Ok folks - no más. I cannot keep up
with the flood of new watch projects on Kickstarter and IndieGoGo.
Seriously, am I the only enthusiast who has not started his own micro
brand? Is the market really that big, or are you all just buying watches
from each other? It is remarkable, and I must say, very cool. I can't
cover all of them, but here are a smattering that have caught my eye.
All the watches in week's collection use quartz movements - Help me,
Ronda! (and Seiko)
Helgray Silverstone
When it comes to crowd funded watch
projects, Helgray's Nadim Elghary is a seasoned pro. In addition to the
outstanding Helgray Field Watch series, he is also a partner in Rossling
& Co., and the mastermind of Makara dive watches. Today's launch,
the Silverstone, is inspired by racing chronographs of the 1960. It is
powered by the amazing Time Module VK64
Meca-quartz by Seiko. This is a hybrid movement that provides quartz
accuracy and reliability for general time keeping. Depress the chrono
pusher, and it engages a mechanical module that ticks
5 times per second, providing high precision, a smooth sweep, and very
mechanical "snap back" when you reset. The Silverstone has proper
vintage proportions, measuring 40mm across and 11mm thick from caseback
to the top of its domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters.
Buyers may choose from four colors: white, black, blue, and green. The
Time Bum is particularly excited about this release, and judging from
its performance today, I am not alone. The project smashed its funding
goal in about an hour. Pre orders start at $229.
Ferro Distinct
I gave you a head's up on Ferro a few weeks ago when
the project was still being refined. Today it is live. The Distinct is a
44mm, wire lug, one-hander designed to replicate the look of a
dashboard instrument. It is driven by a Ronda 505 Swiss quartz movement
and features a sapphire crystal and 100 meters water resistance. The
date window will be repositioned to 4 o'clock for production. Three
colors will be offered: black, off-white, and a third to be determined
by vote after the campaign. Rewards start at $179 CAD (@ $157 USD).
Peren Classic Chrono
So
let me ask you this: how many Transylvanian watches do you own? Zero? I
thought so. Andy Bica wants to change that. After training in Bienne,
Switzerland, he returned to his native Romania and hatched Peren.
Inspired by the WW2 IAE-80 fighter plane, it uses a Swiss made Ronda
Startech 5030,13 jewel quartz movement. It has a clean and conservative
black dial with three registers and applied markers. The hands are
treated with SuperLuminova. The brushed stainless steel case is 40mm
wide and water resistant to 30 meters. Four models are available:
brushed bezel, polished bezel, PVD gold finish, and polished bezel on a
stainless bracelet. The watch will retail for $250 CAD, but Kickstarter
pre orders start at just $190 CAD (@ $167 USD).
Cloutier Nouvelle-France Le Chrono et Le Classique
Zipping
over to IndieGoGo, we find Le Classique (Ronda 715 three-hand), and Le
Chrono (Ronda 5030D three register chronograph), a pair of antique style
watches with a modern humanitarian purpose. For each watch sold, Cloutier Nouvelle-France pledges to donate $25 CAD to WaterAid,
a nonprofit that supports clean water infrastructure in sub-Saharan
Africa. The watch itself is rather pretty. These white dial watches use
an elegant serif typeface for its printed numerals, blue hands, and a
bold red 12. Options include a 40 or 46mm polished stainless steel case;
gold, rose gold, or steel finishes; solid or skeletonized feuille
hands; and black, brown, red, or blue leather straps. Water resistance
is 50 meters. Full retail will be $199 CAD for Le Classique and $249 CAD
for Le Chrono, but early birds can get theirs for as low as $129/$179
CAD (@ $113/157 USD).
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