It seems as of late, there’s truly no shortage of watch designs hitting the various crowd-funding sites. Some of them are taking things in the brand’s own direction, others pay homage to popular designs of the past – or current day. The latest we’ve run across, the Waves Design Tesoro, is definitely in that latter camp.
When I first saw the Tesoro, I immediately had the SevenFriday called to mind, due to the rounded off square case. I asked the brand about that, and they willing admitted that there was certainly an influence. Closer examination will show that you’ve got a sort of sculptural running seconds (off to the right of the open heart) as well, which again calls to mind the unique SevenFriday look.
The Tesoro, though, does deviate off into it’s own path. You do have a more traditional time readout (in terms of the hands used), which means it’s actually (at least to my eyes) easier to read the time from. I do also appreciate the inclusion of the 24-hour indicator, though it could have probably been skipped here (no date display, so if it winds down it’s not a big deal). I’m less certain about the open-heart, as it looks like large parts of the balance wheel are obscured. For me, I would’ve been happy to see that covered and getting a little bit more of that waffle-style Audemars Piguet dial surface.
This is all housed in the aforementioned square 44mm case with sapphire crystals front and back. This is all to protect the Miyota 82S7 automative movement – not one I’m particularly familiar with, but from a brand I certainly trust (and can likely be serviced easily enough). With the case, I’m less enamored of the large insert that’s on top, which feels rather bulky; on the flip side of the coin, I think the sides of the case are rather nice.
Depending on what you’d opt to buy (either in silver or gold) you can pick one up for about 60% of the estimated retail (or about $300), or pick up two at about half price. At the time of this writing, funding is at just shy of 50% with 24 days left to go in the project (it closes August 23rd). We’ve featured some Waves Design stuff before, as well as SevenFriday – I’ll be interested to see how this particular combination plays out. As to myself, I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of SevenFriday, so this one is a bit lost on me. That said, $300 for a Miyota-driven watch isn’t a bad deal (not great, but not bad) – so if you like the styling, this could be a good one for you. wavescollection.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Waves Design Tesoro
- Price: backer levels are available at $300 and up
- Who we think it might be for: Someone who digs the SevenFriday look, but wants it on a budget
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: No – it’s just not a style that resonates for me
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Create lug ends that can accept a standard strap configuration
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The texture of the dial
