Two Years In: From Fixing My Own Watches to Building SQND CITY
Updated: 7 days ago
Two years ago I opened up one of my own watches because it needed fixing. I didn't plan on starting a watch brand. I just didn't want to pay someone else to do something I figured I could learn. That one repair turned into a second, then a third, and somewhere along the way I realized I wasn't fixing watches anymore. I was building them.
Learning the craft
Like a lot of modders, I found my way to Seiko. The NH35 and NH36 are reliable, parts are everywhere, and the community has already made every mistake you're about to make. I spent a lot of nights learning to set hands without bending them and to get a dial perfectly centered.
The watch enthusiast groups pulled me in even deeper. Seeing what other builders were putting together pushed me to try more ambitious designs. My first two builds weren't for sale at all. I started them in September 2024 and gave them to my wife and my son that Christmas. Seeing them actually wear something I made by hand is still one of the best parts of this whole thing.
Taking the leap to Marketplace
Eventually I had more watches than wrists, so I worked up the guts to list a few on Facebook Marketplace. People bought them. Then more people bought them. After 50 plus builds, I knew this was more than a hobby.
Marketplace also taught me how many people want a hand built automatic for the price of a fast food lunch. I got tired of the lowballing, so I moved to Etsy. Etsy brought buyers who value handmade work, but the fees are no joke. Offsetting them forced me to take pricing seriously, and that pushed me to treat this like a real business. So in 2025 I formed an LLC, created the SQND CITY logo, and built out the brand.
A few of my builds from the past two years.
Where tech and art meet
Here's something most people don't know about me. Before any of this, I went to art school. I originally wanted to be an illustrator, but life moved me into tech instead. I started out as a Linux admin for a web hosting company and today I work in cybersecurity.
Watch building turned out to be the place where both sides of me finally meet. The art school side designs dials and picks color combos. The tech side built this website from scratch. I ran a demo site for about a year while I figured things out, and I recently launched the full site you're on right now.
The hardest part is being found
Knowing how SEO and site traffic work helps, but it doesn't solve the biggest challenge for any small brand: getting people to know you, trust you, and find you. The best watch in the world just sits on the bench if nobody sees it. Building an audience is the real work right now.
And honestly, that's also where the best part of this comes from. Nothing beats someone telling me they love their watch, or sending me a photo of it on their wrist. That's the fuel.
How it's going
I'll be real. Balancing a demanding career in tech, a family, a household, birthdays, events, and a growing business is a lot. Some weeks the bench gets more time than others. But the goal is clear: to one day step away from tech and run SQND CITY full time. The next step is turning casual buyers into repeat customers and a real community.
What's coming next
The wheels are turning. I have several SQND CITY house watches on the way, starting with a titanium pilot coming soon, followed by Meigs, a full pilot line I'm testing right now. Trademarks are pending, and I'm picking up a few more domain names as the brand grows.
If you've bought a watch from me, followed along, or just stopped by to read this, thank you. You're a big part of why I keep building.
Hector, SQND CITY
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