British watchmaker Fears has joined the Alternative Horological Alliance (AHA), a group of like-minded indies who cooperate to bring innovative timepieces to market.
The Alliance was founded by the owners of MING, Fleming, and J.N. Shapiro, and has since welcomed Massena Labs and now Fears into the fold.
One of its first achievements, unveiled at Geneva Watch Days in the summer of 2024, was a a tantalum bracelet designed by MING and made by J.N. Shapiro in such a way that it would fit watches from all three AHA founders’ watches.
The bracelet would not have been commercially viable for a single independent brand, but the Alliance made it possible.
“The idea of the AHA is not so much of an exclusive club, but rather it’s a forum for smaller, independent watch brands to support each other in our own aims and to collaborate to bring something new to market that we might not have been able to do alone,” explains Thomas Fleming, who launched the first Fleming watch in March last year.
Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, owner and managing director of Fears Watch Company, says his team shares the AHA’s values of collaboration, openness, and a shared commitment to advancing independent watchmaking.
“At Fears, we believe in the strength of community over competition, and being part of this alliance allows us to contribute to a more connected and resilient future for independent horology. We’re excited to work closely with the other member brands, supporting one another and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible outside of traditional industry structures,” he describes.
In addition to collaboration over product development, the AHA is also hosting boutique collector events in partnership with retailers.
It’s first outings are to Singapore from May 3rd to 4th at Delugs, a watch strap business with a store in Raffles Hotel, and then onto Hong Kong from May 7th to 9th at The Armoury, a luxury men’s style boutique that has collaborated on special editions with a number of independent watchmakers.
William Massena of Massena LAB, is delighted to be taking part in the events as one of the new members of the AHA.
“As collaboration has always been central to our brand, joining AHA feels like a natural step for Massena LAB, and we are excited by the opportunity to further the spirit of cooperation and innovation within this incredible community. We look forward to joining our talented and like-minded new partners MING, Fleming, J.N. Shapiro, and Fears Watch Company at our very first AHA event this May in Singapore,” he says.