In 2025, the term microbrand is everywhere. It suggests small scale, direct access to the maker—and all too often, outsourced production and catalog parts. Long before the label existed, Towson Watch Company quietly defined what the term could mean: designing, engineering, and building meaningful watch collections on American soil.
Before “Microbrand” Had a Name
Long before “microbrand” became a name, Towson Watch Company was already building mechanical watches the old‑fashioned way. For us, being small has never been a marketing gimmick; it’s an ethos. Each piece belongs to an evolving family rather than a one‑off drop designed to stoke hype. The cases, dials and hands still come from tiny workshops in our founder Hartwig’s hometown of Pforzheim, Germany, and they’re hand‑finished and regulated in Maryland.
Back when watch forums were printed newsletters and Instagram was still a twinkle in a developer’s eye, we didn’t try to invent a trend. We were simply watchmakers—restoring, designing and building without venture capital or marketing departments. Our earliest pieces were built from components made by family‑owned workshops that Hartwig knew personally. Those partnerships weren’t catalog suppliers; they were friends who shared our standards.
Hartwig’s credibility opened doors at a time when American watchmaking was viewed with skepticism. He used his relationships in Pforzheim to put German precision on American wrists. Our first clients were sailors, engineers and curious neighbors who wandered into the workshop. From day one we were hands‑on: no off‑the‑shelf cases, no generic movements, no third‑party assembly.