Jackson Ford

As the saying goes, “Time and tide wait for no man.” Perhaps this is why Australian Andrew McUtchen is in such a hurry to spread the word about what he calls watch “microbrands.” These are the product of young watchmakers who have developed small runs of interesting and innovative watches and are challenging the hegemony of the traditional Swiss horology titans. Typical is Studio Underd0g, a British outfit founded in 2020 with the aim of making quirky, colorful timepieces. Its Watermel0n chronograph is a striking creation, with a dial that replicates the look of the fruit.

“What is a coral?” If you can answer that question, you are smarter than I am. My interlocutor is a 27-year-old Tahitian called Titouan Bernicot, and you should note that name, because this young man is doing remarkable things. We are in Thailand at the HQ of Coral Gardeners on the small island of Koh Mak in the Gulf of Thailand, in the South China Sea. This is where Bernicot and his team are innovating techniques of coral rewilding, a mission he has been on since he was 16 years old. “I grew up in French Polynesia in a little house built on coral. There was no school, no supermarket, no anything, just the sea. It was my playground,” he explains. He describes playing with his friends in the waters, while his family collected pearls to sell for a living.