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Time+Tide commissions seven watches for FounderFest, then sells them in its own shops
Seven watches from seven independents, made for Time+Tide's own September event and sold almost entirely through its own three shops.
Hen & Mills Editorial · 2 min read · 14 August 2026
The bezel of Baltic's new worldtimer names three cities: Melbourne, London and New York. Those are the three cities where Time+Tide runs a shop.
That sets the shape of the whole release, announced on 13 August. FounderFest is Time+Tide's own event, running across those three cities on 19 and 20 September, and the collection is seven watches built with seven brands on a music theme. Time+Tide commissioned them and Time+Tide sells them. There is a single 24-hour online window on 22 September, and after that the watches live only in Time+Tide's Watch Discovery Studios. Nothing has gone up on any of the makers' own sites yet, so every detail here comes from Time+Tide's announcement.
Lacquer, pink sapphire and a 26mm titanium case
Awake's Sơn Mài "Frosted Leaf" is 38mm in ultraviolet, running the La Joux-Perret G101. Beaucroft's The Punk sets a translucent pink sapphire dial in a 38mm PVD case over a Miyota 90S5. echo/neutra went the other way entirely with the Rivanera Piccolo "Rosa d'Epoca", 26mm of grade 5 titanium around a Sellita SW1000. Furlan Marri's Songlines editions pair a lacquered chocolate dial with the La Joux-Perret G100 and a three-link bracelet. Serica's reference 7505 "Sunburst" gets a two-tone enamel dial, a Soprod M100 and 200 metres of water resistance.
Dennison is the oldest name in the group, and its ALD Dual Time in Carnaby Blue is the one to smile at. Cushion case, mother-of-pearl dial, and two Swiss Ronda quartz movements, one for each time zone. Answering a second zone by fitting a second movement would horrify a Swiss marketing department, and it works perfectly well.
The Horizon Line, with the GST already in it
Baltic's Heures du Monde "Horizon Line" is 37mm across, 11mm thick and 45mm lug to lug, in brushed 316L steel. The dial is forged carbon, the 24-hour ring is black and orange, and the movement is the Soprod C125 with a 42-hour reserve. Double-domed sapphire above it, 100 metres of water resistance, 20mm grey fabric strap.
Time+Tide quotes it at A$2,650 including GST, 1,495 pounds including VAT, 1,795 US dollars, and 1,450 euros before tax. An Australian price on day one, in Australian dollars, tax included. Usually we're waiting three weeks for that.
One organisation on both sides of the counter
Watch media selling watches isn't new. Watch media commissioning seven of them from seven independent brands, then keeping distribution inside its own three addresses, is a different thing, and it puts one organisation in charge of both what gets covered and what gets stocked.
Whether that bothers you probably comes down to how you already feel about the model. The watches look good, and the brand list is a fair read on who is interesting in independent watchmaking right now. But go back to that bezel. Three cities, three shopfronts, and the same company selling you the watch. The retail plan went into the design.
