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, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.
A lot of the inspiration for these watches comes from the creator’s artistic talents, and thankfully, that talent translates into really good looking watches. The Crossfire is a three hand dive watch with a California dial (Roman numerals in the top half hour, Arabic in the bottom half). The font for the numbers are born of John Lee’s artistic style, bold, unique, and definitely inspired by the world of tattoo art.
The 42mm case fits in very nicely in the Cobra de Calibre line, with the cushion style and the fin crown protector. Driving the watch is a Miyota 9015 automatic movement with a rotor branded and decorated with Geneva striping. I kind of miss the artistic casebacks that he has done with previous watches, but this looks nice and should have some solid appeal. Both the domed front crystal and exhibition caseback are sapphire, the dial and handset have Super-Luminova paint, and the watch comes on a leather strap with contrasting stitching. As a dive watch, I don’t know if you want to take the strap underwater, but to be honest, the vast majority of dive watches never go diving. If you are a diver, pick up a silicone strap and take comfort that the watch head is rated to 500 meters.
The Cobra de Calibre Crossfire is offered in eight flavors, with black, white, green and brown dials in either a brushed stainless steel or black PVD finished case. The brown dial also comes with a gold plated handset. The stainless watches are $499 CAD (about $386 USD) and the PVD watches are $539 CAD (about $417 USD). The project is crowd funded, so I will say that you are funding the development of a project, not making a retail transaction. Things sometimes change during development, and there may be delays. The brand already has two successful campaigns, so I expect a lot of the growing pains and learning curves have already been crossed, but please do your own research. That said, why are you guys not backing this project? If you do back it, or if you already own a Cobra de Calibre, I invite you to comment below.
Watch Overview:
- Brand & Model: Cobra de Calibre Crossfire
- Price: ~$386 USD for stainless steel or ~$417 USD for black PVD
- Who we think it might be for: Anyone who likes bold styling in their tool watches.
- Would I wear one myself based on what I’ve seen?: Yes.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I would rather have the tattoo style art on a solid caseback.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: It looks great.
Tech Specs from Cobra de Calibre:
- Movement: Miyota 8015 automatic
- Functions: Three hand with date
- Case: Brushed stainless steel with optional black PVD finish
- Crystal: Domed sapphire (front) sapphire (caseback)
- Water resistance: 500 meters
- Lug width: Not specified
- Straps: Leather
- Diameter: 42mm
- Thickness: Not specified
