AERA INSTRUMENTS
STORY SO FAR
Founded in 2018 by Jas Minhas (British) and Olof Larsson (Swedish), who met in Geneva early that year with the idea of building a contemporary tool-watch brand from scratch. Both come from watch-retail dynasties — Minhas's grandfather was a watchmaker in Punjab and his father Surjit continued the trade in the UK, while Larsson is descended from one of Sweden's most prestigious watch-retail families. AERA (the name is the plural of the Latin 'aes', meaning bronze or instrument) is positioned as a modern British tool-watch microbrand, taking visual cues from mid-20th-century pilot, dive and field instruments. The launch range comprised the P-1 Pilot, A-1 Aviator, D-1 Diver and T-1 Trekker, joined more recently by chronograph and field-watch developments. The brand is sold direct-to-consumer from London, with international site versions for the US, Australia and Switzerland, and has been profiled by Watchonista, Oracle of Time and Europa Star as one of the leading new British watch microbrands.
DESIGNED BY
In-house AERA Instruments design team led by co-founders Jas Minhas and Olof Larsson, working from the brand's London base. UK-based: Yes.
MADE BY
Per the brand's own statements: every AERA watch is designed in London and manufactured to the Swiss Made standard, meaning a minimum of 60% of the watch's construction value is Swiss and the watch is assembled, closed and quality-tested in Switzerland — AERA confirms its watches exceed this 60% minimum. Movements are Swiss-made Sellita SW200-1 self-winding automatics from La Chaux-de-Fonds. Cases are machined from 904L brushed stainless steel (a higher-grade alloy than the standard 316L, with greater chromium, molybdenum and nickel content). Movements undergo rigorous testing before leaving Switzerland and a second round of testing in the UK. No published parts-by-percentage breakdown beyond the Swiss Made >60% disclosure.
