Landon Aune, Ugly Watch Co.

m_800x90-Banner-1-2
Landon Aune Interview, Ugly Watch Co.
Sponsored

Brand: Ugly Watch Company | Owner: Landon Aune

1. How did you first get into making watches?
Just kind of fell into it, sort of. I have always loved building or making things. Before the UGLY Watch company, I had the UGLY Jewelry Company made mainly bracelets and chains with some rings here and there. I was getting into wax carving to make molds for casting and was talking to instructor about watch cases. And the more I talked about it he kind of told me “Choose one or the other, you cant do both, trust me”. So, long story short; watches was the new path for me.
 
2. Do you have a “normal job“ or is this your full-time passion?
Yes, I have a “normal job”. I love my career; I work as a Consultant and engineer in the IT industry. Been in IT for over 20 years and consulting for the last 5 or so. Great Team, great company.
 
3. What do you like best about owning your own micro brand?
Two parts to this. Looking down at the watch on my wrist and knowing I did that. And, when picking out a watch to wear out of my collection 8 out of 10 times I will choose one of my own. It’s a great feeling. It is a little bit of excitement every time.
 
4. Which of your watches and/or straps is your favorite? Are you also a watch enthusiast of other brands?
Oh man. This is tough one. If I had to choose it would be my broken color TV and that is only if I “had” to choose. Yes, other brands. I try to keep my “other brands” count at 20. Not in compliance now, but what you doing to do?
 
5. What advice would you offer someone that was interested in creating their own brand of watches?
Just make sure that is something you want to do. This is new to me and I am still in learning mode and as my career in IT, it will be learning mode to the end and I am loving every bit of it. But it is work, lots of work. It’s a second job right now that does not pay and actually cost money to work, but I love it.
 
6. What do you think really sets your watches apart from others?
Technically, on paper, not much if anything. Its just the truth. Design wise, I have a little art in them. Take my 300m Diver for instance. The case is a mix of a few of my favorite watches. My colors are black and orange. Love that combo.
So, you have orange surrounded by black. The logo is orange with black stroke around it. Same with the dial text at 6 o’clock. The bezel insert has orange surrounded by black. The handset is black hour, orange minute, black second. And MOP, well is just fantastic IMO. And it appears that I have two color ways, and that may be true. But if you take the white MOP version and create a negative of it you get the black MOP version. It is an exact negative. Minus the bracelet, as I am not fond of black bracelets.
 
7. What are some things that you wish everyone knew about you and your work?
I just want everyone that has one of my watches to enjoy it. Wear the heck out of it. At the end of the day, its about the watch. I will be in the background to provide any support that may be needed.
 
8. Any interesting brand trivia? Any personal info you’d like to share?
Yes- The backstory on the logo. For the UGLY Logo, it is a U in Old Norse or VIking Ruins, U=URUZ – Uruz is the rune of termination and beginning of the new page in life. In case you pull out this rune, it symbolizes that your life is waiting for further changes. It means that you have grown up and your life has grown out of its frame. It means that it should be left behind. You should take a rebirth to get a new experience and plenty of unique strengths. The chance of life-rebirth can be hidden behind the costume of loss.
 
9. What future plans do you have for your brand?
Hahahahahaaaa, oh man. If you only knew what I wish I could do. But, yes. There are three projects currently being worked on. Two are built off my current 300m Diver and the Rista Marka. The 300m diver will have a Sport version. Will only be 100m WR, 3 or 4 mm thinner and 2 mm smaller in diameter and miyota 9000 series movement. The Rista Marka will have same case dimensions, engraving will be slightly different and will have small second and micro rotor movement. The 3rd will be a version of my broken color tv.
 
10. I noticed your new watch is the Rista Marka or ‘Beauty Mark’. Can you tell us more?
Yes, two of my favorite builds are responsible for this. I found these cases online and just thought they were just beautiful. I wanted to recreate or create a homage to these cases. I reached out to one of my manufacturers and presented them with one of the builds and after a little back and forth the 41mm case was designed. At first, I really wanted to reproduce my dials I had made for the RM, but it was just not daily wear friendly. I wanted a cleaner look. So, after some playing around making dial version after dial version, this very basic looking white dial with black markers and logo just looked amazing in that case.
 
Bonus Question- What is a question I did not ask that you wish I would’ve asked, along with the answer?
What is your motto?
“Never give up, Never surrender.” I can write a book on what this means to me. 🙂
Travis Mickel
Travis Mickel
Staff Writer, Zaltek Reviews
Admin, Watch Collectors of California & Beyond (COCAB)

Please subscribe to Zaltek Reviews YouTube Channel, as well as following on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter. Also, please feel free to join my Facebook group Watch Collectors of California & Beyond (COCAB), a busy & active community for watch enthusiasts.

You May Also Like...

Ugly Watch Co Rista Marka Review

It takes a fair amount of work (and time) to do these reviews, so if you feel like supporting Zaltek Reviews to help towards my running costs, or even if you feel like just buying me a coffee, then please donate using the PayPal button or QR code below. Unfortunately, 97% of my viewers/readers just scroll on by this section. If you feel like that I’ve given you maybe just a few quids worth of knowledge and/or entertainment, then please take just a couple of minutes of your time to kindly donate. Thanks very much, Will Duncan – Zaltek Reviews.
Landon Aune, Ugly Watch Co. 1
QR code Zaltek Reviews

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.