Vario

Vario began in 2015 when motion graphics designer Ivan Chua, experiencing phone fatigue and a downturn in broadcast television work, returned to wearing his old watches. Finding their straps had disintegrated, he designed colorful NATO straps and launched them on Indiegogo in March 2016, raising over $7,500 from 119 backers. A year later, he released his first watch, the Eclipse, a Bauhaus-inspired dress watch funded via crowdfunding. Since then, Vario has launched new collections annually including the Art Deco-inspired Empire, WWI-inspired 1918 Trench series (their most popular line), the nautical Single Hand Navi, the Streamline Moderne Versa, and the WWII-inspired 1945 D12 field watch. By 2024, Vario had grown to sell approximately 2,000 watches annually with strong markets in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. The brand operates from a showroom in Orchard Plaza and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2026.