ZLTD Watches: The Independent Brand Putting Serious Watchmaking Within Reach
There is something particularly refreshing about discovering a watch brand that has not arrived with a century of Swiss heritage, a celebrity ambassador or a marketing budget the size of a small country's GDP. Instead, ZLTD Watches has taken a rather more interesting route: two enthusiasts, two countries, a healthy obsession with traditional watchmaking and a determination to make as much of the watch as possible themselves.
Founded by Z.L. Toh, known as Kenny, from Singapore and Canadian watchmaker Raf Dzwonek, ZLTD is a genuinely independent watchmaking project. The name itself comes from the initials of its two founders, while the philosophy is straightforward. Develop interesting technical solutions, manufacture as much as possible in house and finish the resulting watches using traditional artisanal techniques.
For a brand that only emerged in 2023, ZLTD has already developed a surprisingly distinctive identity. Series 1 established the company's interest in traditional finishing and elegant dress watches, while Series 1.5 explored a slightly more contemporary interpretation. Series 2, however, is where things get properly interesting.
From Watch Enthusiast To Independent Watchmaker
Kenny's journey into watchmaking began in much the same way as many modern collectors. He became fascinated by watches, spent countless hours learning about how they worked and eventually began experimenting with the craft himself.
Series 1 started life as a passion project, with a small run of just 15 watches. The focus was very much on traditional craftsmanship, including mirror polished indexes and heat treated hands. During the development of that watch, Kenny worked closely with Raf Dzwonek, who was producing components for the project.
The partnership proved to be rather more significant than simply a supplier relationship. The pair discovered that they shared the same philosophy about what independent watchmaking should be, eventually joining forces and creating ZLTD Watches.
Series 1 was followed by Series 1.5, Special Project No. 1 and now Series 2. The production numbers have remained deliberately tiny, allowing the brand to concentrate on manufacturing, finishing and experimentation rather than simply producing as many watches as possible.
That approach is particularly important because ZLTD does something rather unusual for a young independent brand. It does not simply specify components from outside suppliers and assemble them. The company has developed its own CNC equipment and uses it to manufacture many of its movement components in its Canadian workshop.
Series 2: ZLTD Gets Serious
If Series 1 demonstrated what ZLTD could do, Series 2 is effectively the brand announcing what it wants to become.
The concept began rather conventionally, with the intention of creating a small seconds watch. Then Raf had another idea. What if the escapement itself could be tilted?
After approximately 12 months of development, the result became the RD01 movement and the Series 2. At its heart is a screw balance wheel positioned at a 20 degree incline, creating one of the most visually distinctive features you will find on an independent watch at this sort of price.
The idea is not simply there for theatre, either. ZLTD says the inclined balance can help average out positional errors caused by gravity, potentially improving timekeeping across different orientations. The result is a mechanical feature that is both technically interesting and impossible to ignore when looking at the watch.
And this is where Series 2 becomes particularly fascinating. Rather than hiding the movement behind a traditional dial, ZLTD has brought the mechanical theatre towards the front of the watch. The inclined balance sits prominently on the dial side, giving the wearer a view of the beating heart of the movement.
The RD01 Movement
The RD01 is not a completely new movement in the traditional sense, as it uses an ETA 6498 gear train as its foundation. But calling it an ETA movement and leaving it at that would massively undersell the amount of work ZLTD has put into it.
The gear train has been heavily modified, with the components surrounding it developed and manufactured by ZLTD. The mainplates and bridges are produced using the brand's own CNC equipment, while significant amounts of the finishing are carried out by hand in the Canadian workshop.
ZLTD has also made some interesting material choices. The barrel bridges are manufactured from stainless steel rather than conventional brass. Stainless steel is harder to work and polish, but that hardness allows ZLTD to achieve particularly bright polishing on the chamfers and anglage.
The smaller dial side bridges use O1 tool steel, selected for its rigidity and ability to retain precise geometry in thinner sections. Meanwhile, the mainplate receives a sandblasted finish and dark rhodium plating, creating a dark backdrop against which the polished steel components and inclined balance stand out.
Then there are the details that only become apparent when you look closer. Mirror polished screws, polished jewel sinks, hand finished inward angles and ratchet wheels combining polished grooves with a sunray finish all contribute to a movement that feels considerably more ambitious than the price might suggest.
A Dial That Refuses To Be Boring
The Series 2 is available with several dial treatments, and this is another area where ZLTD has resisted simply producing the obvious.
There is a rose engine hand guilloché option for those who want a more traditional expression of independent watchmaking. Alternatively, buyers can choose an anodised titanium dial in Aubergine or Blue, each with a brushed finish.
The chapter ring is manufactured and finished in house, with its minute markers laser engraved before being filled by hand using Japanese Cashew Urushi lacquer. The inner edges are highly polished, creating subtle flashes of light as the watch moves.
The 3, 6, 9 and 12 hour markers are mirror polished individually, with each index going through a lengthy finishing process involving different grades of abrasive, pegwood and diamond paste before being installed by hand.
It is exactly this sort of obsessive attention to something as seemingly insignificant as a four piece set of indexes that separates independent watchmaking from mass production.
Then There Is That Seconds Display
The seconds indication is perhaps the Series 2's second most interesting visual trick.
Rather than using a conventional small seconds hand, ZLTD has created a rotating seconds disc positioned underneath the main dial. Engraved with 15, 30, 45 and 60 second markers, the disc adds another layer of movement and depth to the dial.
A heat treated purple arrow hand indicates the seconds as the disc rotates beneath it.
It is a wonderfully mechanical solution to a relatively simple problem, and it gives the Series 2 considerably more personality than another conventional small seconds layout ever could.
Traditional Finishing Meets Modern Proportions
Despite all the mechanical experimentation going on underneath the surface, the Series 2 has not been designed as some enormous wrist mounted science experiment.
The polished stainless steel case measures 40mm across and 10.5mm thick, with downward sloping lugs designed to help the watch sit comfortably on the wrist. The crown has also been redesigned with a knurled finish, giving it a more contemporary appearance while retaining the smooth winding experience associated with a traditional onion crown.
The result is a watch that should feel relatively restrained on the wrist until somebody notices the dial. Then the questions will probably start.
What is that balance doing?
Why is it tilted?
And, perhaps most importantly, who made this?
A Strap To Match The Ambition
ZLTD has also paid attention to the part of the watch that actually touches your wrist.
The brand works with Atelier Kai, with each strap hand stitched and tailored to the customer's wrist size. That might sound like a small detail, but it fits perfectly with the wider philosophy behind Series 2.
This is not a watch designed around the idea of producing thousands of identical pieces as efficiently as possible. Everything about it is deliberately small scale, from the movement finishing to the strap.
ZLTD Series 2 Specifications
• Case diameter: 40mm
• Lug to lug: approximately 45.5mm to 46mm
• Thickness: 10.5mm
• Lug width: 20mm
• Case material: Stainless steel
• Crystal: Sapphire
• Water resistance: 50 metres
• Movement: ZLTD RD01 manual winding mechanical movement
• Base movement: ETA 6498 gear train
• Balance: Screw balance inclined at 20 degrees
• Power reserve: Approximately 48 hours
• Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour
• Functions: Hours, minutes and seconds
• Dial options: Rose engine hand guilloché, Aubergine anodised titanium or Blue anodised titanium
• Strap: Hand stitched by Atelier Kai and tailored to the customer's wrist
• Production: 20 pieces for the first 2026 Series 2 run
• Original price: approximately £5,500 before taxes
The £5,500 Question
The Series 2 was priced at USD 7,500 before taxes, which works out at roughly £5,500 at current exchange rates. For context, the watch was also entered into the 2026 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in the Petite Aiguille category, with the GPHG listing the model at CHF 6,790 including tax.
And there is an argument that this is precisely where ZLTD becomes most interesting.
At around £5,500, you are not buying a watch simply because it has an independent brand name printed on the dial. You are buying a watch containing a highly modified mechanical architecture, a 20 degree inclined balance, substantial in house manufacturing, extensive hand finishing, unusual dial construction and genuinely low production numbers.
The first 20 Series 2 watches have already sold out, so anyone hoping to get one of this particular production run is already too late. ZLTD has confirmed that it intends to develop future variants of Series 2, however, so this particular story is far from over.
Why ZLTD Deserves Attention
There are plenty of small independent watch brands producing attractive watches. There are considerably fewer producing watches that make you stop and ask how on earth they managed to do it for the money.
That is ZLTD's appeal.
The brand sits in an increasingly interesting part of the watch industry where enthusiasts are no longer necessarily looking for the biggest name on the dial. They are looking for originality, craftsmanship and something that feels like it was made because somebody genuinely wanted to make it.
ZLTD also has an interesting advantage over some of the more established independent names. Its founders are still close enough to the enthusiast community to understand what collectors actually want, while its growing manufacturing capabilities give them the ability to experiment.
The Series 2 is therefore more than another model in a young brand's catalogue. It is effectively a statement of intent.
And if the plans for Series 3 and Series 4 materialise as expected, ZLTD could become one of those small independent names that collectors suddenly discover everyone should have been watching years earlier.
Winding Things Up
ZLTD Watches is precisely the sort of independent brand that makes the modern watch industry interesting.
There is no pretending that Series 2 is competing with a mass market Swiss watch on volume, heritage or brand recognition. That is completely beside the point. Instead, it is competing on ingenuity.
A 20 degree inclined balance wheel, an extensively modified mechanical movement, in house CNC manufacturing, hand finished components, unusual dial construction and a production run of just 20 pieces make for a pretty compelling proposition.
More importantly, ZLTD appears to have a clear idea of where it wants to go. The brand is not simply trying to make a cheaper version of something somebody else already produces. It is developing its own identity, one technically ambitious little watch at a time.
For a brand founded only a few years ago, that is seriously impressive.
And if this is what ZLTD considers Series 2, we are very interested to see what Series 3 looks like.
