Now Funding: Audric Strider

In our book, there’s never a bad time to wear a steel sports watch, particularly one on a bracelet. Sometimes all you need is that simplicity of steel, with a splash of color from the dial, and a simple time-and-date display. If you want that, with some uncommon touches, then the just-launched Audric Strider is worth a look.

While the colors of the dials available on the Audric Strider (and yes, I like that light blue one) will get the attention, take a closer look at them. There, you’ll see that you’ve got a texture deeply set into the dial, and definitely brings it a bit more upscale than a flat dial blank would have offered. Over the top of that, you’ve of course got applied indices (bars and numerals) filled with SuperLuminova, with a large and partially-skeletonized handset filled with the same lume. In other words, no problem reading the time, day or night. The date window is unfortunately a bit small here, but it is what it is. Myself, I wouldn’t have minded it being deleted, or perhaps have a dial-mounted cyclops on there for something different.

The bezel of the Audric Strider is another bit that’s different. Not just a boring circle, you’ve got a 12-sided dodecagon taking up residence. Those angles then carry on to the lugs that taper down to the bracelet in the 22mm lugs, which the bracelet somehow managing to be both smooth and chunky at the same time.

Now, let’s talk movements. For Kickstarter watches, we’re of course used to seeing all manner of lower-cost movements, and we’re totally fine with that, as it brings the pricing down. Sometimes, though, you just want the reliability that comes with a known Swiss movement, right? Well, here, you’ll be ending up with either an ETA 2824-2 or a Sellita SW200, meaning you’ve got the reliability, and a known quantity that a good watchmaker should be able to maintain for you.

As the title of this article suggests, the Audric Strider just launched on Kickstarter today, with the campaign running until May 31, 2022. While the regular retail price of the Strider is expected to be $849, you can get in at earlybird pricing of $549, which is a tidy 35% discount. You can check out all of the details over at the campaign page / audricwatches.com

Tech Specs from Audric

Case: 42 mm * 48 mm 316L Stainless Steel case.

Movement: ETA 2824-2 or Sellita SW 200 – 1 in Incabloc and Elabore grade with Blue Screws and Signed Rotor.
Case Thickness: 11.5 mm.
Water Resistance: 200 m (650ft) / 20 ATM.