Brew Watch Co.

Jonathan Ferrer, an industrial designer from Brooklyn, built an entire watch brand around the 35-second window of an espresso pull. Brew's chronographs have markers at 25–35 seconds for timing shots, cases shaped like 1970s TV screens, and dial textures that channel café counters and vintage Casios in equal measure. It shouldn't work, and yet the Retrograph and Metric have become two of the most recognizable designs in the sub-$500 world.

A genuinely original idea, executed with wit — the rarest thing in watches.