As the old saying goes “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” With watches there is more than one way to display the time. There is, of course, the circular display, with lots of variations, and then there are text displays, be they digital or printed, like the Devon Tread. Division Furtive Type 50 watch is not content with these options, and uses a linear display, two rows of LEDs for time, date, moon phase and chronograph functions.
A new watch sale popped up on Touch of Modern for Azimuth Watches. The site has three distinct and different designs for this Swiss watchmaker that does things… a little differently. Touch of Modern is a member-only sales site, so if you are not already a member, you can sign up through this link.
The rise of crowdfunding has really opened up watchmaking to new entrepreneurs and enthusiasts wishing to make their mark on the industry, and put their product on your wrist. The first product out of the gate is interesting, but for me, the real test comes with the follow up watches. The Rossling & Company Automatic is the firm’s sophomore effort, back on Kickstarter, that builds on their first watch offering, keeping a similar aesthetic, but adding a mechanical movement.
I have written about it here before, and I will say again, that I own an Anstead Oceanis. The original Anstead Oceanis, as sold on Kickstarter. It was my first really big (relatively) purchase on that site, my first crowd funded watch, and one of the reasons why I am currently on staff here at WWR; it stirred enough passion in me to offer to write a review, which led to more writing, which led to this gig. Now Tom Anstead, the man behind the watch, has relaunched it in a way, selling the Oceanis direct through his web site. But this version, still under the same name, and still “the first of the naval combat series,” is really an improvement and refinement over the original Oceanis, a watch I still enjoy and wear.
While the overall watch case design movement may be staying with the mid-40mm case, I have seen quite a few designs of late that are less than 40mm across, designed for me (or at least unisex) and are round. The Melbourne Watch Company Parkville automatic is just the most recent of these. Skipping the crowdfunded phase that started the brand’s previous efforts, the Parkville is being offered as a pre-order on their website, an encouraging sign that this young watchmaking firm has a strong enough following to sell direct.
Cobra de Calibre is a small brand out of Canada that is back with a second watch project on Kickstarter. I really like the style of the watch, though my timing in making other purchases always seems to put these projects at the wrong time for me. I covered their first watch when I was still just a friend of the site in February of this year, and they are selling a slightly refined version as their model 2 on their web site. This project, the Cobra de Calibre 3 Twin Crown carries forward a lot of the brand’s established identity, but takes it in a new direction with a bronze case, and a DLC coated bronze case.
Tokyoflash Japan is a watchmaker that we have covered on WWR many times in the past. If you are unfamiliar, they produce digital watches that have playful (or sometime confounding) time displays. The Tokyoflash Japan Kisai Maze Wood LCD splits the line between readable and confounding with alternate time displays, straight forward when you want, and coded when that tickles your fancy.
If you have been reading our site for some time, you no doubt have caught on that I have been a fan of watches that manage to re-use materials. This most commonly takes the form of watches that house old movements brought back to life (ala Archer Watches or the Wrocket ), or perhaps materials being repurposed in the strap. When it comes to REC Watches, the recycled material actually shows up in the dial.
Here in the ‘States, it’s a long holiday weekend known as Labor Day Weekend. Rather than try to throw some half-baked articles at you, I decided instead to give you the gift of time.
Szanto is a new brand, started by the the founder of Luminox, Barry Cohen. They have been on quite a press push of late, getting watches into the hands of several watch bloggers, so there are a few opinions out there for anyone wanting to survey a range of impressions. The sent me three watches to check out, and the first one I thought I would tackle was the simplest of the three, the Szanto 1100 (1104 to be exact in my color combination) an attractive three hand quartz field watch.
