How did Mr. Eatwell start?
“Mr. Eatwell started by accident. I printed a photo of a bowl of pasta I cooked onto a hoodie, and enough people asked me where I got it that I threw up a website—and things kind of spiraled upward from there.”
Portland, Oregon
A small team.
Thirteen watches.
Mr. Eatwell designs, builds, tests and ships every watch by hand from a Southeast Portland studio. Below, Matt, the founder, explains how the whole thing started — in his own words.
The interview
In Matt's own words
The answers below are quoted directly from Matt, the founder. Everything else on the site is written by the team.
What's the mission behind the brand?
“The mission was never super polished or planned: I just wanted to make things that felt good to wear and reminded people not to take life too seriously. It started with hoodies, and now it's mostly watches—but the goal's the same. I want people to look at their wrist and feel a little better than they did the moment before.”
What sets Mr. Eatwell apart?
“The watch space is full of amazing pieces—but most of them are $1000 and up. I wanted to create something high-design and high-quality for people who aren't ready to drop thousands.”
Where did the name come from?
“My initials are M.R., and I've always believed that eating well means living well.”
What's your background?
“I wasn't creative growing up. At all. I bounced from job to job and career to career. It wasn't until I made that first hoodie that I found something worth building.”
What do you love most about running Mr. Eatwell?
“Creating new things, and connecting with the people who buy them. I've become friends with customers.”
Where the brand sits on the spectrum
Honest about what a microbrand is.
There's a whole spectrum in this hobby — from garage assemblers to independent watchmakers turning their own parts to factories shipping containers of watches. Mr. Eatwell sits near the small end of it: the team designs, sources, assembles, regulates, and answers the email.
No claim gets made about engineering the movements or machining the cases, because that isn't what happens here. What does happen: every watch is assembled and regulated by hand in Portland before it goes in a box.
