How Swede it is! We profile yet another modern and minimalist start-up brand from Sweden, and you guessed it: their watches are designed very well!

Today we continue our tour of exciting watchmakers from the North with Bravur. The company is the union of forces between friends and industrial designers Johan Sahlin and Magnus Svensson and their Stockholm based company came to be in 2011. But it took another three years for their first watch collection to roll out, in the form of five models all of which have been equally well crafted.

Part of the reason for the gap in time was because it took a while to sort out all of the organizational and logistical needs that come with starting a new company. That included an exploration of Asian suppliers – as many new brands these days do – before finally settling on Switzerland. A fine choice indeed.

It also took a while for the pair to really figure out where their passions were. At one point, they were apparently even tempted to invest in the cycling industry. But in the end, they devoted their time to the watch industry, which for the team reflected the perfect balance between design and fashion.

And the designers certainly left their mark on the brand. That begins with the stylized logo, which uses a modern font and a contemporary design take on the letters A and V.

Every watch is designed with simplicity in mind and there is a notable attention to detail. Take the hands of their watches, for example, which have been cut out at their tips so that their the indicators below perfectly fill in the gap with the passage of each minute and every hour.

For a company offering minimalist design, the price is not really equally minimalist. Their watches can be usually had at a starting price hovering around four digits. The movements inside – typically Swiss made quartz offerings – certainly can’t justify that price point. But that’s where their excellent design picks up the slack.

The inspiration well for designing a new watch is running relatively dry. Most brands usually look to cars, planes, or maybe even architectural feats. But the Bravur duo have already had their reality check: they don’t claim that their watches can be worn by fighter pilots or that they have decades of heritage. In fact, the tagline after the brand’s name simply says: “Bravur, Since Now”.

Their watches are simply a reflection of contemporary trends in culture, design and art. In that way, their watches are a reflection of the living and breathing present, hence the “Since Now” tagline. But that also means that – at least theoretically – the designs of their watches should evolve with the times. Looking forward to see how this young and exciting brand grows over the years.