Social Icons

Press ESC to close

Under $500

863   Articles in this Category
Explore

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.

I don’t see a lot of watches with tritium gas tubes for illumination, so I was pretty interested in checking out the two Chronologia Dive Watches, the R004 and R004 Chronograph. I was also a tad skeptical, since I do have an automatic preference for automatics, but I found that I really enjoyed wearing both of these watches (though the 3-hander is more my style).

When the biggest name in the watch industry decides to get into the smart watch/fitness tracker business, you expect a watch that is made for the masses. What you don’t expect is a watch made for a niche sport; but then again, Swatch does not do things in the normal way. The Swatch Touch Zero One is, as the name implies, the first watch in a planned ecosystem of fitness watches tied to the sports that Swatch supports.

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.

As I have mentioned previously , there is just something about a steel-encased three-hander that makes for a very flexible watch. There are, of course, no shortage of options, and I have recently run across one from a brand that we have not had on our pages in some time – Momentum. With the Momentum Logic, there also exists the possibility for you pick up a his-and-hers combo, were you so inclined.

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 is a dive watch not a “dive watch?” Well, when it pays homage to the submarine service, as the G. Gelach ORP Orzel 85A watch does, now available from this Polish watch maker. The watch commemorates the ORP Orzel, a modern (by WWII standards) submarine from the Polish Navy that escaped from the Baltic Sea at the onset of WWII and found service in the British Royal Navy until her sinking in 1940 (her short history on Wikipedia is worth a read).

If you have been reading our site for a while, you should be familiar with the TokyoFlash brand. They make playful digital watches that are sometimes a little… obscure… in how they are read. Straightforward or not, the brand like to play around with how time is represented on the dial. Both Patrick and I have had the chance to check out various models in hand, and I can attest that the build quality of the watches is solid, at least on an initial review. Now, the brand is announcing two new variations, both TokyoFlash Japan wood cased watches, the Radioactive and the Vortex.

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.