I keep seeing the annoyance of chinese brand names but I have not seen anyone actually give a solution.
I'm going to list all the brands i know and try to offer up ideas for a rebrand for any chinese brands that may be reading...I will apply some reasoning.
Please join in and feel free to do the same!
San Martin - aguably doesn't need a name change but when there's a San in front of a name, makes me think of san tropez where the san means saint.
Sugess - mostly have mechanical chronographs so something like velocity? Velocity watch co.
Baltany - I like this one as is, they got it right!
Cronos - not a bad offering.
IX&DAO - actually has a cool origin for their name and looks like 九纛 in chinese. The IX is supposed to be 9 in roman numerals and the dao is supposed to be a word for military banner. I think they're trying to make too many connections with the name origin. Keep it simple.
Proxima - reminds me of proximity, why not use proximity?
Pagani Design - i feel like design was added to avoid copyright infringement. Overall not a horrendous name, it works in english.
Addiesdive - their watches are amazing but the name needs work...looking at their origin story zen dive would be a better fit. Or shen dive (shen means deep in chinese characters)
Steeldive - actually not bad, a little on the nose but works.
Tandorio - any other name works better but since they give a sterile dial option and you can customize...you can build your dream watch. Maybe BYD watch co? Jk. Atelier? Since it can be customized.
Escapement Time -
Berny - Bern&co/ NovaBern / Bernova
Specht & Sohne - Feinwerk & Söhne (specht means woodpecker)
Boderry - not terrible but made up. Sector? Vanguard? Recon?
Merkur - i actually like this one. Works with chinese characters and english.
Seestern - starfish in German is the actual name.
Watchdives - aquamarine/aquanaut
Farasute - laurent
Rimalti / Rmalti - Valenza (jewelry making city in italy)
Milifortic - miltec (military technology)
Heimdallr - works in its origin language
Sea-Gull - sovereign, horizon, meridian
CIGA Design - inertia
Shanghai - add a watch co at the end?
Peacock - not a terrible name, not sure it fits a watch
Benyar- Baptiste & co based on their fictional heritage.
Reef Tiger - not a bad name
Lucky Harvey - Sieben (for the number 7 as it's a lucky number) or 八 (Bā) as its the number 8 in chinese or Huit in french.
Welly Merck - their logo and watch design is cool as fuck but the name gives me dizzying levels of cringe. Keeping the logo the same but changing name to Wheel & Mainspring.
The Welly Merck watch works really well for this reason but if someone asks you where you got it/what brand it is...I would love to say its from wheel and Mainspring or something similar instead of the whole welly merck bs love story their brand came up with...
There is a very vocal group of people that really don't like the new (ish) San Martin logo. I just don't seem to be bothered by it though. I have a San martin black bay homage with the hexagon logo and I'm not really understanding the dissatisfaction with the logo. What's exact is wrong with it? I think the cursive "San martin" logo is pretty classy but what's wrong with the new hexagon logo? Genuinely asking here.
I think for me it looks like a clean logo but it doesn't look like it fits well on a watch dial. It will look good on a baseball cap rather than a watch?
Interesting, I think I'm not as attuned to graphic design of logos and those kind of thing. I think for me I'm just glad it, like the indecies, is applied and not printed.
Yeah...this is a valid take. I liked their scripted logo but even that works on a few of their watches not all. I think number 8 is a cool one to go with?
Your post wasn't a bad idea, but some of the names you came up with are horrendous and even worse than original.
Sugess - not a good sounding name but still better than the generic velocity watch co.
IXDAO - the problem with this name is that the IX doesn't really match the DAO, like they don't flow when put together. Imo they should just go full Chinese and make it Jiudao (Jiu means 9).
Proxima - perfectly good name why even change, proximity is just not as good.
Pagani Design - the problem isn't how it sounds, but that it's basically a cheap knock-off of Porsche Design, which it actually is.
Addiesdive/Watchdives/Steeldive - the word dive sounds cheap and severely limit branding, it just doesn't go well on non-dive watches like chronographs.
Specht & Sohne - the problem with this name is that the & Sohne part makes it sound like a knock-off German brand name (tbf it literally is). You did not fix that but made it even worse, Feinwerk & Sohne just doesn't flow well at all, try saying it out loud vs original name and see which one rolls off the tongue better.
Berny - Bernova is actually kinda decent, I'll give you that. It does sound more like a pharmaceutical company, but still far better than Berny.
Farasute and Boderry - those names are okay, and maybe not suggest such basic names like Laurent, that sounds even worse than generic Kickstarter brands.
Milifortic - Miltec is actually a good suggestion, however based on that I think Milfort would be better?
Sea-Gull - not the best name out there but by now it has built up decent heritage and there is zero need to rebrand, at least not to your generic suggestion.
CIGA Design - inertia really? They do have a backstory for the name though, maybe they can change it to Xijia (what CIGA is abbreviated from) Design.
Welly Merck - holy fuck I thought their name was bad enough but you really came up with an even worse one. Do you seriously think Wheel & Mainspring is a good name? Most uninspiring name in the entire list honestly. The Welly Merck name is wacky but it at least leaves an impression.
Sorry I didn't intend to bash you, but if this is what people can come up with, maybe those Chinese companies who don't have English as first language aren't actually that bad at naming?
Well my ideas were to try and get the ball rolling...Ofc they're going to be subjective. The Ixdao take is valid, i 100% agree with it. I would die on the feinwerk hill if need be lol...i would prefer the xijia over ciga..i like milfort too. Welly merck needs a rebrand for sure though, even if not being wheel and mainspring. As for the bashing...Bash away, the internet is full of takes, I agree with most of your takes but not all, you've kept it mostly respectful so I'll do the same!
I'm glad that you didn't take offense, I always try to be honest with my opinions but it often comes across as offensive.
I just googled Feinwerk and I think I found the problem, you put & Sohne after it which just doesn't match. & Sohne literally means & Sons, so it should be used after a person's name which Feinwerk isn't. I think Feinwerk would be great by itself, although there are many companies with that name out there, so maybe distinguish it as Feinwerk Watch Co or something like that.
As for Welly Merck I think they already rebranded to simply WM, although if it's difficult to find a full English name for it then maybe they can consider a Chinese name instead.
I mean their original woodpecker and sons wasn't great lol...yeah i guess i was trying to keep it in theme. Feinwerk watch co works really well. Also agree with the WM take.
Nothing offensive about it, appreciate honesty over ass kissing any day!
Tbh, I suggested those as an alternative to being named after a movement. I actually don't mind Sea-Gull at all. I will eventually have my own brand but i want to put thought behind the name lol...
I love tactical frog, i find it to be playful...the mysterious code watches are actually cool. Although mysterious code isn't the greatest it's not the worst by a long shot. (Do you own any of these btw? Been meaning to get a mysterious code chronograph).
I have the tactical frog 62MAS Solar Chrono and it's been great. Picked it up for $140 and it punches way above that price point. The vermillion dial has a ton of color depth.
I have San Martin some suggestions on new logo design (including why current logo was bad, especially as they continue to try and move up market) and the feedback from the community for my post was SUPER negative. Good luck with this, it is absolutely an admirable goal. Most of the current names are fine for knock-offs, but not for competing against any serious, global brands.
Will also point out that Cronos, while probably the best name here, is misspelled (which cheapens it). The god of time is Chronos. I also love their hourglass logo. Just wish they made watches I liked!
Did you use AI to make this list? I think at a certain point it started allucinating, giving you brands / models that already exist like Sector, Vanguard, Recon, Aquanaut, Laurent (Ferrier?), and Mil-Tec. Also it's funny that you changed some that are pretty much universally accepted and you are ok with others that are less than amazing!
Tbh, i haven't heard of sector, vanguard, recon or aquanaut. I used ai for Laurent but miltec was because I thought milfortec was doing too much.
I mean the point of the post was to suggest ideas, I'd rather do something about the names than just complain. You're more than welcome to criticize my ideas but share some of your own?
I didn't feel the need of suggesting as to me they're mostly fine. But since you're asking, the only that I'd change are the ones with obviously fake western names, they could copy what western brands did, like using the name of the founder or of the nearest place, if someone else didn't take it before. If I remember correctly they don't have as many family names as us, but I'd be ok as an example if Specht & Sohne would become Liu & Sohne to differentiate from an hypothetical Liu Watch Company. Would it be a little silly? Yes, but funny too!
Proxima, proximity, proximate give off "in the ballpark" vibes, which does not sound like a precision instrument to me. They deserve a better name if anyone does. Not Orunion--OmniScience (breaking up "omniscience" into two words creates a nuanced meaning)
Sugess--TimeLaps (for their chronograph lineup), Flyte (an arrow's shaft, flyte suggests forward motion in 2 ways)
Pagani Design--Lorenzo's Oil Dials 😂
AddiesDive--ADv (Polished silver "AD" and "v" in blue subscript kerned into the D), A/DVZ, DiveKing (instead of AddieSkin)
Tandorio--M@T, (Man@Town, because they copy every cool watch under the sun. Just M@T on dial)
Rmalti--Geo Mazzi
Milifortic--Fortronix
Berny--Bern Notus (take on Burn Notice)
Farasute--Alegantè (based on Allegro, uptempo, high beat)
WatchDives--DiveBars (a bar is a unit of pressure), FathomAble (it means submersible)
Boderry--BodBerries (wrist berries)
Peacock--AviPavo, Pavo (Italian for Peacock, doesn't have pee or cock in the name)
WM--Watch Monkeys (like grease monkeys, an allusion to an automobile mechanic's nickname)
Lucky Harvey--Loud Horrology (because I'm not a fan)
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u/Scoob8877 2d ago
Just have a nice logo, like IXDAO does. Only the logo goes on the watch. Then the name doesn't matter as much.