Linjer Leather Goods

@jontonsoup these watches look a lot like the typical Chinese wholesaler watches you get on alibaba. A great landing page and product shots, though. It is a quartz movement, Ronda mostly is known for Quartz - yet you can't expect a mechanical movement in here for this price, hence no way for an automatic movement.

@andmitsch Wish it were so easy to find well-designed, well-made things on Alibaba... You're right that they are quartz movements.

@jchong10 got ya. Though, the pretty bland milled steel case "resembles" the MVMT watches a lot and those are indeed off-the-machine Chinese mass products you can get on Alibaba without any unique design efforts and partnerships to a manufacturer. You actually mentioned the movement on your page, at least the brand name that is. While the cheapest mechanical ETA movement might be at around $100, Quartz can be acquired at maybe ~$20 or less, it might be interesting to think about a low-cost mechanical to compete with your market dominator DW, who never placed value on actual craftsmanship. But, let me give you some thoughts to think about. You obviously place your brand alongside the successful Daniel Wellington (you have no way to not be compared to them in the same price segment) name, the commonly known flagship in stylish but affordable watches. But DW's success solely lies in "price + the ultra-slim" case with a NOMOS-esque look that comes with a suggestive perception of "high-price". "Slim" is the most prominent and mentioned factor here (I did a marketing research study couple years ago, interviewing recent DW buyers and it's been almost everyone who mentioned in some sorts the thickness as a decision-driver - these are not premium target-audiences. They are not aware of thick case => mechanical movement => premium reputation). In this price-category the target audience does not care about craftsmanship and comparable values, just about the "perception of value". Your case looks really thick (might not be the truth, but the pictures appear as so - mentioning the measurements might help) and it might not really appear light and elegant to the less-involved customer, hence people like Jonathan ask about the type of movement - because the case is so thick, it appears it can hold a mechanical movement, thus it has to. Maybe, indeed, try to differentiate yourself from DW and co. and try to get a mechanical ETA movement accompanied by a price-tag raise to appear more to premium audiences than the DW personas or make it similarly slim. You might also think about communicating why a Quartz movement is your intended and favored choice over a mechanical. Because if Jonathan asks this here, other will have this question as well. I, for one, I dig the understated minimal dial, though you could easily give this a premium haute-haurology look with adding a contrast colored hand or adding some character to the dial with a unique branded color (quick mockup) Just some thoughts to stick out as you need to cater to a style-conscious mass-market - they need an eye-catching detail even as small as a yellow colored seconds hand,simply to as conversation driver.

@andmitsch @jchong10 Wow, this took you way too long to write. (Really.) Probably better to spend more time on your start-ups than trolling passionate creatives on the internet. No, we're not trying to be Daniel Wellington. We don't respect the design nor the product. Cheers, Roman - Co-founder @linjerco

@romank wow that response really turns me off of the company/product. Andreas seems just as passionate about watches and no part of his comment comes off as trolling. Big dislike.

@gillianim Thank you for the hunt! We've built our watches to be modular, so you can easily remove the leather strap (no tools needed!) and switch it out for another strap. I hear you on the chain strap though! As of now I think it would be difficult to find a chain strap to match the brushed finish, but we've noted this for future product development :)

@a12rj Thanks for your comment! I'm sorry to hear if you've had leather decompose on you before! Leather can decompose if it's not been tanned thoroughly -- and it really is a matter of whether the tannery, factory and brand (and everybody in between) are doing proper checks on the tannage of the leather. My partner and I actually started Linjer as a leather goods company, so we are huge leather nerds and very careful about this kind of issue. For a maker of watches, we are also uncommonly picky about our leather. Our leather straps are made of full grain, vegetable-tanned leather, just like our briefcases, wallets and handbags. This is very high quality leather -- I would guess only 2% of the leather in world is full grain, vegetable-tanned as it requires very clean rawhides and an artisanal tanning technique. It's a completely different material from typical mass-market leather, and even from what most luxury brands peddle as "real leather" and sell for $$$$$... Key differences between our leather and 'mass-market leather': - we use the full grain, which means we select the highest quality hides and use the outermost layer which has the strongest fibres and is the most durable. It also allows the leather to retain its prized natural look. Most leather out there is top grain, which means they've taken cheaper, lower quality hides with lots of defects, and scrubbed off the top layer. - we aniline dye our leather (and it's dyed all the way through) rather than spraying it with pigments. Coating the leather with pigment is cheaper and faster, but ultimately leads to a product that looks quite plastic-y and chips away over time as it gets nicks, revealing an inner layer that isn't quite the same colour... Got a bit carried away here (sorry, couldn't resist!). In any case, I've noted your preference for chain straps :) It's always helpful for us to hear this feedback from others!