The history of the wristwatch brand name 'MiniMax' trails back to the early 1900's. However, to fully understand its origins and the heritage behind the brand we must go back to 1881; birth year of Policarpo Suárez Canto. Policarpo was born in Entralgo, a parish of Laviana, located inside the province of Asturias in the northern part of Spain. Policarpo would later in life lay the foundation to a family of watch smith's and watchmakers.

In 1898 Policarpo Suárez sails to Cuba on orders of his brother, an officer of the Spanish army. Years later he travels to Guatemala City, Guatemala C.A. for commerce. The Spaniards had colonized the country during the early 1500’s with great impact on trade. During his time there he finds work at a watch and jewelry store where he becomes the apprentice of a Swiss watch smith from whom he learns the trade. While in Guatemala he weds Lucia Richard who was also born in Spain, and has two sons while living there; Federico Suárez Richard and José María Suárez Richard. In 1900 Policarpo returns to la Felguera Spain with his two sons where he opened the watch store “La Esmeralda”, (which to this date is still open).

Growing up José María and his brother work alongside his father at La Esmeralda and José María becomes a watch smith. As the industrial revolution kicks off, the Tavannes Swiss Watch Company begins to manufacture thousands of blank dial wristwatches. These were sold to companies that wanted their brand name on a watch. In this case, the watches were labeled “MiniMax” and were sold through the Suárez family in Spain during the early 1900's.

Though these MiniMax watches may have been assembled outside of Switzerland, they were considered Swiss made because 100% of their parts were made in Switzerland and the watch itself was assembled by José María Suárez who was a Swiss certified watch smith. The brand was kept alive for almost 40 years. Early in the year 1984 José María Suárez passes due to complications caused by a ruptured hernia. The brand went silent until 2010 and slowly started its way back into the market.

During early 2016 we developed the first MiniMax watch designs and prototypes. As of late 2019 we have released our first production run for sale. Minimax Watches, LLC is currently headquartered and operating out of San Antonio, Texas.