Brathwait Review

Friday, October 4th

2024 Watch Store Reviews

Brathwait

• American watch company in business since 2014
• All classic, minimalist designs
• Prices between $120-$700
• Free domestic shipping and returns on orders over $50
• 12-month warranty on all watches
• 30-day return policy on unworn watches in brand-new condition

Brathwait is an American watch maker that prioritizes high-quality materials and simplicity in design, without the big mark-ups you'll find with other companies. They've been around since 2014, making them one of the newer brands in our review.

Only Brathwait brand watches

Obviously, we couldn't use a Citizen and Rolex watch for comparison here, with only Brathwait timepieces in the inventory. In fact, there are just three basic watch styles on offer: the Classic Slim Wrist Watch, the Swiss Classic, and the Automatic Minimalist Wrist Watch (with a significant price jump between the first two and the last one). Since there aren't hundreds of watches to consider, it's pretty easy to jump right to Mens or Womens watches and browse the selection.

Classic design with a variety of strap/face combinations

The Classic Slim watches use nature's "golden ratio” in its lines, while the Swiss Classic design was inspired by 1960s timepieces and features Swiss-made movement and luminous hands. Which one is better? That depends on your aesthetic, and there are plenty of color combinations in the watch face and straps (dark grey crocodile leather to stainless steel mesh) to suit your style. You can expect to pay from $120-$170 for any watch in these two designs, no matter if you're buying for a man or woman.

Highest-end watch is only $695

When you upgrade to Brathwait's Automatic Minimalist watch, you'll still get an "unpretentious design” - with a not-quite-humble price tag of $695 if you go all-out with the Swiss-made, limited edition. If you've been looking for a self-winding watch, this is the right place to look at the Brathwait store, and again, you'll have ample combinations of face colors and strap materials to make your watch as unique as you are.

Transparency in pricing

One of the most interesting things you'll see as you browse watches at this store are the completely transparent aspects of their pricing. Pick a watch and scroll down the page, past the customer reviews. There, you'll see Brathwait's costs on literally every component, from the strap to the case, and then what their retail price is. For example, on a stainless steel automatic, Brathwait's price was $269 and the total manufacturing cost was $146 - but comparable watches from other brands could easily be priced at $590 or more.

Free shipping, 30-day returns, 1-year warranty

If your order is over $50, you'll get free shipping; since all watches are easily more than that, you'll always get no-cost delivery unless you're just stopping by to get a new watch band. You can also return your Brathwait watch for free within 30 days of delivery; they call it their "see it before you keep it” policy, but your watch has to be in brand-new, unworn condition to be eligible. All Brathwait watches have a one-year warranty period.

BBB isn't impressed

Brathwait had only received three complaints at the Better Business Bureau in the last three years, and zero in the most recent 12-year period - and yet, the Better Business Bureau still gave this watch store an "F” rating for not responding to two of them. That's a huge penalty, compared with other retailers that get thousands of complaints and still have an "A+” rating.

You'll love this brand or you'll hate it

Then again, maybe the folks at the BBB peeked around in other places and saw what we did: shoppers are pretty evenly split between 1- and 5-star ratings for Brathwait. You'll get a great watch - or you'll get nothing. Your watch will work perfectly - or you won't be able to reach customer service to get it fixed. Are you getting the idea?

Buy a different watch

We really like the idea of this watch brand, but it falls apart in how it actually works out for customers. Buying a watch shouldn't feel like spinning a roulette wheel - will you be thrilled or horribly disappointed? Brathwait is our lowest-ranking watch store.