In as much as anyone has a beat at WWR, I have the crowd funded beat. My introduction to the site came via a Kickstarter project, I nurtured my relationship with Patrick by feeding more and more Kickstarter reviews, and I have purchased a couple of Kickstarter watches. Project creators are reaching out to us in the hopes of highlighting their projects, and I want to encourage that. But the truth is, we can’t cover them all with individual posts. So from time to time, I will put together a Crowd Funded Compilation post of watches that otherwise have not had stand alone reviews. Many of these watches are a fair bit away from their funding threshold, so a pledge may end up getting canceled if the watch does not make it. As with all crowd funded projects, there are significant risks in backing a project under development.
First up is the Banugat Chronograph project, a quartz chrono out of the UK looking to raise £10,000. They are only at 5% of that goal at the present, but the project funding period runs through November 20. As for the watch itself, a £95 pledge will snag one of these 45mm Miyota OS20 driven watches with a sapphire crystal. The bracelet is dual toned, with the outside links in a gold, black or stainless to match the case, while the center links are in blue, giving it a racing stripe look and picking up the blue surrounding the chrono eyes.
Next up is the Genesee Limited Edition watch, described by the project creators as a Bauhaus inspired design. A pledge of $159 pounds secures either a white or grey dial version of this three hander. Again, the watch is powered by a quartz movement, this time a Ronda, with a domed sapphire crystal and a leather strap. I think it is an attractive, minimalist design. The project funding runs through November 23 and it is (as of this writing) sitting at about 10% of their $25,000 funding goal.
Moving Down Under, the Xavier Aston out of Australia still has a couple of early bird watches available for $139 AUD. The project is sitting at 20% of their goal of $10,000 AUD, and runs through November 24. For your pledge, you will get a gold plated stainless case, nice and thin, with a Swiss Ronda 762 movement and sapphire crystal. The dial (in either black or white) is listed at 40mm, and with the thin bezel, I expect this to wear nicely as a larger unisex watch, or a smaller man’s watch. The entry level pledges include a limited selection of straps, but a $169 AUD pledge secures your choice of strap including a zebra or leopard print pony hair leather strap.
The V Watch project is the budget pick of the group, with watch rewards at $50 for early birds (still available as of this writing). The project is at almost 30% of their $8,000 goal. The watch itself is billed as unisex, and the 38mm case is on the small size for a modern man’s watch, but it might be a good choice for smaller wrists or for women who don’t want an oversized watch. The case is made from a zinc alloy, and the mineral glass crystal and Miyota 2035 quartz movement help keep the costs down.
The other budget pick would be the Woodwear Mammoth watch, a project out of my neck of the woods, Huntington Beach, California (a couple of miles from where I live). A pledge of $55 secures one watch, and $100 secures two. There are 4 options, a men’s and a ladies size watch in either tan or brown wood. True to the name (and the namesake ski resort), it is a mammoth 60mm (lug to lug I am guessing). The woman’s watch is described as about 1/2 the size. There are not many more details on the watch, though looking at the image, the crystal (mineral I am guessing) looks to be domed. The project has a modest goal of $5,000, and they are about a third of the way there, with the project closing on November 13.
The last of the Kickstarter projects is the second offering from Talley & Twine, the Worley Chronograph. It looks to be very similar to their first project (which I reviewed), which was well received by the backers. This version adds another choice with a gold on gold color scheme in addition to the silver on silver of the first watch, and also offers leather NATO straps. The watch has a 2 eye Miyota quartz chronograph movement and a mineral glass crystal. Entry level pledges for $115 for the watch and one strap or $135 for the watch and 2 straps are still available. The project is at 75% of their $8,500 goal, with the project running through December 2. With one successful campaign under their belts and the early support they have, I expect this project to get funded, and I think they will go off with the least number of hiccups.
Last, but not least, is a project on Indiegogo where the creator reached out to our site. For €160, you can pledge for a black or silver Founders Edition Watch from Meshable. The design is very minimalist, with a lugles 41mm case and a stainless or PVD coated stainless case and matching mesh strap/bracelet. The watch also features an ISA Swiss 9232 quartz movement with a small days sub dial at 9:00 and a sapphire crystal. The project is sitting at just under 10% of their €25,000 goal, with the project closing out on November 30. This project has a fixed funding, which is not always the case on Indiegogo, so if it fails to hit the goal, the pledges are returned.
