If you build bracelets, watches will come. Miansai, the Miami-based label that found an unlikely niche in the market with masculine hook-closed men’s bracelets over the past few years, is broadening its purview to include timepieces, too. “Being an accessories company with a heavy focus on bracelets, watches were a natural progression for us, and something we have always wanted to do,” said founder Michael Andrew Saiger. “After over a year and a half of development, we were finally able to.”
The launch, which includes three watch styles—a perpetual, a chronograph, and an automatic—and nearly innumerable bands, launches today at Barneys, before going wider in the coming months. Saiger stressed the styles’ go-anywhere appeal. “In my opinion, a lot of watchmakers focus their pieces around a lifestyle they are trying to sell: racer, pilot, thrill seeker,” he said. “I wanted to make watches that didn’t lean towards any of that, rather were just good-looking, classic, and ageless styles that anyone and everyone could wear regardless of the occasion.” They also hit a sweet spot in pricing that’s currently underserved: starting around $350 and topping out at $500. The bands range from calf leather to woven ribbon reminiscent of Miansai’s bracelets to appealing mixed-media combinations of the two. The nuts and bolts include Japanese movements, Swiss sapphire crystal, and the like, but more immediately eye-catching is the hook—Miansai’s trademark shape, subtle but standout here as the second hand.
Miansai’s M1 perpetual, M2 chronograph, and M3 automatic styles are available today at Miansai.com and Barneys.com. —Matthew Schneier
Photo: Courtesy of Miansai
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