Monta is a St. Louis brand of Swiss-made steel watches, every one on a bracelet with a quick-adjust clasp of the brand's own design and every one with its lug to lug, thickness and lug width in print. The decision it forces is whether that bracelet and 47 to 48 mm of case are worth paying Monta money without a chronometer certificate, when Serica and Formex print the COSC paper for less.
Checked 19 September 2026 · list prices on the maker's site that day unless marked street
Monta is a St. Louis brand, founded in 2016 by Michael DiMartini and David Barnes, with Justin Kraudel joining in 2017, selling direct from montawatch.com and through a small dealer network with a store locator. The brand's line is Born in St. Louis, Made in Switzerland; its product pages say the calibres are manufactured, assembled and tested in Switzerland, and the warranty is 2 years and transfers once to a second owner. The spec sheets settle more than most. Every model is 316L steel with a 20 mm lug, a screw-down crown, Super-LumiNova BGW9 and a flat bevelled sapphire, 5 of the 6 with a 7-layer inner anti-reflective coating stated. There are two calibres. The M-22, which Monta says is a Sellita SW300 base with a 56-hour reserve, runs the Triumph, both Nobles and the Oceanking; the M-23 GMT, also 56 hours, runs the Atlas and Skyquest, and the brand describes it as Sellita-based without naming the base calibre on the page. Water resistance runs 150 m (Noble 38.5, Atlas), 200 m (Triumph, Noble 40) and 300 m (Skyquest, Oceanking). Lug to lug is 47 to 48 mm on every case, which for the 38.5 mm watches is long.
What Monta does not publish is a chronometer certificate or a calibre of its own, and at this money Serica and Formex publish the COSC paper and a lower price. Serica's 5303 is $1,850 with a certificate at 300 m where the Triumph is $1,850 at 200 m without one; Formex's Reef 39.5 is $2,085 certified at 300 m where the Oceanking is $2,550. That is the comparison the whole range has to answer, model by model below.
The often-quoted figure of about 700 watches a year comes from Gear Patrol and not from Monta, whose own about page returned a 404 when it was read, so treat it as a journalist's number. On 19 September 2026, 5 of the 6 models showed sold out and the Oceanking was down to limited quantities.
Founded2016
BasedSt. Louis, Missouri, USA
Assembled'Born in St. Louis, Made in Switzerland' (brand blog); product pages say calibres are manufactured, assembled and tested in Switzerland
MovementsMONTA Caliber M-22 (Sellita SW300 base), 56h, MONTA Caliber M-23 GMT (Sellita base per brand), 56h
Price range$1,850–$2,550
SoldDirect (montawatch.com) plus a small authorised-dealer network (Clarkson Jewelers St. Louis was the 2nd AD, March 2023) and a store locator
WarrantyTwo years from purchase, transferable once to a second owner
Read the table by calibre, then by rating. M-22 three-handers: Triumph (field, 200 m), Noble 38.5 (150 m), Noble 40 (200 m), Oceanking (300 m, rotating bezel). M-23 GMTs: Atlas (fixed bezel, 150 m), Skyquest (24-hour bezel, 300 m). The table shows the Oceanking twice, two readings of the same product page; the figures agree, and it is written up once below. The Noble Voyager, an M-23 Noble at 10.7 mm for $2,150, is named on the Noble page and has no row of its own.
Case material316L steel, screw-down crown with guards
Price$1,850
The cheapest Monta at $1,850, sold out. Its 47.8 mm lug to lug on a 40 mm case is 1.3 mm longer than the Serica 5303's 46.5 mm on a 39 mm one, and the M-22 on the Sellita SW300 base sits behind a fixed bezel. The Noble 40 at $1,895 is the same case and calibre with a dress dial, $45 more. For the same $1,850 the Serica 5303 adds a COSC certificate and 100 m, and for $1,390 the Serica 6190 is the certified 38 mm field watch at 10.4 mm. Monta's answer is the bracelet.
Case material316L steel, screw-down crown, sapphire back
Price$1,895
The thinnest Monta at 9.7 mm and the smallest at 38.5 mm, on the same 47 mm lug to lug as the Atlas, which is where the size stops being small. Sold out. The Noble Voyager at $2,150 is this watch on the M-23 GMT at 10.7 mm. Against the Noble 40 at the same price you give up 50 m and 1.5 mm of diameter and gain 0.8 mm of thinness. The Christopher Ward Twelve 38 is 9.95 mm and 43.3 mm lug to lug at £1,095; that case is short as well as thin, and this one is not.
Case material316L steel, screw-down crown with guards
Price$1,895
The Triumph in a dinner jacket, the same 40 mm case and M-22 with a polished fixed bezel and a plain dial, $1,895, sold out. The $45 over the Triumph buys the finish. Against the Noble 38.5 you gain 50 m and 1.5 mm of diameter for 0.8 mm of thickness. The Formex Essence 39 at $1,980 is 45.5 mm lug to lug and 10 mm thick on a COSC-certified Sellita, 2.3 mm shorter; the NOMOS Club Campus at $2,070 is 8.5 mm on a calibre of its own. The Noble's reply is 200 m and the clasp.
Ø38.5 mm · automatic · 150 m · $2,150 · GMT · 10.7 mm · sold out
Monta Atlas GMT
38.5 × 47 mm · ref 40 × 47
MovementMONTA Caliber M-23 GMT, 56h
Case38.5 mm
Lug to lug47 mm
Thickness10.7 mm
Lug width20 mm
Water resistance150 m
CrystalFlat beveled sapphire, 7-layer inner AR
BezelFixed, radial brushed
LumeSuper-LumiNova BGW9
Case material316L steel, screw-down crown, sapphire back
Price$2,150
The thin Monta GMT, 10.7 mm on the 38.5 mm case at 47 mm lug to lug, with the M-23 behind a radial-brushed fixed bezel, $2,150, sold out. The Skyquest at $2,435 adds the bezel, 2.2 mm of width, 1.1 mm and 150 m. The Farer Lander IV at $1,575 is a Sellita SW330-2 GMT at 45 mm lug to lug, $575 less and 2 mm shorter; the Serica 8315 GMT at $2,450 is certified at 200 m, 1.6 mm thicker. The Atlas is the thinnest of the three and the only one with no certificate and no named base calibre.
Case material316L steel, screw-down crown and guards
Price$2,435
The 300 m GMT with a bezel, for someone who wants the Oceanking's rating with a second zone, $2,435; the page showed sold out while the feed showed available, and the page wins. The 24-hour bezel sits on the brand's patent-pending assembly, and against the Atlas it is $285 more for the bezel, 150 m and 1.1 mm. The Formex Reef GMT 42 at $2,355 is a COSC-certified SW330-2 at 300 m, 11.4 mm and 47 mm lug to lug, $80 less and 1.3 mm wider. The Skyquest is 0.4 mm thicker and uncertified; the Formex is the bigger watch.
The top of the range, and the one Monta still available, in limited quantities, at $2,550. It alone has the 6-slot quick-adjust clasp, and its 120-click unidirectional ceramic bezel sits on the patent-pending assembly, 300 m, 48 mm lug to lug at 40.5 mm. The Formex Reef 39.5 at $2,085 is a COSC-certified 300 m diver at 45.5 mm and 11 mm, $465 less, 2.5 mm shorter and 1 mm thinner; the Serica 5303 at $1,850 is certified at 300 m too. The Oceanking has the bezel assembly, the ceramic and the clasp; what it lacks is the paper.
Monta is for a buyer at $2,000 who values a bracelet and clasp designed by the brand, every dimension in print, and 200 m or 300 m on a dress-adjacent case, and who does not need a certificate to feel the money was well spent. The cases suit a 6.75-inch wrist and up: nothing is under 47 mm lug-to-lug, and the 38.5 mm Nobles and Atlas are as long as the 40 mm Triumph is wide. Look elsewhere if you want a COSC certificate at this money, since Serica ($1,290 to $2,450) and Formex ($1,890 to $2,355) print one; if you want a calibre the brand made, since NOMOS starts at $2,070 with the DUW 4001; if a short lug-to-lug matters, since the Christopher Ward Twelve 38 is 43.3 mm and the Formex Essence 39 is 45.5 mm; or if you want it this month, since 5 of the 6 were sold out.
Where it sits against the field
The band is $1,850 to $2,550 and the field in it is Serica, Formex, Farer, Christopher Ward and NOMOS. Serica's 5303 ($1,850) and 8315 GMT ($2,450) carry COSC certificates at 300 m and 200 m; Formex's Essence 39 ($1,980), Reef 39.5 ($2,085) and Reef GMT ($2,355) carry them too, with the case suspension on the Essence. Farer's Lander IV GMT ($1,575) is the Sellita GMT at 45 mm lug-to-lug. NOMOS's Club Campus ($2,070) is 8.5 mm on an in-house hand-wound. Against all of them Monta offers a stated Swiss assembly, a 56-hour reserve, the quick-adjust clasp and 47 to 48 mm of case; it is the only brand in the group with no certificate and no calibre of its own, and at 300 m it is $465 above the certified Formex. The high-end ranking places it last for that reason.
Questions people ask
Where are Monta watches made?
Switzerland, per the brand's product pages, which say the calibres are manufactured, assembled and tested there; the brand's own line is Born in St. Louis, Made in Switzerland. Monta is based in St. Louis, Missouri, and sells direct and through a small dealer network. The figure of roughly 700 watches a year is Gear Patrol's, not Monta's.
Are Monta movements in-house?
No. Monta names them Caliber M-22 and M-23 and states on the product pages that the M-22 is built on a Sellita SW300 base; the M-23 GMT is described as Sellita-based without the base calibre named. Both are quoted at a 56-hour reserve. Neither carries a COSC certificate on the pages checked.
What is the difference between the Monta Triumph and the Noble 40?
The dial and $45. Both are 40 mm, 47.8 mm lug-to-lug, 10.5 mm thick, 200 m, on the M-22 with crown guards and the 3-slot quick-adjust bracelet. The Triumph is the field dial at $1,850; the Noble 40 is the polished-bezel dress version at $1,895 in black or blue. Both showed sold out on 19 September 2026.
