Today, Matt is bringing us word of a watch over on Kickstarter that features something he’s really not gone looking for before – a quartz movement, and tritium illumination. Read on to see what he thinks.I normally look out for automatics on Kickstarter, but the visually interesting quartz project will also catch my eye, hence the Sans 13 Tritiam Dial Tactical Watch (project page). The watch is powered by a Ronda 6003.D Swiss quartz movement and encased in a black PVD case with tritium tubes on all 3 hands and at each hour.
The mineral crystal sports a magnifier for the date, and you have a unidirectional bezel. I would have expected to see tritium on the bezel as well, but that might have pushed the manufacturing costs too high. The placement of the tubes on the three hands makes the watch easy to read in the dark.
The watchmakers are aiming for a tactical market, and the watch is designed to be beefy and secure. They use screw lugs for the rubber strap and the crown is both screw down and protected with a crown guard. For $220, it is a nice looking watch. But (of course there is a but coming), I can’t find out anything else about the makers.
They have a web site (here) with 2 other models, plus a variation on their dive watch that is sold through a Krispy Kreme sponsored 19 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Driver, Gray Gaulding (here). But beyond these web presences, I can’t find any blog posts by anyone else. There is nothing on Watch U Seek or Worn & Wound. They have a nice Rolex ‘homage’ dive watch, and another sold out chrono, but the lack of third party information makes me wary.
So consider this both a heads up and a caveat emptor. And if anyone actually has one of their other watches, please chime and and lay my unease to rest.
UPDATE: We’ve spent some time with one of the guys behind this watch, and we’ll be bringing you a hands-on review of this watch in the near term.
