Watchisthis

16Nov 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Mateo Asier – Founder of Lebond Watches

Interview

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the young brand Lebond Watches. I immediately loved their concept and the design of their watches. Naturally, I wanted to learn more, and I had the honor of interviewing the brand's founder, Mateo Asier. One small point to note: you know that Watchisthis usually only covers watches priced under €2500 ($, CHF, or £). This time, I'm making an exception because their watches are priced at €2700, and honestly, I love their work. So, let's get started, enjoy the read ;-) Mateo Asier - Founder of Lebond Watches Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? Since I was very young, I’ve been fascinated by both architecture and watches. After living with my wife in Paris and…

02Nov 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Jan Sarnowski – Founder of Oriorwaith J. Sarnowski

Interview

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to discover the work of Oriorwaith J. Sarnowski during the AuroChronos Festival in Warsaw, Poland. I was immediately captivated by his pieces. Honestly, given the price, one might have doubted it, but to my great surprise, the quality is undeniable. I took the opportunity to interview Janek (Founder of the brand), and I'm very happy to share our conversation with you today. Janek and his wife Emeline during AuroChronos Festival 2025 Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? My name is Jan, I’m a mathematician by education, teacher by trade and a watchmaker by passion. My watch collecting started almost by accident, when I was around 13 years old. When visiting a car boot sale…

30Sep 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

A Record-Breaking Edition of AuroChronos Festival 2025

Story

If you've been following me, you know I've loved the AuroChronos Festival since its first edition in 2017. This year, it was back after several shutdowns (damn Covid), and what we can say is that the show was a huge success. More than 1,200 attendees, over 40 brands from around the world, unique timepieces unavailable in mass distribution, and prestigious awards presented by an international jury — this was AuroChronos Festival 2025, the largest event in Poland dedicated to independent watchmaking. This was the first edition of the festival held in Warsaw (Poland) — and also a return after a six-year break. Despite coinciding with an election weekend and the event being ticketed, attendance exceeded 1,200 people, which the organizers unanimously consider a great success and a clear sign that…

13Août 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Omar Kabbani – Co-Founder of Micro Indy Collective and Timezones

Interview

For several months, I've been part of the Micro Indy Collective Community a community on WhatsApp which is a group of watch collectors and enthusiasts. The MIC Community was created a little over a year ago by Omar Kabbani and Samuel Danho, and it's truly a success.The discussions there are very interesting, and obviously, when you love watchmaking, you enjoy participating in all of it. Building on this success, the duo, in association with Ahmed Gawdat from Watchcollectivetwo, decided to create the Timezones. The latter seems very interesting given the 70+ brands that will be participating. I won't reveal everything, but thanks to this interview, you'll learn a little more, particularly about co-founder Omar Kabbani. The team behind Timezones Event - Samuel & Omar from MIC and Ahmed from Watchcollectivetwo…

04Juil 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Brendan Horneman – Founder of Kneijnsberg Watches

Interview

Today I'm going to introduce you to Kneijnsberg Watches. The brand was founded by Brendan Horneman, a Dutch watchmaker whom I've known for a very long time. I first met Brendan in 2017 during the first AuroChronos Festival in Lodz, Poland. At that time, he was already developing his brand, but with an added twist (Kneijnsberg & Van Eijk). Today, he's moving forward and presenting his latest creation, called Hugenius. This one is a tribute to the Dutch scientist and inventor Christiaan Huygens. Before talking more specifically about the watch in a future article, I invite you to learn more about Brendan through this interview. Here we go… Enjoy reading ;-) Brendan Horneman - Founder of Kneijnsberg Watches Could you tell us a bit about you and your story with…

09Juin 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Kevin Pedral – Founder of Pedral Watches

Interview

A few months ago I discovered the Pedral brand. Ok the brand has been around for a long time, but yes ... I can't know them all either. Well, the design of their watches immediately interested me, so I wanted to learn more. Today, with this interview, I invite you to discover Kevin Pedral, founder of the brand that bears his name. Enjoy reading ;-) Kevin Pedral photographed by Katriin Mäkinen Could you tell us a bit about you and your story with watches? I didn’t study design. I didn’t go to watchmaking school—I actually applied to the one in Sweden and didn’t get in. So yeah, no formal training, no industry background. Everything I’ve done, I had to figure out on my own. I was born in the Congo…

28Mai 2025 by Jonathan Kopp 2 Comments

Interview Pierre Strömbäck – Founder of Alato Watches

Interview

A few weeks ago, I discovered a new brand called Alato. I liked the design and the overwhole style of the watches, and then suddenly, a subtlety caught my eye. Pierre Strömbeck, founder of the brand, said his watch was inspired by the Reuleaux Triangle, and particularly the rotor and indexes. But now you know me... For me, he can't say that it's inspired by something when he's doing the complete opposite.The rotor is an inverted Reuleaux triangle that looks like a fidget spinner… In geometry, the union of geodesic arcs is called a geodesic triangle… So he should say "inspired by geodesic"… I had to understand. I hope that in this interview we'll learn more about Pierre and his watches. Could you tell us a bit about you and…

18Avr 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview: Thomas Brissiaud – Founder of Tessé Watches

Interview

At the end of 2024, I discovered the Instagram account of a new brand called Tessé Watches. Obviously, at first, there weren't any renderings of their future watches, but they have made some posts in an artistic style that I really liked. So, I decided to follow them and take a closer look at their work. The brand will officially launch on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. So this interview is timely, and it will introduce you to Thomas and his new creation. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your story with watches? Watches have always been more than just timekeepers for me—they are stories, emotions, and heritage wrapped around the wrist. My fascination started young, influenced by my grandfather’s watch, which sparked my appreciation for both mechanical…

07Avr 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

Interview Pawel Zalewski – Founder of AuroChronos Festival

Interview

After several years of hiatus, the AuroChronos Festival is back. The show will take place in Warsaw on May 17th and 18th 2025. As some of you know, I participated in the last three editions, both as a brand representative and as a jury member. To give you a little more context, initiative of this festival came from two friends who love watches. Maciej Mazurkiewicz – a professional doctor specializing in oncology, and Paweł Zalewski – a translator and lecturer with over 13 years of experience in business training. The first edition took place in 2017, and as I said at the time: "I have participated in a lot of watch events but honestly, Aurochronos is in the top 5. The crew was really cool and everything has been well…

26Mar 2025 by Jonathan Kopp No Comments

DOXA Unveils the New SUB 250T GMT

Press Release

After nearly 20 years, DOXA brings the GMT function back into the SUB collection – answering the mounting calls of DOXA fans, collectors and retailers worldwide. Hours, minutes, seconds, a date window at 3 o'clock, and travel-ready GMT function, the new SUB 250T GMT brings it all together in a new 40m case size that strikes the perfect balance between capability, comfort, and wrist presence. The SUB 250T GMT launches in all eight signature DOXA colors, with either a color-matched FKM rubber strap or the DOXA stainless steel “beads of rice” bracelet. This new GMT carries forward the spirit of the SUB 750T GMT from 2006, which made waves in the Professional, Sharkhunter, Caribbean, and Divingstar variants. Completing the collection, the SUB 250T GMT also comes in a special vintage…