Hands-on with the Aeonic Kairos

The Aeonic Kairos is a beautiful, simple watch with a classic mid-century modern dial, some of the most comfortable leather straps I’ve had the chance to wear, and the excellent Seiko VH31 4Hz quartz movement, which moves the second had four times per second. Unfortunately, the Kickstarter closed, and I hope this isn’t the last chance we have to see Aeonic.

The Aeonic Kairos comes in a few different colorways. The dial in the PVD black case is a sunray-silver dial, with black painted indices, and lume dots at 3-6-9-12 positions. The dial in the polished silver case is a black dial with white painted indices and similar lume dots. The crown is at the 4 o’clock position, staying nicely out of the way, and the crown is nice and grippy. The hands are pencil-like, and extend out to the edge of the dial wonderfully. The whole thing is 39mm in diameter, making it an immensely comfortable watch to wear. The quick-release straps are made of some of the softest leather we’ve worn, in black or “brick red” (which I like to call, ‘wine red.’)

At every step, the choices lean towards quality materials. The cases themselves are made of 316L stainless steel. The lume dots are C3 Swiss SuperLuminova. The crown is oversized for comfort, and the whole thing comes in a leather travel case.

I think a lot about value. How can you get the most for your money, and wear something with a sense of personality, with style, without breaking the bank? Your choices are relatively few – you’re going to end up with a quartz watch, or a Seiko or Miyota automatic. Under $100? You’re getting a quartz watch, with just a few exceptions. This isn’t bad, especially when it’s the excellent Seiko VH31. The beauty of that movement is that it pushes the second hand around the dial 4 times a second, and looks for all the world like a slow-beat automatic.

I wore both black and silver versions of the watch, and received loads of comments from people, but none of that tops how comfortable they are. If you’re on a budget, and looking for something tasteful and enjoyable, this was a good watch that fit the bill. I should have posted sooner about it. I should have told 125 of you handsome, charming readers should have heard about it, and gone and backed it, at $65-75 USD each. I regret that I didn’t let you know in time. I’m sorry, and I think you should let Aeonic know if you want this watch to come back by contacting them.

Watch Overview

Brand & Model: Aeonic Kairos

Price: Earlybird pricing starts at $65 USD
Who we think it might be for: You look for comfortable, affordable, mid-century modern things in life.
Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: Yes.

If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I like the lugs to be a little tighter to the case for this sort of watch.
What spoke to me the most about this watch: The promise of modularity, the comfort of the straps, and the tasteful dial