I’ve reviewed some watches here that have been made of a variety of non-metallic materials, but this is the first one, I believe, that I’ve seen that utilizes bamboo to quite this extent.
Not surpisingly, this is courtesy of a Kickstarter project (project page) called the “Big Face Woody”. The woody aspect is pretty self-explanatory; the “big face” portion of the name comes due to the fact that you have a 43mm dial housed within a 50mm case. Yeah, this is a big watch.
Fortunately, the use of bamboo in the case (and the 22mm bracelet) should help keep the weight down, as will the quartz movement. Rounding out the specs you’ve got a 12mm case thickness, mineral crystal, and a “splash-proof” water resistance rating. In other words, if it wasn’t for the material used, most of us probably wouldn’t even notice the watch, given the specs and the fairly average styling of the piece.
Not actually safe to surf with…
If you managed to get into the project at the earlier tiers ($55 and $65) this might make an interesting pickup (though, not compared to the Division Furtive project, in my book); the lowest support tier currently available is $65. So, at that price, I’d say you might want to take a flier here, if you’re looking for an “eco-friendly” oversized watch. If this piece truly hits retail at $150, though, I’m afraid they’re just going to price themselves out of the market (especially when directly compared to Sprout and Tense).
* Hat tip to reader Colton who brought this to our attention
