Could you share the story behind the founding of Makoto Watch Company?

This is a bit of a long story but here we go, I owned a local furniture store for 12 years and it was going very well when we received the devastating news that my wife had stage 4 cancer.  She was given 3-4 months to live.  It was at this time that I sold my business in order to be home with my wife.  She went through treatment and she researched everything she could in order to help her try and beat this cancer, after finishing chemotherapy, radiation & immunotherapy she was able reduce the tumors and was feeling strong enough to take a bucket list vacation to Thailand, Singapore, and Japan.  The first day in Japan I received a phone call from my sister telling me that my father had passed away.  During our stay in Japan something happened, the people, the beauty, the respect people really resonated with me, Japan is a place that really will change you, and it did for me.  It was at this time while in Japan that I decided I would follow may passion for watches, and start a watch company, and this is why the company takes its design inspiration from Japan.

What inspired you to enter the watch industry, and how did your personal journey shape the brand?

I have been an avid watch collector and lover of watches for decades, I have owned over 200 watches throughout my life from $50 pieces all the way up to some well known luxury watches.  I had gone through the experience and journey as a collector and felt this gave me an advantage and understanding of the watch world and the enthusiast side of things as well.  During my journey I came to the realization that some of my $500 watches gave me just as much joy, if not more than my much more expensive pieces.  I realized that the name and logo on the watch could no longer justify the ridiculous prices.  Once you hit the $1000 - $2000 price point there you are really getting 99% of what any Major brand is offering and sometimes more.

Why did you choose the name “Makoto,” and what does it represent to you?

As a previous business owner of a higher end furniture store, customer service was always the most important aspect of my business, so when I was looking for a name for my watch brand I wanted it to demonstrate the Japanese inspiration, and also wanted it to represent the values that are extremely important to me.  When I found the name Makoto it just felt right. This translates to Genuine Honesty, Authenticity, and Integrity.  These are all things that I want Makoto Watch Company to represent and I want my customers to feel this when they interact with myself and the brand.

What makes a Makoto watch stand apart from other independent watch brands in today’s competitive market?

Some of the things that make us stand out from other independent brands are our designs, as a small brand I have the ability to create unique designs and we are able to offer smaller batch runs, typically 50-100 pieces per launch which ensures that you are receiving a fairly rare timepiece, that not many other will have.  As the Owner, Operator, Designer, I have fairly low overhead which means I put every dollar into the development of our watches, this in turn allows me to keep our cost as low as possible, I believe we are offering some of the highest specs and some of the best value in the industry at the moment.

Are there any particular cultures, art forms, or historical influences that inspire your designs?

Each collecting starts with a design brief, typically I go back and look at photos that I have taken from Japan, or take inspiration from an experience or feeling that I had while in Japan.  Some designs like our Kodawari started with the inspiration from the Bamboo Forest. From there I found the Malachite stone and inverted the pattern on the stone to mimic the look of the Bamboo forest, from there I wanted this watch to feel organic so next I worked on the case of the watch and created the smooth curved case design.  Other designs have been inspired simply from a feeling, our Nagomi watch was is a design that I wanted people to look at and feel Harmony, calmness, balance and inner peace, you can see this in the design of the Nagomi model.  With every new model, I try and incorporate elements of the designs that interact with one and other, most of the time my customers will never even notice these small design choices; however, it is all about the fine details that create a great design in the end.

What importance does craftsmanship play in your production process?

As someone who has owned several hundred watches, craftsmanship is extremely important to the brand, when starting the brand I reached out to a manufacturer that I knew had a history of making incredible timepieces with some of the most impressive fit and finish in the industry, I had purchased pieces from this manufacturer in the past, so I knew what they were capable of producing, and they have not disappointed. After just over 1 year in business, I have not had a single watch returned or a single warranty repair claim. I think this shows how dedicated we are to quality and craftsmanship; we take it very seriously.

How involved are you personally in the design and development of each watch?

As the Owner, Operator, and Designer, I am involved in every step of development from start to finish, from the first sketch to the packaging, labelling, and shipping the watch to my customers. I am involved in each and every aspect of this process.

What are your long-term goals for Makoto Watch Company?

Our long-term goals as a brand is to continue to innovate and offer great value on all of our timepieces.  We currently have 6 new models in the pipeline for 2026-2027 and have every intention to build our catalog and model range to hopefully be able to offer something that appeals to a wide range of buyers.  We continue to interact with our customers and followers online and we are always listening to our buyers for feedback for ways that we can make our brand and models even better.  We will be releasing our first ever quartz model within the next week which should allow some customers to get into our brand at a much lower price point but still be able to experience the quality, care and craftsmanship that goes into every design regardless of the price point.

As a founder and CEO, what has been your proudest moment so far?

It is difficult to pin point one proudest moment to be honest, I feel this business is a collection of moments that give me pride every day, our first watch sale was a proud moment, our first watch show, our first customer telling us a story about how much they love their watch, or where they took their watch to a special place and how it made them feel.  To me as the owner of the brand it is these moments that truly bring me joy, and get me excited about growing the brand so other people can experience their own moments.

Are there any watchmakers or business leaders who have inspired your journey?

I can say that my wife is truly the one who has inspired this journey. She was the reason we were in Japan, she was the reason I started the brand, and she is the person that continues to inspire me every day.  I would have never been able to get to where I am right now without the support of my wife.  Throughout this journey I have met some incredible people, show organizers, other microbrand owners and some wonderful people, all of them combined really have helped shape who we are today as a brand.