Furlan Marri + seconde/seconde/

Two friends — a Swiss-Italian designer and an Emirati collector — launched Furlan Marri with a $500 'mecha-quartz' chronograph so beautifully proportioned that it won the GPHG Horological Revelation prize, the watch industry's award for best newcomer. The brand channels 1940s Patek and Universal Genève chronographs: sector dials, teardrop lugs, salmon and 'havana' tones executed with a sophistication that has the auction-house crowd paying attention to a microbrand.

They have since moved into mechanical chronographs and dress watches, sold out within hours, and become the poster child for the new wave of design-led independents.