Micromilspec has signed world champion kitesurfer Liam Whaley as a brand ambassador, announced August 5, 2026 in Oslo. It pairs a Norwegian independent built around timing instruments with an athlete whose results often hinge on the last seconds of a heat. A pragmatic match, not a billboard fling.
Henrik Rye, Founder and CEO, calls it unintended but natural: “We didn’t set out to sign an ambassador. We met a rider who already thinks the way our watches are built: obsessed with timing, allergic to anything unnecessary. The partnership more or less wrote itself.”
Whaley, among the most decorated riders in big-air kitesurfing, is known for landing decisive tricks on the buzzer. His choice of watch underscores that mindset. He passed on the brand’s chronograph and GMT, opting for the Field Test Unit: time-only, sterile bezel, the most stripped-back Micromilspec makes. For someone who times heats to the millisecond, paring back to essentials feels exact, not austere.
“I like things that are very, very simple when I’m off the water,” says Whaley. “For me, simplicity is the most elegant look, and that’s why I chose that watch. I’d rather be really good at a few things than just OK at a hundred things. I’m at a stage in my life where I’m trying to remove things instead of adding things, and focus on what is most important to me.” He adds that the partnership felt personal and supportive rather than corporate.
Micromilspec, established in 2019, specializes in made-to-order watches for military, first responders, and select clients. Design and development occur in Oslo, with manufacturing and assembly handled by partners in Switzerland.
Projects under the partnership will be announced as they take shape. For those who tire of ambassador pageantry, there is a quiet appeal here: a rider who lives by the clock choosing the watch that simply tells it.
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