Adina Watches finds growing market in Millennials seeking traditional timepieces

What is driving young people to ditch their smartwatches in favour of the traditional wristwatch? Australia’s last remaining local watch brand believes it has the answer.

Lindsay Baxter with some traditional watches. Picture: AAP image, John Gass

MILLENNIALS are increasingly ditching their smartwatches in favour of traditional timepieces, according to Australia’s last remaining homegrown watch brand.

Adina Watches general manager Grant Menzies, whose family-owned Brisbane-based company has been making watches for almost 50 years, said there was a yearning among younger people for the authenticity of a traditional wristwatch.

Mr Menzies said Adina was now making bespoke watches for Bond University and St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School among others to be presented at graduation ceremonies.

“Millennials have grown up in this homogenous society and they want something with personality and that is handmade,” said Mr Menzies.

“Watches are starting to act as a generational bridge between the older and younger generations despite their usual differences in politics and other beliefs.”

Mr Menzies said there also was concern among the younger generation about the tonnes of landfill produced each year by discarded smartwatches and other digital devices.

Adina – which is based on an Aboriginal phrase for “very good” – was founded in 1971 by Mr Menzies’ father Bob. The veteran watchmaker wanted to make a watch that was not only reasonably priced but sturdy enough to survive Australia’s tough conditions.

His father was able to compete against cheaper Japanese Seiko and Citizen watches because of Adina’s medium-range price and top quality.

Mr Menzies joined the firm in the 1990s and was given the job of expanding the Adina presence and range around Australia. Components such as movements, cases and front pieces are sourced from around the world, with the watches assembled in Brisbane.

Adina is now producing a line of automatic watches for miners where digital devices such as smartphones struggle to operate and which can be deadly distractions around heavy machinery. Mr Menzies said about 3000 of the watches each year are currently sold to mine workers around the country. “Dad and I talked about producing a watch strong enough for the harsh conditions in a mine,” said Mr Menzies. “They are built the old-school way with case screws to ensure the mechanism stays in place despite shaking and vibration.”