Most crowd funded watches I see are start-ups that are trying to get going, and they are portraying their watches as a value versus what is on the market. Sometimes, you see an established brand going the crowd funding route for something really different, like when Bathys wanted to make an atomic wristwatch. With the Pellikaan Timing Diving Dutchman, I am seeing something else, an existing higher end brand looking for a minimal commitment to get tooling going on an expensive watch.
As you are no doubt aware, watches on Kickstarter have become quite a thing as of late. We, through Matt’s efforts, have covered a lot of them. Lately, though, we have restricted ourselves to the more interesting products, because there are a lot of “me too” thin quartz watches cropping up. While what I am going to be talking about today is indeed a quartz three-hander, the design merits a mention. With that, let’s take a look at what the Joogii J1 has to offer.
Is it my fault? Am I not being clear enough when I review the Cobra de Calibre watches and say, “hey you should check this guy’s work out.” There have been a few great success stories with crowd funding where one project turned into two or three and then into a full blown brand (looking at you Lew & Huey). I can’t understand how John Lee has not yet developed a cult following that funds all his projects. Well, it isn’t too late to jump on board with his latest, the Cobra de Calibre Crossfire seeking funding on Kickstarter.
If you travel, a world timer watch is a very handy complication. Switch cities, and you can easily switch time zones on your watch. But what if you want it done for you? That is where GPS watches come into play. Not GPS as in tracking watches, but GPS watches that update their clocks based on where they are in the world. Since they only update every other day (or on command), the receiver part uses little energy, so these are not power hogging watches like a GPS tracker would be. Now on Kickstarter is a new brand hoping to get into this technology with the first four Artstate GPS Solar Watch models (OK, only 2 are solar, but they are all GPS). This new brand is significantly less expensive than the other mainstream brands that are available.
Dear Hopeful Crowd Funded Watchmaker; Allow me to start by saying that I think you are doing something really cool, and that I am a huge fan. This is the first time in history where the power to build, market and sell a watch is not vested in the few, but open to anyone with an idea and a bit of money. I think that a lot of the projects that you come up with are attractive, interesting and offer a great value. Heck, I have backed a couple of projects myself. And to keep from singling anyone out, the crowdfunded projects I show here are the projects that I feel are doing it the right way.
I first saw the Kloker Watch on their own web site, before it was launched on Kickstarter, and I was interested in the project. Life being what it is, I did not have a chance to cover it right when it launched, but I did see that they received a lot of coverage, both from watch bloggers and from gadget watchers. Now, with a little time remaining before the project closes, Klokers introduced a second model into the mix.
If you stick around long enough, everything old becomes new and hip again, and now it is the pocket watch’s turn. And keep in mind, the very first wrist watches for the masses were just pocket watches with lugs, so it seems only fitting to circle back to our roots. Of course, the Itero Pocket Watch, currently funding on Kickstarter, updates those roots in some modern ways.
OK, I am kidding a bit, the world is not waiting for another deign driven watch, regardless of what half the projects on Kickstarter want you to believe. But design is important, I am am willing to wade past the breathless introductory message if I like the look of a crowd funded watch project, and I like the look of the Meshable Watches Chrono, currently seeking backers on Kickstarter. I do like minimalist watches, and this project is clean and functional, and not at all crowded despite the chronograph movement.
When a new, or at least fairly novel, watch product shows up in the market (and by market these days, it is increasingly on crowd funded sites), I like to take a look at it. We are being more selective in what we cover in the crowd funded market, but the Evarii Modular Watch, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, is worth a look (actually a second look, since Patrick gave a sneak peek in February); it is also a sister brand to one we have covered a bit in the past, Egard. Evarii sent me components to mix and match two different watches, so I had a chance to play around with the concept.
We first brought you word of the Manchester Watch Works Vergennes and Westminster watches not all that long ago (link). Of the two trench watch-inspired pieces, I found myself drawn the most to the white-dialed one. As fortune would have it, there was one of those available for us to go hands-on with, even though the Kickstarter project (link) is still running. Without further ado, let’s get into our review of the Manchester Watch Works Vergennes.
