ZLTD Watches

ZLTD Watches is an independent microbrand founded by two watch enthusiasts: Z.L.Toh, based in Singapore, and Rafal Dzwonek, based in Calgary, Canada. The name ZLTD combines their initials and speaks directly to the nature of what they build together: watches driven by the technical challenge of developing in-house complication modifications and movement components, combined with a deep commitment to traditional hand-finishing and artisanal craft. What makes the brand genuinely unusual at its price point is the manufacturing philosophy: ZLTD not only machines high-precision movement components entirely in-house, but has also built and designed the CNC machines used to produce them. This level of vertical integration — from machine tool to finished watch — is extraordinarily rare outside the grand manufactures of Swiss horology, and gives the pair direct control over tolerances, surface quality, and future complication development in a way no outsourced production could match. Every ZLTD timepiece is made to order in their workshop.

The **Series 1** was the brand's debut — a 38.5mm fully polished dress watch with a lug-to-lug under 45mm and a thickness under 8mm, powered by a Sellita SW210 manual-wind movement finished to Élaboré grade (Geneva stripes, circular graining on the mainplate, blued screws, sunburst ratchet wheels, Rhodium plating). The signature features were the guilloché floral dial in Silver or Black Rhodium — shifting dynamically under different lighting — and Breguet-style hands individually heat-treated to straw, purple, or blue, each hand possessing its own unique tempered hue due to the narrow window of the manual process. Hour indexes were mirror-polished through a multi-stage process using successive grits of sandpaper, pegwood, and diamond paste before being installed piece by piece. Straps were hand-stitched by Atelier Kai to each collector's specific wrist size. All 15 pieces were fully allocated.

The **Series 1.5** elevated the concept into a daily-wear automatic — same 38.5mm case but now 9mm thin with the Sellita SW330 as a base. The signature technical achievement was an in-house 'jump hour' modification: a single pull of the crown to the first position advances the hour hand independently without stopping the seconds — a travel-ready complication developed entirely by the founders. Dials moved to anodized titanium in Aubergine (deep purple with violet, maroon, and copper undertones under shifting light) and Bronze (golden-brown with burnt orange and olive shifts) with a brushed matte finish contrasting against mirror-polished hour indexes. The chapter ring minute markers were hand-filled using Japanese Cashew Urushi lacquer; an infinity symbol at 6 o'clock — hand-filled in red — served as a quiet nod to the brand's Singapore and Canada dual heritage. Straps were Kudu leather from Atelier Kai, sourced from the African antelope and naturally marked by the animal's life, making each unique. All 30 pieces sold out on launch day (12 July 2025).

The **Special Project No.1** — a collaboration with Legacy Watch Co. — reimagined what Series 1 could have been with ZLTD's subsequently developed manufacturing capabilities. The 38.5mm × 7.75mm manual-wind case houses what the brand calls their 'RD210' movement: an extensively modified Sellita SW210 in which conventional brass bridges were replaced with custom-manufactured stainless steel bridges (harder to machine but yielding brighter anglage polish), the architecture reworked into a three-quarter plate finished with circular Côtes de Genève, and the brand logo engraved and hand-filled with Japanese Cashew Urushi Lacquer. The true hand-guilloché dial was cut by an artisan on a traditional rose engine in an oscillating wave pattern radiating from the centre pinion — the tight central oscillation expanding outward to create a mesmerizing vortex effect — then finished with a translucent blue lacquer. This was also the introduction of the ZLTD signature spear-tip hand design: tapered hour hand with geometric spear tip; minute hand tapering toward the base of the tip and aligning precisely with the chapter ring; ultra-thin needle seconds hand with diamond-shaped counterweight. All mirror-polished, untempered. Arctic Vein Alligator strap by Atelier Kai: deep blues and near-black tones with contrasting white highlights in the scale grooves, marbled to match the dial. Priced at CHF 2,835 / SGD 4,575 / USD 3,500. 10 pieces — fully allocated.

The **Series 2** is ZLTD's most technically ambitious creation and their declaration of intent for the future. The in-house 'RD01' movement was developed over twelve months by Rafal Dzwonek from scratch. All mainplates and bridges outside the ETA gear train are produced in-house on CNC equipment designed and built by ZLTD themselves. The design innovation is the 20-degree tilted balance wheel — a screw balance mounted at a deliberate incline to average out positional errors caused by gravity across different wrist orientations, improving long-term timekeeping accuracy. Barrel bridges are stainless steel rather than conventional brass (oxidation resistance plus harder, brighter chamfer polish). The smaller dial-side bridges are O1 tool steel for rigidity in thin sections. The mainplate is sandblasted brass with dark Rhodium plating. The ratchet wheel features polished grooves, Soleilage (sunray finish), and a fully mirror-polished winding click — all finished in-house. The 40mm × 10.5mm × 45.5mm case hosts a rotating seconds disc with engraved 15/30/45/60-second markers and a heat-tempered purple arrow seconds hand. Dial options: rose-engine hand-guilloché or anodized titanium (Aubergine or Blue). Priced at USD 7,500. 20 pieces produced in 2026 — sold out.