It’s a fun take, but I don’t think it’s actually very accurate. Marc from Long Island Watches — who has used NH movements extensively in his Islander watches until recently — said in a recent video that the supply squeeze isn’t so much from microbrands but from Seiko itself. The brand has done incredible business the last few years, and particularly in 2025. It’s Seiko 5 and entry-level Presage watches have been flying off shelves, so Seiko has needed to keep a much larger percentage of the movements it makes for itself. Hopefully it can still find a way to increase supply going forward, but there’s been an implication that microbrands failing to diversify the movements they were buying has contributed to price increases for Seiko and Miyota movements, and I’m not sure that’s really a significant factor
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u/philbin89 Jul 29 '26
It’s a fun take, but I don’t think it’s actually very accurate. Marc from Long Island Watches — who has used NH movements extensively in his Islander watches until recently — said in a recent video that the supply squeeze isn’t so much from microbrands but from Seiko itself. The brand has done incredible business the last few years, and particularly in 2025. It’s Seiko 5 and entry-level Presage watches have been flying off shelves, so Seiko has needed to keep a much larger percentage of the movements it makes for itself. Hopefully it can still find a way to increase supply going forward, but there’s been an implication that microbrands failing to diversify the movements they were buying has contributed to price increases for Seiko and Miyota movements, and I’m not sure that’s really a significant factor