It is not an every day occurrence, but more and more I am seeing established (albeit small) brands use crowd funding for the launch of a new product. Tactico is the latest to jump on this trend. Patrick looked at the second offering from this boutique Spanish watch maker back in 2012, and now there is a campaign on Kickstarter to get a variation on their third watch out to a larger audience. The Tactico Geomaster GMT watch is an automatic pilots watch with an ETA movement being produced in limited numbers.
I had to look at the video on the campaign page (copied above) to really see what was going on with the watch, because I had never seen a GMT like this previously. The hand set is a standard 3 hander, with the plane tipped hand being a second hand. The red triangle pointing to 3:00 (or 22:00 above) is for reading a second, 24-hour time zone off the disk that rotates behind the face. So instead of an elongated date window, which is appears to be, that is the 24-hour GMT feature, which can be set independently of the actual hour hand. With the GMT taking up that real estate, there is no date window. Lastly, there is an inner rotating bezel set with the crown at 8:00. I think it is a very good way to do the GMT, especially a 24 hour GMT, because you don’t need to do the mental gymnastics to convert a 12-hour dial to a 24-hour time scale if the watch only used an hour hand.
The watch itself is a variation on the brand’s existing TC3 line of watches, and shared the same rounded aviator 43mm stainless steel (with option PVD coating) case and domed sapphire crystal. Driving the watch is an ETA 2893-3 movement, which is protected by an anti-magnetic Faraday cage. The watch is listed as coming with both a nylon and nylon and leather strap; is rated to 200 meters; and uses SuperLuminova BGW9 on the hands, dial and bezel. The watch is being produced in limited numbers, but I am not quite sure where the production caps out. The title says 88 pieces, in the watch description it lists 99, and there are 79 total watches up for grabs through Kickstarter (with only two pledges as of this writing), so hopefully they will issue a clarification on the numbers.
It is Kickstarter, so you are backing a product under development, not making a retail purchase for a watch. With an established brand, I am generally less concerned with the risks, but they are risks involved. The watch pledges start at €789 (~$887 USD when I checked), and jump to €1189 (~$1336 USD) once the early bird watches are gone. This is a limited edition professional pilot’s GMT with cool styling in limited numbers from a boutique brand for under $1,000; I would jump on this project if it were in my budget at the moment. tacticowatches.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Tactico Geomaster GMT
- Price: approximately $789 to $1189, depending on timing
- Who we think it might be for: Anyone who wants a cool looking pilot’s GMT.
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: If only I had the money for all the cool watches I see… Yes, I would buy this.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I would make the internal bezel uni-directional.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: I love how they did the 24-hour GMT.
Tech Specs from Tactico
- Movement: ETA 2893-3 Automatic
- Functions: Three hander with 24 hour GMT, rotating internal bezel, Faraday cage
- Case: Brushed or PVD stainless steel
- Crystal: Domed sapphire crystal
- Water resistance: 200 meters
- Lug width: 22mm
- Straps: Nylon and nylon and leather straps
- Diameter: 43 mm
- Case Height: 13.7 mm
