Northern Touch: Canadian Brands to Watch Out For

Horology is an ecosystem. For our area of interest (watches), we need to plant seeds. This means nurturing the independents as much as we do the big brands. It also means learning about and supporting regional watchmakers.

As Watchonista’s resident Canadian, I’m pleased to report that independent watchmaking above the 49th Parallel has never been more active. Our history of horology may not be as extensive as in, say, Europe, Japan, or the US, but that just makes the efforts of this new breed of brands even more impressive.

Not to say that Canada has no tradition of clock and watchmaking. On a recent trip to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania, I learned that American manufacturers used to import wooden clock cases from furniture makers in my hometown of Kitchener, Ontario. And the Westclox plant in Peterborough, Ontario, produced millions of Big Ben-branded alarm clocks and watches between 1920 and 1986.

However, a big part of this modern boom is due to a more international way of thinking. Specifically, we have the Kickstarter watch phenomenon of the late 2010s and early 2020s, which gave small brands being the ability to self-finance through crowdfunding, to thank for this worldly shift.

Thus, in honour (yes, we spell it with a “u”) of Canada Day, which is today, we thought we’d share the limelight with five fantastic recent releases from Canadian brands.

Not all Canadian watch brands are upstarts. Marathon was founded in Montreal in 1939 by Morris Wein. Its collection of tool watches is designed in Canada, manufactured in Switzerland, and sold to Canadian, British, and American militaries (and a core group of avid civilian collectors).
 

The Wein family is still involved in the business, further lending authenticity to military watch enthusiasts. The importance of history is also evident in Marathon’s newest addition to its Navigator Pilot watch line, the ADANAC Red Maple Stainless Steel Navigator Pilot’s Automatic.

Launched today, it is a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag. A limited edition of just 500 pieces, this crisp-looking timepiece features a snowy white dial with a red maple leaf at its center, a bold red bezel, and a matching red-and-white NATO strap with sky-blue accents.
 

Released today and available via the brand’s website, the Marathon ADANAC Red Maple Stainless Steel Navigator Pilot’s Automatic is priced at $1,280.

A Montréal-based microbrand, Héron’s first timepiece, the Gladiateur MMLXV, was a
modern travel watch, defined by its distinctive 12-hour Roman numeral bezel that can be used to track a second time zone and powered by a mechanical movement. Its newest release is the elegant Mirabel GMT – a mid-century modern-inspired world-time watch.
 

What we like about the Mirabel is that it bucks the trend toward sporty GMTs – filling a much-needed niche for dandy globetrotters. There are four variations in the Héron Mirabel GMT collection: two steel-finished watches featuring white or blue sunburst dials, and the two gold PVD-finished watches paired with brown or black dials.

Each hand-painted enamel dial is designed in a sector style, with applied Roman numerals. Further fine details such as a resin cabochon set into the crown and a classic box sapphire crystal featuring an anti-reflective coating abound.
 

Fortunately, the Mirabel GMT manages to come in at a thickness of just 11.8mm. That’s because Héron took a pass on having an exhibition case back. But they also took the opportunity to decorate with engravings and a small hand-enameled centerpiece, signifying night and day.
 

Available for pre-order via the brand’s watches, the Héron Mirabel GMT is priced at $690.

From the more bespoke end of luxury watchmaking comes Montreal’s José Cermeño.

Cermeño studied in Switzerland at the École Technique de la Vallée de Joux, where he earned a degree as a Watchmaker Practitioner. During this time, he also gained work experience with manufacturers such as Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Breguet, and Blancpain.
 

Equally inspired by independent Maisons such as Romain Gauthier and Philippe Dufour, Cermeño returned to Canada in 2019 to take a more artisanal approach to watchmaking, specifically by using fine, hand-embroidered leather and integrating it into the dial

We first saw his artistry at the Vancouver Timepiece Show last April. We can guarantee you’ve never seen a watch quite like the José Cermeño Losange before.
 

It not only looks wholly original, but Cermeño explained that a lot of research and development went into making sure that issues such as leather degradation would not affect the mechanism (for example, the indices are engraved into an extra-high flange for clarity and to allow clearance for the dauphine hands).
 

Available now via the brand’s website, the José Cermeño Losange is priced at $1,950.

Based in Vancouver, surrounded by the ocean and the mountains, Momentum’s founder, Simon Pennell, built the brand by selling its hand-assembled watches to dive stores and outdoor outfitters, making the brand best known for straightforward, waterproof watches. One of the brand’s most recent releases, the Smokejumper Eclipse Solar [42mm], is the perfect watch for a summer by the sea.
 

These affordable and reliable (powered by Japanese Miyota quartz movements for precision and to keep pricing accessible) watches are also solar-powered, making them virtually maintenance-free (and more environmentally friendly by keeping batteries out of landfills).
 

The Smokejumper’s 42mm case is on the larger side, but because it is crafted from solid titanium with a black ion-plated finish, it wears light. It also comes with the option of five different leather or rubber straps for a versatile look.
 

Available now via the brand’s website, the Momentum Smokejumper is priced at $275.

For five years now, collectors with a more modernist aesthetic have been celebrating Toronto brand Vieren for its streamlined, rectangular unisex timepieces.

Founded by entrepreneur Jessica Chow and designer Sunny Fong, Chow brings her family’s history in horology (her parents met at Baselworld), while Fong offers his fashion sense (he was a contestant on Project Runway All Stars). The result is a luxurious yet minimalist watch powered by bespoke movements made in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
 

Vieren will be launching a new collection to celebrate the brand’s fifth anniversary this fall. However, in the meantime, we’re still sighing over the Stereo collection’s 2024 Gold Waves limited-edition watch, which features a dial that visually represents sound waves pulsing out from the speakers at a dance club. Like the other Canadian watches on this list, Viren fills a niche that other watchmakers don’t (but that fans clamor for).
 

Available now via the brand’s website for $9,000, the Vieren Gold Waves is limited to five pieces.

Happy Canada Day!