Now Funding: WT Author 1973

It’s been many a month since we’ve had WT Author on our pages. When they were starting up, we actually went through a number of their watches (1904, 1914, 1929) before we took a break. Well, as you can tell from that lineup, they’ve been bringing their watch design through the decades, and time marches ever forward. Now, they’ve launched the latest – the WT Author 1973 – on Kickstarter.

With all of the watches, there’s a specific reason for the year the brand attaches to the designs. So, why 1973? Well, that’s the year the British MOD introduced the iconic G10 watch strap (aka, the NATO strap). Fittingly, the WT Author 1973 comes with two straps, one black and one orange.

Past that, I find that the handset design – and the colorful dial options – available on the WT Author 1973 to be reminiscent of a 70s era watch. Past that, I find it has more of a modern feel, particularly with the chunks lugs and integrated crown protectors. And that crown being a 4 o’clock, which definitely seems to be a more of a modern thing, though it does make sense in terms of wrist comfort.

I do rather like the fact that the WT Author 1973 also has a Jubilee-style bracelet (more akin to the Seiko interpretation than Rolex, but still, the idea is the same) available as an add-on, which definitely gives some more flexibility to the watch. And with it’s straight ends (rather than custom end links to fit the case) means you could move it over onto any watch with a 22mm lug width, if you like.

The campaign for the WT Author 1973 just kicked off a few days ago, and goes through May 6th. The campaign is fully funded, and given their track record of producing watches, I’d say it’s very likely that delivery of the watches in November will happen. Earlybird pricing starts at $487, and links you into a brand that has been producing interwsting designs that march through time. campaign page / wtauthor.com