The land of the Kiwis has more than rugby and Lord of the Rings scenery to offer. There are currently 4 New Zealand watch brands to explore. Take a look!
When I think of New Zealand, the first thing that comes to mind aren’t watches. It’s rugby, and dramatic Lord of the Rings scenery. But the land of the Kiwis do offer a few timepieces, at least the New Zealand watch brands I have listed below. I’ve also left one brand on the list that has recently closed its doors, but you may still find some of their watches floating around.
If you know of any other New Zealand watch brand, please let us know, and we will add it to this post.
New Zealand Watch Brands
1. Komrade
Komrade watches was founded in Papamoa Beach in New Zealand by an ex-military man. There watches are military inspired and seam to be made in small batches. Their current stock looks to be the Urban Diver Mark2 in Blue, Light Blue, Green and Orange dial colors. The Urban diver is priced around $350 US and sports a Sieko NH36A movement. One of the more interesting features is the beryllium bronze crown. At 43mm the Komrade Urban Diver is well sized and looks to be well made.
2. Magrette
Magrette Timepieces was founded in Auckland in 2006 by passionate watch collector Dion Wynyard McAsey. His vision was to create a brand influenced by yachting and a mysterious older world.
Magrette makes limited editions of robust high-quality timepieces. All models are analog and have sapphire crystal and automatic mechanical movements. Most Magrette watches run from $500 to $900 US, depending on what kind of movement, case and style your picking from. As far as design goes, it makes me think of Panerai (the former Italian brand that’s crossed the border and become Swiss). One of of the more unique offerings from Magrette is their occasional release of hand engraved watch cases. The engraving is done by Andrew Biggs and is extremely unique and beautiful with prices running from around $2,000 to more than $5,500 for one of a kind pieces.
I have a Moana Pacific in Rose Gold number 025/500. After wearing the watch for a few months the markings on the bezel started to ware off. I ended up totally removing the markings and found that I like the watch even better with the clean bezel. Magrette seems to have resolved this issue as the newer watches have embossed bezels.
3. Olympic
Olympic Swiss Watches Ltd was founded in Auckland in 1972,and make high-quality watches at affordable prices. Featuring stainless steel cases, Ronda movements, analog dials, and water resistance from 30m up to 200m, Olympic timepiece offer derivative style in the lower end of the market. With watches for men, women, kids, nurses and even pocket watches Olympic watches offer a comprehensive product line. Prices are usually somewhere between $100 and $400.
4. Roys Road
The microbrand Roys Road was established in 2015 in Plimmerton, New Zealand with an idea of creating modern and simplistic watches. Unfortunately Roys Road has ceased operations as of March of 2020.
