Today, friend of WWR Matt Himmelstein is back with another Kickstarter find – this time around, it’s a brand we actually wrote about before, based on his purchase. Read on for Matt’s thoughts.
I have previously reviewed, and I own, the first Anstead Watch that was funded through Kickstarter (project page). After selling out that line, the creator is back with a second crowdfunded watch, this time on indiegogo (project page). This time the product is a lady’s Swiss Quartz watch.
Visually, you can see the shared DNA between the two watches in the very readable face, the hands, the typeset used for the numbers, and the branded crown and caseback. I still think they should incorporate the arrowhead logo into one of the hands, but I am not designing the watches. There are (currently) 300 watches up for grabs at the crowd funded cost of $300 each.
For that, you are getting a Swiss-built, 39mm watch with a Ronda movement, AR-coated sapphire crystal, and a deployment clasp on a leather strap. The watch is rated for 100 m, so it is not a dive watch, but it should survive daily wear quite well. My diver is very well built, comfortable and attractive. It is probably the #2 watch in my rotation of automatics. I expect this watch to be equally as well made.
With just 2 sub dials, you lose the sports accuracy of a 1/10 of a second measurement, but you gain less clutter. And to be honest, how many of us need the 1/10 of a second? The watch uses the bottom subdial for timekeeping seconds, while the standard second hand is for the chrono. Buying a watch from a crowdfunded source is always going to be a leap of faith.
I know, I bought Anstead’s first model (written about here). But with one successful delivery under his belt, I am guessing that the creator learned enough to improve on his delivery timing, which was probably the largest frustration with that project.
