Most crowd funded watches I see are start-ups that are trying to get going, and they are portraying their watches as a value versus what is on the market. Sometimes, you see an established brand going the crowd funding route for something really different, like when Bathys wanted to make an atomic wristwatch. With the Pellikaan Timing Diving Dutchman, I am seeing something else, an existing higher end brand looking for a minimal commitment to get tooling going on an expensive watch.
I was not familiar with the brand, but a quick search identified the Dutch brand as one with a solid reputation, albeit for small batch productions; as well as a review of the Hendrik Lorentz Watch on ABTW by our own Patrick. Patrick also previewed the Diving Dutchman back in June. The watch itself is a throwback to basic dive watches, though it does have a very nice movement in it. As the brand says, “No mocking about. No sapphire bezel inlays. No shiny bits ‘n pieces. No 2,000 metres+ water resistance. No sandwich dial, no diamonds, no color. No confusing and cluttering elements.” Pretty succinct.
With a 200 meter depth rating and a uni-directional bezel, it certainly meets the minimum standards of a diver (though with a hand wound watch, it should have an EOL indicator), but I have a feeling very few of them will see the ocean. Most of the images I have seen of the watch do not show lume on the bezel, but there was a shot in one of the videos with the deep groves on the bezel filled with lume, which is what I would expect to be the case. If you do want to jump in, you may want to double check with Pellikaan to see if this is the case or not.
Why do I get this feeling? First, the watch has no knurling on the bezel, so adjusting it for diving may be problematic. But that is academic, since, second, they are only making 50 of them. Third, the watch only comes with a hand made and custom sized leather strap, and you know that isn’t going in the drink.
And fourth? Well, the project has an early bird price of €4,000, or about $4,556 USD. For those of us in the US, you don’t have to pay VAT. If you live in Europe, add 21% VAT, which is calculated in the shipping costs. Once the five early bird watches are gone, the price goes up in stages until it hits the full retail of €4,900 for the final 25 watches. The brand only needs a commitment of 5 to get the tooling going, hence the early bird limit.
Part of the value in the watch is in the movement. The Pellikaan Timing Diving Dutchman uses an Isoprog IP13, a Swiss hand wound movement based on the ETA/Unitas 649x series. Pellikaan then modified the movement with a balanced anchor, which they have patented. The end result should be very accurate, and it definitely is very lovely to look at through the caseback with “matte black finishing, circular Côtes de Genève decoration, blued screws and a so-called ‘swanneck regulator.'” So if you have a spare $4,500 or so, and want to get in on a limited edition Dutch watch with a really nice looking Swiss hand wound movement, check out the project page and let me know what you think in the comments below. pellikaantiming.com
Watch Overview:
- Brand & Model: Pellikaan Timing Diving Dutchman
- Price: €4,000 (~ $4,556 USD) up to €4,900, plus VAT in the EU.
- Who we think it might be for: Rolex, Omega and Tudor are all to common for you.
- Would I wear one myself based on what I’ve seen?: I would definitely wear it. Affording it, that is something else entirely.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: A little knurling on the bezel
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: That movement is pretty
Tech Specs from Pellikaan:
- Movement: Isoprog IP13 with patented balanced anchor
- Functions: Hand wound three hander
- Case: Grade 5 titanium
- Crystal: Sapphire front crystal and exhibition caseback
- Water resistance: 200 meters
- Lug width: 22mm
- Straps: Custom sized leather with titanium buckle
- Diameter: 45mm
- Thickness: 14.5mm
