High friction in vetting and evaluating boutique watch OEMs

First-time founders face significant barriers when attempting to verify the quality and reliability of manufacturing partners due to industry-standard NDAs and a lack of established professional networks. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to differentiate between high-quality factories and subpar providers, especially when targeting specific price points and specialized components like Japanese movements. The inability to access objective performance data or peer reviews leads to high risk in capital allocation for new product launches.