Lew & Huey Orthos, Lets Go Diving

By Matt Himmelstein July 29, 2014

For a lot of guys, a diver is the default tool watch. The cases are usually fairly beefy, and that translates to masculine, the watches themselves are rugged, they serve a purpose, and they broadcast to the world that you are a man of action. So you might as well inject a little style into the watch as well. That is where the Lew & Huey Orthos comes in with their latest Kickstarter campaign. These ‘friends of the site’ have put their fifth model up for sale, and the first true diver of the bunch.

A Trio of Kickstarter Projects

By Matt Himmelstein July 25, 2014

A trio of watches have popped up on Kickstarter lately, one from a brand we know, one associated with a brand we know, and one from a newcomer. There is the Portsea by Melbourne Watch Company, a brand who’s previous watch I reviewed, and liked a lot. Second up is the inaugural model from Throne Watches. Though it is a new brand, assembly is being outsourced to Smith & Bradley, a brand Patrick has covered. Finally is the newcomer, Instrmnt Limited, with the Instrmnt 01.

The Ralston Recon 6 is a Survival Kit on Your Wrist

By Patrick Kansa July 23, 2014

Today, we’ve got a bit of a last-minute Kickstarter notice for you. I know normally we bring these to your attention with plenty of advance notice, but this one fell into my backlog, and, well, I’d rather pop this one up there than ignore it, as it’s bringing something to the table that I’ve not seen in a watch before. If you’re looking to have a survival kit built into a watch, the Ralston Recon 6 is your device.

Brigade 7 Scope – Taking Aim at a Budget Automatic

By Matt Himmelstein July 22, 2014

I like finding good values in a watch, without resorting to too many compromises. There are values to be had at all different price points, but at the entry level point, I find that you have to sacrifice more of what you would want to get a good value. Enter a kickstarter campaign for the Brigade 7 Scope watch, an automatic with a lot of features for a very low introductory price.

Orbital by element watch, A Family Affair

By Matt Himmelstein July 17, 2014

There are a lot of kickstarter watch projects where the creator has a dream of designing a watch, and then connects with a manufacturer in China to produce the watch. Well, element watches adds a twist to that formula, in that the watch manufacturer back in China is owned by the designer’s father. The Orbital by element watch is the company’s second bite at the kickstarter apple, and in my opinion it is a more attractive watch than the (unsuccessful) first project.

The Moment Smartwatch Does It All

By Matt Himmelstein July 2, 2014

The other day I wrote about 2 new smart watches that are driven by a single purpose, one to give you the score for your favorite soccer team, and the other to help you track your fitness. Today’s watch goes in the other direction, a connected device that has the goal of being a complete interface with your smart phone. The Moment Smartwatch is more of a full screen smart bracelet that interacts with your phone, and also tells the time.

Purpose Driven Watches With Smarts

By Matt Himmelstein June 26, 2014

A lot of smart watches I see try to be everything. Email, facebook posts, texts, weather, and so on and so on. They are not watches in a traditional sense, but rather wearable computers that display the time. Today, I wanted to highlight two watches that are more “connected” watches than a do everything wearables. The HotBlack by Hoptroff.com and the Withings Activé, with the former connecting you to your favorite football (soccer) team and the latter tracking your daily fitness goals. Interestingly, both watches are coming out of the UK.

The Padron Watch Co Hennepin, Going 3 for 3

By Matt Himmelstein June 20, 2014

Kickstarter has been good for the Padron Watch Company, so they are back for their third (hopefully) successful campaign on the site. The Hennepin watch is a chose-your-own movement project, with options for Swiss quartz, or Chinese, Japanese or Swiss automatic movements in the watch. In 2012, the hand wound Vuelta was launched, followed by the automatic Tessera in 2013. Both these watches far exceeded the funding goal, and with the Hennepin at more that 50% less than a day in, it looks like this will be 3 for 3.

Want Input into a Watch Design?

By Matt Himmelstein June 19, 2014

You know you do. The next question is, can you make it in person to an event in Montreal? If you answered yes to both of those, and you can spare $1 CAD, or you can’t do the 1st two and want to get on the mailing list for a new watch, check out Division Furtive’s new kickstarter campaign. Patrick took a look at their last kickstarter project, the Type 40 back in 2012.

Finally a Clear Design Choice

By Matt Himmelstein June 18, 2014

OK, maybe not finally, and I am sure that Project O1, a new watch that popped up on Indiegogo, is not the first watch in existence with a clear case (cue the Swatch fans..), but it is still fairly unique. And kind of cool. It takes the concept of skeletonization of an automatic watch to the next level.

Press ESC to close

Crowd Funded