Rossling and Co. may not have invented the ultra-thin, minimalist Bauhaus inspired wrist watch, they may not have even been the first to put one for sale on Kickstarter, but they were the first one I saw after I started following the site, and they have certainly been successful. Each of the first two watches, the first a quartz and the second an automatic, both garnered well over $100,000 in pledges, and the newest release from Rossling and Co., a smaller dialed version, is blowing up as well.
Xeric launched it’s third (and fourth) models on Kickstarter, and the design keeps with the company’s shared DNA, but brings the look back to a more traditional round case. The first Xeric used the rotation of the movement in an open window to indicate the hours, with a double sided minute hand for the minutes. The second time out, they kept the hour hand, but evolved the minute hand so that the time was framed inside a circle on one of two half-circle tracks. This time, the hour and minute hand both indicate the time on half circle tracks, and the movement is shown only with the two balance wheels.
We are normally all about watches, but when the guys at Smith & Bradley put together the Smith & Bradley Beacon Box, I wanted to get the word out.
Thanks for taking the time to check out our weekly installment, Watching the Web, where we point you toward some interesting watches and articles that have popped up over the last week (or so), and take a second look at what were our more popular pages. Today, I am going to highlight the Roger Dubuis Excaliber Tourbillon from ABTW, the Time Bum’s review of the Prometheus Piranha, and Tempus Fugit’s lunch with the Michael Happé from Gavox. From our site, we have the Ventus Caspian on Kickstarter, the AVI-8 Hawker Harrier II, and The Christopher Ward C7 Rapide Chronometer.
Origin stories for crowd funded watches are long past redundant at this point, especially if you search out for these projects. What I really care about is how the watch looks, and is it a good enough value to jump in and take a chance. With the Ventus Caspian Watches currently funding through April 25, the watch looks great and the value seems to be there.
There is an old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I think this must be the motto of the Griffin Emblem Watch Company, since they are back with a second batch of watches on the crowdfunding site, Indiegogo. The Griffin Emblem Automatic is offered in three general flavors and several case options for a total of 10 watch configurations, and the designs are only slightly different than the previous campaign. There are three levels of skeletonization in the watches, a small open heart window for the balance wheel, a larger central open heart, and a semi-skeleton design.
Touch of Modern (join here is you are not already a member), is a limited time, members only sales site that features lots of guy-centric goods. For our audience, it is the watches that really matter, and the site does feature a lot of watch sales. Today, they’ve got a flash sale (24-hour pricing) on the series of Eone Bradley Watches
There are times where one can see a new watch and clearly pick up the inspiration behind…
Techne is a brand that we have not focused on much recently, but both Patrick and I have an appreciation for what the brand is doing. They create attractive and affordable aviation inspired watches, with many of the watches tied to modern fighter planes. Though the Techne Dual Time is not tied to a specific plane this time around, it is pilot oriented with a day/date and a single hand GMT complication.
The Melbourne Watch Company has graced our pages multiple times, starting with a preview and then hands on review of the Flinders, then the Hawthorne, and the Portsea, and finally the Parkville. Now this Australian watch company is back again on Kickstarter, with their take on the modern pilot’s watch, the Melbourne Watch Company Avalon.
