How 2 Guys Made a Customizable Automatic Watch for Under $500

If making an automatic watch is a daunting task for anyone, independently producing a quality, customizable automatic watch for under $500 is considered impossible. Well, wrongly considered impossible, because New York's Martenero is making it happen.

Founders John Tarantino and Matt O'Dowd came up with the idea of starting a watch company after they ran into each other on a Madrid street corner (Calle de San Martin de los Heros + Calle Romero Robledo = Martenero). Like many twenty-something professionals, the two were both into watches, but unlike many twenty-something professionals, their jokes about starting their own company became more serious. Eventually they met at The Ace Hotel and decided to make the dream a reality.

Early on, it became very apparent that being a watch enthusiast does not a watchmaker, er, make, but they managed to gather all the information they needed from industry professionals. At such an ambitiously low price point, they were told Switzerland was out of the question, so to find someone within their budget they took a trip over on to the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Show.

Dozens of plans and five prototypes later, they had their case, a 42-millimeter twisted lug beauty with a mixture of brushed and polished stainless, featuring a screw-down crown for 100 meters of water resistance. Inside, O'Dowd and Tarantino opted for the Miyota A821, a solid 21-jewel Japanese movement with a camel-like 45 hour power reserve. As an added design touch, they were able to put their name on the rotor without throwing off the movement's balance.

With customization at the forefront of their vision, they produced two different watches with the same case and movement: the Founder and the Ace. The Founder is a digit-less sports watch with a ten-minute warning track before the hour, and as the name implies, the Ace is a pilot's watch with large easy-to-read numbers and a modified type B dial.

Besides the dial style, Martenero offers customization options for the dial color and hands, too, so you have total control over what's under the sapphire crystal. To top it off, Martenero watches come with both NATO (chose your color) and leather bands to make them suitable with both a t-shirt and a suit.

Despite their respective day jobs in real estate and advertising, which they still have (O'Dowd was also the frontman for the band Liam and Me), the two have somehow created an impressive watch brand. Their future plans include a smaller case option and adding further customization. We're excited to see what they come up with, but for now we're just happy to see an automatic watch startup get off the ground in such a convincing way, putting a modern touch on an ancient industry.


Ethan Wolff-Mann is the Gear editor for Supercompressor. He likes to keep track of time. Watch him on Twitter @ewolffmann.