It is the weekend, so it is time once again for our weekly feature, Watching the Web, where take a spin about the internet to look at some interesting watches or watch related news that we have found this week. We also get a chance to highlight a few of our own articles that have been popular over the previous week (or so). For this week’s roundup, I am pointing you to a watch that will appeal to the computer nerds out there, a review of the Alpina Startimer Automatics from ABTW, and a peek at what 3D printing can bring to the watch world. From our site, we have Patrick’s first hand look at the Visitor Watch Company’s inaugural offering and a DIY Diver from H2O.
First up on Indiegogo, Patrick found a watch for those out there that want to wear their love of all things computer on their sleeves, or at least on their wrists. HDDWatches wants to repurpose a microdrive hard disc into a watch, and for €100 (plus shipping outside the E.U.), you can have one of these little guys to blow the mind of your IT guy next time he needs to stop by and reboot your work computer.
Over at A Blog To Watch, Ariel highlighted the line of Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatics. Starting at about $1,300 for the three hander, these are what I would classify as aspirational pieces for my budget. Attractive and classic, they are definitely a step up from what I typically wear, and just at the range where I could consider buying one.
Over at Monochrome, there is a piece on the ALB 100 Balade au Brézéguet, which uses a 3D printed dial and movement holder as part of the watch. This technique, along with the off-center handset of the ETA 2761, provides a lot of real estate on the dial for customization and personalization. I am not sure I want that much plastic in my $1,600 watch, but it is a showcase for what may be a significant part of the watchmaking future.
I usually cover the crowd funded projects we come across, but as it turns out, the folks behind the Visitor Watch Company were just a short train ride from Patrick’s stomping grounds. They got together and Patrick was very impressed with the original design that is launching this brand. You can check out his review, and if it something that might work for you, check out the project page.
Another article that garnered a lot of views this past week was for the H2O Kalmar 2, a dive watch that you have built to your specification, based on a menu of options. The bezel design, dial color, handset and bracelet are all selectable and changable, but the base watch is a pretty substantial and rugged diver.
And finally, we are 1/2 way through the month, so you still have some time to enter our monthly giveaway, but why wait? If you have not done so already, pop over to our monthly giveaway page and get your entries in to win one of the three Szanto watches I reviewd for the site.
With that, we’ll wrap things up. As always, if there’s something you think we should be covering, feel free to drop us a line. If you bring something up that we end up writing about, we’ll be sure to tip our hats (electronically, if not literally) in your general direction.
Pictures courtesy of the source site; header image courtesy of DesktopNexus
