These last days I had the chance to try the Kaal Multiverse and honestly it’s a stunner. If you want a conversation piece at reasonable price, then this one is for you.
You can find the different variations of the Multiverse collection on their website at the Super Early Bird price of 380$ (then it will be retail at $699).
It’s honestly a good deal compared what you already have on the market… I talk of course of « special design pieces » only.
Each of the three watches presented on the Kickstarter camapign are representative of one of the three main aspects of our solar system: the Earth, its Moon and our Sun (or better named Earth for Gaea, Sun for Sol, and Moon for Artemis).
Alvin Lew, co-owner of the brand, send me the beautiful Artemis (moon) watch that I will present you in this review.
Kaal Watch is a new brand, but they are not brand new to the watch industry. Kaal, is a newly formed Singaporean horological super-group: Alvin Lye, Jessie Yeo and Alvin Lew.
Alvin Lye is the co-founder and executive director of Azimuth, the avant-garde Swiss luxury watch brand renowned for its iconic designs like Mr. Roboto and The Spaceship. Jessie Yeo, who is also the better half of Alvin Lye, is the co-owner of watch brand Trifoglio (created with my friend Alessandro Baldieri) (Click HERE to read my review of the Veloce), whose popular watch collections include the Radiocity, Millimetro and Veloce. Alvin Lew has been an active watch blogger and reviewer at Micro Brand Watch World and is also known for his implication in the Jubileon watch brand (Click HERE to read my various posts about Jubileon).
Now to talk about the watch… At first sight it looks massive and probably because of its big dome sapphire glass which gives to the watch a thickness of 19mm. But, the case itself only measures 42mm in diameter which is a really nice size.
So don’t be afraid, if it fits my small wrist it will fits yours too 😉
Under this dome their is a half globe suspended over the dial by a bridge inspired by the bridge structures of combat spacecrafts featured in sci-fi movies. This globe is taking up most of the volume under the incredibly high-domed sapphire crystal.
What is interesting is the way you tell the time: instead of an hour hand it has a big, rotating hours disc that you read off at what would typically be “12 O’Clock”. The minutes and seconds have traditional hands.
To be more precise, hours are read from the Super-Luminova C3 rotating disc and supported by the BGW9 lume on the inner chapter-ring. The chapter ring, markers and numerals are all lumed with the C3 Superluminova which makes it interesting to look at under dim lighting. It would make a great conversation starter during a night out.
The minutes and seconds literally orbit the globe in the middle of the dial. Minutes take the form of a red outlined luminous North-Star, paralleling the track of the outermost graduated chapter ring.
Seconds orbit as a luminous satellite gently riding closely around the edge of each hemispherical Earth, Sun or Moon dial feature. The overall effect is not pressurizing or pulse-raising. Rather than irritating or frustrating to read, it is whimsical and fantastical to admire.
The design of case is well thought out as it goes perfectly with the space theme of the watch. On the surface of the lugs, you will notice what looks like shooting meteorite hurtling through space embossed on the top surfaces of the 4 lugs. To finish off this space theme, Kaal also added a star screw on the side of the case near the end of each of the 4 lugs.
Orbiting along side of the satinless steel case is the signed push/pull crown displaying the Kaal Watch logo (an hour, minute and second hand linked to form a “K” while mimicking an Astrolabe) in Super-Luminova.
Inside this piece is a Seiko NH35A movement with 40h of power reserve, part of which is visible through a small hole on the embossed 3D case back. On this side of the watch you will also find our local solar system which is presented in relief… and yes details matters.
Well, you like it or you it but personnaly it’s a big yes for me. I like the presence that this watch has on my wrist, and even if it’s not easy to directly read the time I just enjoy have a look at it.
Morever, at a “small“ price you will get a very unique-looking watch which is very well built.
Oh yes, I received a proto as you can see on the pictures so, here you will see the main differences.
The Final Version vs Current Prototype / Sample :
- The minute hand: TheNorth Star size will be enlarged from 3.28mm to 5.0mm. The length will be shortened to avoid exposing the stem that supports the North Star. The colour of the hand will be in red for better view.
- The second hand: The Satellite size will be enlarged from 1.4mm to 3.0mm.
- The Sol/Sun inner dial: The colour will be changed towards more orange.
- The Artemis/Moon inner dial: The colour will be much more grey.
- The leather strap: Horween text will be stamped on the back of the strap.
- The packaging: Wooden box instead of the aluminium case.
- Serial number: Every case will be individually engraved with a running number at 6H, currently no serial number marked.
All the Tech Details :
- Movement : Seiko NH35: 24-jewel, automatic movement, 40 hours power reserve, 21,600 vibrations per hour
- Case : Stainless steel 316L. Each case is serially numbered.
- Case Diameter : 42mm
- Case Thickness : 19mm including sapphire crystal
- Lug to Lug : 47mm
- Lug width : 22mm
- Crown : Push/Pull
- Water Resistance : 30m / 3atm
- Crystal : Double domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating
- Inner Dial : Choice of Gaea, Sol or Artemis (Earth, Sun or Moon)
- Luminous : Swiss Super-Luminova C3 on hands and indexes (disc) & BGW9 on inner chapter ring
- Strap : Horween genuine leather (choice of black or brown) with white stitching
Warranty : 24 months
You can follow Kaal Watches on the social netwoks :
Jonathan Kopp