Yesterday, April 26, 2017, the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) released a white paper on “Fine Watchmaking”. In short, the white paper was created to promote what they’re calling “Fine Watchmaking”, and they defined 4 market segments and 7 areas of expertise by which 46 “independent international experts” used to judge brands against. These people make up what they’re calling the “Cultural Council”. For a watch to be qualified it must score at least 60% where 65% of the score is objective and 35% is subjective.

In total, 86 brands were judged, 68 made the cut, and only 28 were so good they became partners.

If you ask me, I would recommend against buying a watch from a young independent company. This is my general rule, and this has nothing to do with the quality of the watches, because young independents make some amazing watches, and I do mean amazing! My recommendation is simply based on the economics of the watch industry itself.

Currently, buying a watch brand new has never been a bigger ripoff. If one compares prices of watches today to even 20 or 30 years ago, factoring for inflation, watches are one of the few things in our world that are actually much more expensive.