The young brand looks to challenge the affordable minimalist timepiece market with its clean, railroad-inspired creations. But what’s their added value?

It’s only a few months ago that we introduced start-up brand Henry Blake. But since our ongoing series profiling exciting brands from the North has been dominated by Swedish brands, we thought it would only be fair to give Norway its dues. After all, we fancy ourselves as decent journalists and our job is to be balanced and impartial. And since Sweden and Norway are rivals in just about every other part of life, I think we’re allowed to stoke the competition a little bit.

You might recall, then, that the man behind the brand is not one Henry Blake; he was actually a fine civil engineer and the inspiration for the brand. Rather the company founder is Reza Shojaei (who is himself trained as an engineer) and founded the brand only in 2015. His company is still in its early stages; you can check out thier Kickstarter page to catch up on the latest updates.

What initially struck me about the brand is how well the rail motif traveled onto the design of the watch. Not just in the name of the brand, but also the distinctively rail-inspired logo on the very cleanly arranged black dial.

The brand also looks quite focused on producing minimalist designs that “stands out from other watches in the market.” That’s a tough ask, considering the line of Scandinavian brands we’ve covered over the last two weeks pretty much make the same promise.

But I never understood minimalist watches that carry a maximized price. For me, the term minimalist applies not just to the design of the watch, but the overall package, which also includes price. Henry Blake, however, has found a way to differentiate its products from the pack using price.

So I was very happy to see that Reza had prices his watches at a seriously discounted starting price of only $149 USD on Kickstarter. And for that you don’t get just the bare minimum: there is a Swiss Ronda movement, sapphire crystal glass, and even a stainless steel case.

I’m not sure what that kind of pricing model will do to the bottom line and the initial cash reserves of the young company. But it’s safe to assume that many will be strapping on a Henry Blake watch very soon. And that’s why I’m also optimistic about the brand’s long term prospects.

Reza Shojaei just happens to be the founder of a very big architecture and construction magazine; so on paper it seems he has the design savvy and business acumen to take Henry Blake to the next level. Let’s just hope that Henry Blake manages to find the success it’s dreaming of quicker than it took the eponymous Henry Blake to complete the massive rail project in Australia: nearly 50 years!

Henry Blake Watches from Reza Shojaei on Vimeo.