said:
I'll echo what everyone else has said about the name.

"Hey what's that watch you're wearing?"

"Oh this? It's a Swiss Watch Company"

Yeah this is something that changing to SWC for branding could fix, similar to how IWC is structured. It definitely flows much better haha.

JRoem

Discussion Starter · #49 · Sep 24, 2019

Glencoe said:
Good story and nice price point. The bezel is cool, something interesting about the curvy shape and textured lines. Overall, very nice looking watch.

If I was to pick on some minor things, just based on my personal tastes, it would probably be the logo / text, name and size. The text feels like its been condensed / squished into a small space. My preference would have been an abbreviation, as others noted, or perhaps making the text a lighter shade of the dial colour so it does not pop out as much. Also, the name does not feel personal enough to me, as opposed to something like Roemer Watch Works. If it were smaller, around 40, I might be tempted.

Overall, congratulations on a nice watch.

Thank you very much! The text is something that we have had a few reviewers bring up. It was designed by a Swiss designer, but has not been updated since the 1990s back when it was created. It could be that we are due for an update, but changing over to SWC with could be a remedy for this.

Having this many people express interest in a smaller design makes it very likely that the next version of this model will come in around 40mm-41mm. I will say as I have said before though that it will depend on our current customer base, but feedback like this definitely gets the conversation started with them.

sticky

· #50 · Sep 24, 2019

Looks good to me. Best of luck.

Reactions: 1

JRoem

Discussion Starter · #51 · Sep 24, 2019

Minorcollector said:
Suggestions....I know you want to keep "Swiss" in the name, how about Swiss Roemer? Or at least shorten "Company" to "Co". I think "Swiss Watch Co." looks better than the full name.

Also, it says your dad got started making military watches. There are a lot of people on here interested in "military" watches. What were the products he worked on? Maybe some product lines that are similar to that. In the US military watches are primarily G-shock style. There aren't any mil-spec watches here (20 years in the Marines and I was never issued a watch). I'd be interested in your dads military designs (I assume they were for European militaries).

Swiss Watch Co. would be doable without much hassle. We would prefer to make the switch to SWC but branding laws for watches are pretty strict in Switzerland and getting approved would be a process, but definitely doable with time.

Yes he did watches for the military for quite some time (all U.S. military)! I'll attach a picture here of two of the more popular models. It has been a little more than 10 years since we produced them but we made and sold thousands so there are a lot still floating around. We made them for the Marines and U.S. Army so our company name is only found on the caseback. These were never issued to soldiers but were available in the stores on almost all U.S. bases. Most sales happened at graduation.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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JRoem

Discussion Starter · #52 · Sep 24, 2019

IndependentGeorge said:
1. I really like the overall design of the watch - it's great to see something besides just another submariner knockoff - but the size is a bit too large for me. That said, I believe larger watches still sell better than smaller ones, so this is just my own tastes speaking. I would prefer 38-40mm for a dive watch, but that may or or may not be the best marketing decision for you.
2. I'd need to see it in person, but I'm a little unsure of the square pattern on the dial. I like that you have some texturing on the dial - I'm just not sure that I want a square within a circle. It is understated (which I like), so it seems very likely has a different appearance in person rather than in a zoomed-in photograph.
3. As others have stated, 'Swiss Watch Company' is a bit much to have on the dial; I don't have a problem with the name itself, but I think having just the logo on the front (without the text) would look better.
4. I absolutely love the design of the bezel.
5. I love the orange chapter ring on the black watch. I'm not usually a fan of orange, but that looks like just the right amount of color to be bold without 'shouting' visually.
6. Normally, I want the date complication to match the color of the dial; in this case, the white date complication seems to take the place of the hour marker and make the dial more balanced. I'm a bit unsure on this one - I have dueling OCD on whether my desire to have the date match the dial outweighs the balance between the 9 o'clock hour marker and the date complication.

1. Thank you for the feedback! With our future model families there will be no question that we size down for them and keep things in the 38mm-41mm range. As you said, any changes in size to the next dive watch model will be dependent on what will be best for our current customer base, which is where (at least initially) the majority of our future sales are going to come from.
2. The square pattern is much more prominent in photographs than it is in person. We will actually be in Chicago at the LAmicrolux show next month (October 18th-19th). It is free to attend so if you get a chance you should stop by and handle one.
3. Having just the logo on the dial is something we are experimenting with for our next model family that we will be announcing in a month or so!
4. Thank you! The bezel design is probably the favorite feature of our customers right next to the lume.
5. The orange model was a surprise hit. The orange chapter ring was something that was actually chosen by our followers on Instagram and it became so popular that it sold our far sooner than we projected it would.
6. This is another design change we are looking at for the next version of the dive watch. It won't happen until well into next year but we are currently leaning towards matching the colors as you stated.

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JRoem

Discussion Starter · #53 · Sep 24, 2019

Minorcollector said:
I kind of dig the football field pattern on the dial. It's different, but not obnoxious. Really like the sword hands as well. The "Automatic" on the bottom of the dial needs to be a bit bigger. Probably not even readable in person and there is a lot of open space. That might be a good place to put the name. Leave the logo on the top (maybe make the logo a bit bigger), and move Swiss Watch Company to the bottom above "Automatic".

Swiss Watch Company
Automatic

Or

Swiss Watch Co.
Automatic

Thank you! The pattern on the dial is much more subtle in person, especially on the black dial. Changing the location of the name is something we have looked at as well and I could see your suggestion being viable. The reason for the smaller "Automatic" text was actually a suggestion made by our backers. People were split on making the text smaller or axing it completely. In the end it got shrunk down, but we are leaning more towards removing it completely since our price point suggests (at least I would hope so ) that it is an automatic.

JRoem

Discussion Starter · #54 · Sep 24, 2019

sticky said:
Looks good to me. Best of luck.

Thank you very much!

rcorreale

· #55 · Sep 24, 2019

Nice looking enough but too big for my tastes.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nokie

· #56 · Sep 24, 2019

By the length of this thread, you realize you are interacting with some serious and smart WIS's here.

Got to give you credit and appreciate you taking the time to respond to everyone's comments.

It is always better to start by playing at Carnegie Hall than the ball field anytime, so welcome to the deep end of the pool.......

Your watch is nice, but the first thing I thought of was Seamaster to a bit lesser degree. Not bad, not good......

I will keep an open mind on your other stuff.

Still, anyone with good knowledge and abilities for anything-watch is certainly welcome to try and make it work.

Good luck.

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JRoem

Discussion Starter · #57 · Sep 24, 2019

rcorreale said:
Nice looking enough but too big for my tastes.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you!

BoppinVinnieB

· #58 · Sep 24, 2019

Congratulations on the new venture! Personally I like the 44mm size since I have larger wrists. The designs are nice too, I like the orange one (too bad it's sold out) but as others have said the name is pretty generic sounding. Someone mentioned a name such as "Swiss Roemer" or "Roemer Watch Works" and I like those suggestions. If I had some extra money in the piggy bank I'd consider buying one, because I like the idea of having a sort of "first edition" of a watch, but for now I guess I'll have to watch from the sidelines (no pun intended! Well, maybe it was...)

JRoem

Discussion Starter · #59 · Sep 24, 2019

Nokie said:
By the length of this thread, you realize you are interacting with some serious and smart WIS's here.

Got to give you credit and appreciate you taking the time to respond to everyone's comments.

It is always better to start by playing at Carnegie Hall than the ball field anytime, so welcome to the deep end of the pool.......

Your watch is nice, but the first thing I thought of was Seamaster to a bit lesser degree. Not bad, not good......

I will keep an open mind on your other stuff.

Still, anyone with good knowledge and abilities for anything-watch is certainly welcome to try and make it work.

Good luck.

I couldn't agree more. Also engaging with people is honestly something I really enjoy. It the best way for us to progress going forward and the more people we engage with, the easier it is to see a pattern form in regards to what people like, or dislike.

Our next models will definitely be far more unique. This will be a good and a bad thing as unique designs are often polarizing, but we are eager to see how it is recieved. Due to my dads background we have the capability to create quality pieces for competitive pricing. However, we believe that true success will lie in creating designs that give us a brand identity. I wouldn't say our diver is a homage but it definitely has elements of tried and true designs (such as the Seamaster). Homage watches sell well, but they don't do much for a brands identity.

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fourthirteen

· #60 · Sep 24, 2019

I like the look and the price but a big diver is not for me. i'm looking forward to seeing what the 41mm non-diver looks like.
Good luck!

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