Why Isn’t This A Success On Indiegogo?

Why Isn’t This A Success On Indiegogo?

News
                    There is currently a watch offered on Indiegogo and I am trying to figure out why it is not a success? At time of writing it has 3 backers with 13 days to go, and raised $291,- of a $15.000,- goal, so it does look grim for this campaign. Of course this is not strange by itself, not every Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaign succeed. However, we are talking here about N plus ONE designs customizeable watch, which is not only highly original, but also very affordable. $95,- buys you a well designed watch with three different bezels that you can switch out by screwing them on and off. The watch is powered by a Ronda quartz movement, comes with a…
Read More
Hamilton Khaki Frogman: The Original Diver

Hamilton Khaki Frogman: The Original Diver

News
                    The Hamilton Khaki Frogman is a prime example of the Swatch Group excellent strategy of keeping their affordable watches interesting and original. We see this with Certina, Tissot and definitely also with Hamilton. Am I exaggerating? Maybe, but try these days to make an original divers watch. There are so many out there, that this is actually a hard task. What is even harder is to make it stand out as well, and the new Hamilton Khaki Frogman does both. The new Frogman comes in two sizes: 46mm and 42mm. The 46mm has its case crafted from Titanium, is water resistant until 100 bar (1.000 meters) and features a helium escape valve. The 46mm model comes with a black dial…
Read More
Zion Apollo: The Kickstarter Tourbillon

Zion Apollo: The Kickstarter Tourbillon

News
Soon the Zion Manufacturing Company is launching its very first watch this month on Kickstarter. The interesting thing about it, is that it's a tourbillon. But before we get there, I was very surprised to find out that the Zion Manufacturing Company was located on the Great Ocean Road in Australia. Their explanation of using "Zion" in their name, is that its it describes the ‘Holy land’ or ‘perfect place’. For the people behind Zion Manufacturing Company, this perfect place is Surf Coast Australia, their home town and its heritage. In all honesty I would have avoided a religiously charged name like Zion since it has the potential of making people turn away of the brand, and that is always a pity. Zion has named their first watch Apollo, and…
Read More
Kicked @$$ on Kickstarter…..then what??

Kicked @$$ on Kickstarter…..then what??

Opinion
                Kickstarter has lately been a great nursery for startup brands. The amazing success story of Klokkers, and more recently Straton and CJR, says a lot about the power of the this new medium as a watch outlet. So will this mean that the market will be joined by many new and innovative brands? Will this development cause sleepless nights in Switzerland and Japan? No, it won't. Let's be clear; when you did well on Kickstarter, you did do your homework. Many watch projects on the platform fail, and for the right reasons; designs don't add anything to the current market, perceived quality on the watches is lacking, branding is off, or the marketing approach is not sufficient. There are a ton of…
Read More
Zelos Hammerhead; More Than Just A Diver

Zelos Hammerhead; More Than Just A Diver

News
The new diver by Zelos watches is far from subtle. But that is exactly what is so much fun about it! Zelos named the watch "Hammerhead", and although I get the reference, the watch is far more attractive than the shark it's named after. The diver looks large and bulky, and does not apologizes for that. If it was a dress watch that would be unforgivable, but with a diver like the Hammerhead it would have been like Sylvester Stallone apologizing for his muscles. Quite frankly, the dimensions of the Hammerhead are not even that monstrous. The case is 44mm excluding the crown, and the height is 17mm. However, crafted in a 1970's fashion, does the Hammerhead almost completely fill up these measurements. The cut angles on the case, make…
Read More
Stranger Ocean Predator Diver: Who Is Top Dog Now?

Stranger Ocean Predator Diver: Who Is Top Dog Now?

Advertorial
With their headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, it was bound to happen: Stranger Watches just introduced their first collection of diving watches on Kickstarter! They immediately went for the top dog position with their Ocean Predator Diver Collection, which consists of four models. The four different models are all named after the ocean’s top predators: Bull Shark, Barracuda, Leopard Seal, and Orca. They share the same hardware, but it’s their looks that makes the difference. Most striking is actually the dial, which has a hammered texture that reminded me actually a lot of shark skin.   The design of the dial is very balanced: number 12 dominates the top of the dial, with matching orange hour markers at three, six, and nine o’clock. The remaining hour markers are round indexes…
Read More
Tissot Updates NBA Shot Clock

Tissot Updates NBA Shot Clock

News
As timing partner of the NBA, Tissot has given the shot clock a long due overhaul. For those of you not familiar with the came of basketball, the shot clock is a very important timekeeper. In 1954 the league introduced a rule that a team must hit the rim of the basket within 24 seconds after they gained possession of the ball. This was initially done to prevent the team that was ahead of keeping the ball in their possession for a long period of time, just to get to the end of the game and keep their lead. The result of this rule was a much faster and enticing game, but also required the need for a shot clock. [caption id="attachment_1101" align="aligncenter" width="632"] NBA's first shot clock[/caption] With the…
Read More
It’s Time For A Time Tote

It’s Time For A Time Tote

News
A tote bag: we man probably only know the ones the women in out lives use. The same tote's we tend to borrow when we are going to a watch get-together, visit your watchmaker or want to swap out some of your collection at the bank. But although you are instantly recognized as a true fashionista, there must be a better, and safer way to transport your prized possessions. There is, and its called Time Tote. See Time Tote as the humvee of watch cases, add a generous dose of the Expendables and you are right on the money! It is the brainchild of Michael Sanders, who wanted his watches to be safe when the apocalypse starts. Of course I am kidding here, but when you see the results of…
Read More
Art Mécanique: When Knowledge And Passion Meet

Art Mécanique: When Knowledge And Passion Meet

News
Art Mécanique is yet another Kickstarter campaign that shows that there is still hope for this platform to launch affordable, well made, and innovative watches. Adriano and Frédéric, two veterans of the Swiss watch industry, where allegedly tired of their friends asking if they could get a watch from the brands they where working for at a discount, that they decided to create an affordable watch brand themselves.  Pleased to see that they took on that challenge because the result is sure a nice one! Their first model is called AM 16-01. We presume that the AM stands for Art Mécanique, but have no clue what the 16-01 means. Not that it matters, because we rather see a cool watch with a mysterious name, than a mysterious watch with a…
Read More
Edmond Pole Guardian: Thinking Outside The Box

Edmond Pole Guardian: Thinking Outside The Box

News
You are a small watch brand, you have a background in industrial design and you are facing the challenge of competing against some well established brands: how do you compete? By thinking outside the box. That is what Jean-Pierre Edmond did when he created the Pole Guardian. Being a small watch brand often means that you don't have a huge R&D budget. Complications are usually off the table due to the cost aspect of developing them, unless you can buy movements already with them. Edmond took another route, and did develop a complication. A complication that is so clever, it makes the watch stand out, and bound to interest watch connoisseurs. The complication he developed is a am/pm indicator that switches the numbers on the dial around. He achieves this…
Read More