MICROBRAND
Selten Watch Company
An independent microbrand using meteorite, bronze, and enamel to punch far above its price class.
Image: Selten
Selten Watch Company makes more sense once you understand the name. “Selten” is German for “rare,” and rarity is the point. Instead of the usual microbrand path of sporty homages and familiar case shapes, Selten has built its identity around unusual dial work and craft led finishing.
Origin
Selten was founded in 2021 by Leonardo Tsai, who comes from a Hong Kong family of watch dial makers and left a finance career at JP Morgan to start the brand. It shows: this is a company that leads with the dial first, then builds the rest of the watch around it. Early releases leaned into materials still uncommon at this end of the market — meteorite dials, hand patinated bronze — living up to the slogan “A Rare Kind, Not a Stereotype.”
What Makes It Notable
The intent is to bring techniques and materials usually associated with far more expensive watches into a direct to consumer price bracket. In Mike Razak’s hands on review for aBlogtoWatch, he recalls collectors wearing Pateks and Journes assuming the debut Series 00 cost thousands rather than its $750 MSRP. Selten’s newer work goes further still, especially in enamel.
Signature
The standout is the Grand Feu Enamel series, the opener of Selten’s Métiers d’Art collection. Per aBlogtoWatch’s review, the 39mm stainless steel case is 10.9mm thick with a 45.5mm lug to lug, a lightly domed sapphire crystal, and 50 meters of water resistance — strong everyday dimensions for a watch that reads as dressy. Details like a polished concave bezel, a brushed mid case, and two spring bar positions to keep straps from rubbing show real thought.
The dial is the main event. Each starts with a hand engraved pattern — 700 individually cut lines, not machine turned guilloché — finished in grand feu enamel, offered in spiral or radial patterns and five colorways: Rustique red, Sunbird blue, Prism violet, Moonstone light blue, and Golden Fall gold. Launch pricing was $1,899 for the radial dial and $2,199 for the spiral; made to order versions now run $2,599 and $2,899, with a bracelet at $80, or $150 with an extension clasp. That is a higher bracket than entry level microbrands, but well below the usual territory for hand worked enamel dials.
Official Website
Selten sells direct through its official website — the best place for the current catalog, availability, and specifications. For an independent third party look at the Grand Feu Enamel, see Mike Razak’s review at aBlogtoWatch.
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