Tupperware Comes to the Watch Business

Goldgena has announced their latest phase where the outline of what exactly Community Power means in the brave new world that is Goldgena's distribution model.

Here is their latest animated update -





Now part of what the Goldgena treatise states is accurate, but unfortunately part of it is misinformed.

Here is how they break it down -

The gray market, even if it is legal, is not authorized by the brand. It consists of independent dealers whose strategy is to make volume instead of high margins. They usually buy overstocks from official retailers and sell them with discounts of around 30 to 50%.

Of course, normally brands fight against the gray market but in crisis situations they often close their eyes because this parallel network helps them to clear overstocks and avoid explosion.

Here is some factors that stimulate the gray market:

• Exaggerated difference between the cost price of a watch and its intrinsic value.
• Excessive production that creates overstocks among brands and retailers.
• Price differences that occur among territories when the retail price is adapted to the purchasing.

Some of this is accurate - The gray market is indeed not illegal.

Some of this is semi-accurate - The gray market is not explicitly authorized by the brand.  But then again, at the high level that some of the gray market sellers operate, they are supplied directly by the brand.  When a brand releases a new watch and it is ALREADY available in the gray market before it has even made it to your "authorized" retail partner it is clearly coming straight from the source. 

And the assertion that the brands sell directly to the gray market only in times of crisis is patently false.  For many brands, the gray market has been one of the cornerstones of their business plan EVERY YEAR.  Think I'm kidding?  Gray market representatives attend the same fancy SIHH and BaselWorld appointments as their "authorized" retail colleagues.

But let's get back to that new and improved distribution plan -

If I have read the update correctly, it sounds like a nice idea but one that is not completely original - no offense to Goldgena.  It has been tried by several independent and boutique brands.  The idea that a retail partner will have a few "trial" pieces and that a potential customer can come in, try it on, and then order through the retail partner to have it delivered is not new, and no offense to the folks at Goldgena, it is not revolutionary.  But in deference to Goldgena, it IS a good idea and one that I hope more brands will follow, although to some extent this already happens with MEMO.  Memo, or memorandum is the practise that is currently the most en vogue.  Here is how it works:

1.  Brand CEO wants to keep share prices high, wants to make a big bonus, and of course wants to keep his job.  So in order to cover that amount of revenue he needs to produce he produces a sufficient number of watches with the full knowledge that a certain percentage is going off to the gray market super store, and another percentage will go through normal distribution, but will be offered on memo.  Memo means that the retail store receives the watches with no money down, but that the retail partner will pay them when the watches are sold.

2.  Retail partner sells the watch, but are most likely not going to break any efficiency records in getting this information reported to the brand manager, who is most likely getting his ass chewed on by Switzerland wondering where the f*&k the money is.  Now the irony in all of this is that nine times out of ten it Switzerland who set this problem in motion.

"Oh, store X is a great and valued partner.  A really great customer!  Set them up on a memo account!"

I call bullshit - a good customer is one who PAYS.  A great customer is one that doesn't make you chase them all over God's Half-Acre to get paid.  One particular horse trader I remember not-so-fondly from my brand repping days had this charming piece of feedback for me when I asked if his store had sold any pieces recently -

"You want to know what we have?  Come down to my store and do a f*&king safe count!"

He was always a bit of a jerk, but that sealed it and we closed his account.


Memo is expensive for a brand.  Store X gets the watch on memo, will sell the watch, and then most likely NOT contact the brand to let them know that they sold the watch. So the brand then has to deploy someone out to the store spending on airfare, car rental, hotel, and meals to go to the store, count the watches in the safe and then write an invoice that will "age" for at least 90 days.  And even then they will most likely have to chase after the money.  

The end of memo would be merciful and welcome, but sadly I do not see it going away anytime soon.  

So we get back to where gray market watches come from, and this leads us back to the inescapable conclusion that more often than not they come directly from the brand.  If a store isn't paying for the inventory, they will not be so pressed to dump the stock at a loss.

So back to the idea of visiting a designated "viewing center" and then ordering the watch.  It does not seem as if it is going to be scalable.  It might (and to be clear, I hope it does) work for Goldgena.  Contrary to popular belief I am sincerely hoping that they not only make a go of it, but succeed.  

Now their other plan of "community power" is a nice one, but again one that has been tried by just about every brand in all sorts of variations.  It has also been tried in just about every sort of industry.  It is not entirely dissimilar from Tupperware or Mary Kay.  But it has a lot of flaws that are down to nothing more than geography.

Let's say, for example, that Customer B is a happy and satisfied customer.  He is contacted via the Goldgena App that Potential Customer Y would like to meet up and see the watch.  Customer B lives in Los Angeles, CA.  Potential Customer lives in San Diego, CA.  That's about two and half hours of driving.  Price of gas, miles on your car, and what do you feel your time is worth?  For this system to work, you have to have enough initial customers that live in proximity of other potential customers.

Secondary potential problem is, sorry to say it, safety.  

'Nuff said.

Now in fairness, this might just be a North America issue owing to the very large size and great distances between metropolitan areas.

I'll say it again - I want Goldgena to work, but for it to work, the people behind this endeavor need to look a little more "inside of the box" to identify what potential road blocks and pitfalls they might encounter pursuing their "outside of the box" sales and marketing model.

Alpina & Ice Legacy Project

This just in from Alpina -

Courtesy of Alpina

ALPINA & ICELEGACY 2016
BORGE OUSLAND AND VINCENT COLLIARD
TO CROSS THE ALASKAN ST. ELIAS ICE
FIELD UNSUPPORTED

Norwegian Polar Explorer Borge Ousland and French Adventurer Vincent Colliard are currently attempting the unsupported crossing of the St. Elias Ice Field. They started their expedition on the 21st of April and are currently on the ice for their third glacier crossing - after the successful Main Spitsbergen and Stikine Glacier crossings - of the Alpina & Ice Legacy Project, a long-term expedition project to become the first Men to cross the 20 largest glaciers on earth. The aim is to raise public awareness about the importance for mankind of preserving the ancestral ice, and to collect data for the scientific community. Both adventurers will wear the ALPINA HOROLOGICAL SMARTWATCH to measure their activity parameters and sleep during the crossing.

Courtesy of Alpina

The Skeleton 1856

From Eterna -

Courtesy of Eterna

160 years is a mighty long time to be making watches, and Eterna has undertaken the celebration of this milestone with some very beautiful and intriguing pieces.  One of them being the Skeleton 1856. 

Named for the year of their founding, the Skeleton 1856 is (as you might have guessed by the name) a skeleton watch.  The movement itself provides the basis for the dial.  

Courtesy of Eterna

And as with any good skeleton watch, the movement can be viewed from the back as well.

The movement in question is Eterna's 3902 M, this is the dial side.

Courtesy of Eterna

And this is what is visible through the sapphire crystal on the back of the case.  It is manual winding and boasts a very impressive power reserve of 65 hours.

Courtesy of Eterna

The watch itself measures a respectable 42 mm in diameter, and is secured with a braided leather strap.

 

A Subscription Watch

from Czapek. 

Courtesy of Czapek

As they move onwards from a successful round of crowd funding, Czapek will be offering a subscription opportunity for their first series of watches from the Quai des Bergs collection.  It is available in gold versions as above, as well as in titanium and in stainless steel.  

At first blush that might seem, or appear like your opportunity to get a really great watch at a really great price.  That is until you examine what the suggested retail prices are.

For a gold piece the suggested retail price is north of $25,000.  Now I know what you're thinking - that's a gold watch.  Fair enough.  But then we get to the suggested price points for steel and titanium which is, well, a wee bit steep -

Courtesy of Czapek

A steel version like the one pictured above is listed at just south of 10,000.  My presumption is that these totals are based on Swiss Francs.  Now for those who participated in the earlier funding rounds, my hunch is that you will save some money, but when we start talking about ten grand for a stainless steel watch, it is a hard price point to swallow even with a proprietary movement.  And it is at this point where we really need to start considering just what it means when we say proprietary movement.  There are no shortage of firms that can make a proprietary movement.  Is it as inexpensive as an ETA 2824-2? Of course not, but it is several thousand apiece?  Again, no.

The idea behind Czapek is a fun one - something from the past brought back today.  But there is a time of reckoning that everyone is having to embrace now.  I think it is safe to assume that we'd all love to see this brand succeed, let's just hope that they haven't priced themselves out.

Something Alarming from RGM

What is great about RGM is that there is always something interesting, and always made with care.

Courtesy of RGM

Not so very long ago they announced that they would be offering (on a very limited basis) an alarm watch again.  And this is one of them.

This is the 110-A Automatic Alarm.  The case is stainless steel and measures 38.2 mm in diameter.

The movement is new old stock that was rescued from obscurity and now powers these very limited offerings.

The above is an alarm date, and the one below is alarm and GMT -

Courtesy of RGM

Here are the details -

Movement Caliber: RGM- AS 5008/ La Joux-Perret 5900 - Automatic, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph. Rhodium  finish - Cote de Geneve lines and perlage.

Functions: Hour / Minute / Date / Alarm,  110A-GMT also has a GMT function.

Case: Polished and Satin Brushed Stainless Steel. 38.2 mm X 12.8 mm, Sapphire crystal. 20mm lug width and water-resistant to 5-ATM.

The Quai De L’ile - in Steel

This is the latest from Vacheron Constantin -

Courtesy of Vacheron Constantin

Available with either a silver or black dial.

Courtesy of Vacheron Constantin

The cushion style case measures 41.00 x 50.26, and is of stainless steel.  Sapphire crystal front and back.

The movement is Vacheron's 5100/1.  It is mechanical, self-winding with an advertised power reserve of 60 hours.

Never is Now, Even More!

I originally put this out there in early January, 2014.  A lot has changed since then.  Brand managers and CEOs have entered the Carousel and embraced the Time for Renewal as their smart watch "Life Clock" apps have gone red.  Sorry Mr. Biver, this idea's already "patent pending" ; )

But in speaking recently with some other brand owners and managers, they are starting to understand that it's not just a question of the Internet not going away, but buying watches via the Internet is not going away either. The biggest shift has been that some brand managers are FINALLY starting to realize that although a quick dump of watches to some of the grey market's usual suspects improves the balance sheet over the short-term, it continues to not improve their situations over the long term, continues to piss-off their retail partners and also frustrates their once loyal customers who are questioning their own intelligence in paying full or near full price for a watch that with a little sleuthing they could have bought (possibly without warranty) for at least 40% less.  

So more brands are now adopting the Direct Sales approach, and it is actually a GOOD THING for the brand, the retail partner, and the customer.  

So l thought I'd take a moment to re-heat this one -

Never is Now...

Remember that all the bluster, and blather about online shopping apparently being the death of the luxury watch industry?  Me personally, I REALLY do!  I remember going to BaselWorld and after the exchange of business cards the friendly small talk, the inevitable "voices of experience" would assure me that DOXA's model of  shopping directly online was NEVER going to work…

Well, gentle readers, it would seem that some of the most "exclusive" brands are now doing what they would NEVER do - they have opened online boutiques.  Chopard, Jaeger-LeCoultre represent perhaps two of the most intriguing entries into the online boutique world here in the US.

Now to be clear, I personally think that this is a very good thing.  Why?  Because ultimately, the brand sets the price, the brand expects the retail partner to respect and honor the price point, and frankly this will encourage (I say this gently) the brand to play by its own rules.

Now what this will do (on some level) is reinforce what the brand FEELS the price SHOULD be.  But it will also put pressure on a brand NOT to immediately flock to grey market vendors.  Moreover, it will also encourage brands NOT to do SO MUCH business with the three biggest trans-shippers doing business here in the US.

Will it end the habit of writing big orders to trans-shippers?  That won't happen overnight, it will take a bit of time.  It is all too tempting of course, the trans-shipper has a beautiful brick and mortar store.  In some instances they have TWO!  And they write BIG orders!  I mean, that makes your balance sheet look REALLY GOOD!  But this is a very short term solution that has a very negative knock-on impact.  Imagine that this trans-shipper has ordered 20 - 30 pieces of a specific model.  Your HQ is thrilled!  About a week before that watch even arrives at your retail partners, an online grey market store is listing it for about 30% off of retail.  The watch hasn't even "landed" yet and it is already being listed for BELOW (dramatically) the suggested retail.

So you have now essentially lowered the price of your watch because your trans-shipper (who looks like a beautiful retail store that does huge volume) has in many instances sold 50 - 75% of their shipment to grey market stores BEFORE it has even arrived at their own store.  As soon as the order has been checked in,  a big chunk of it is already being packed up and shipped to your favorite grey market vendor.  Now in fairness, they pay their bills, and the do order A LOT of product.

Now imagine what impact that has on your OTHER current retail partners?  They are probably on a 90 day cycle to pay you for their order.  They are also probably further down the pecking order in terms of shipping because their order is smaller.  And now they are working twice as hard to convince their customers who have patiently waited for the watch to buy from an authorized retail partner that they are not getting hosed on the price.  It is a vicious cycle.  And contrary to what the brands used to claim, this is not solely the fault of the Internet.  And when bewildered brand managers claim that the reality of trans-shipping is a new development?  Bullshit.  This has been going on for  many, many years.  The main difference is that now the trans-shipper has a great deal more "flexibility" in terms of moving the watches, and they can move MANY MORE of them thanks to the online availability of the watches through the grey market store's online buying options.  So in the past where these watches would change hands at a JCK event and wind up in a small "boutique" that "specializes" in obtaining the "unobtainable", now it is much more streamlined and accessible.

So let's wait and see, but if we're honest about the situation, until the brands step-up and NOT write such ridiculous orders to trans-shippers and out and out grey market vendors, the wounds they are suffering from online sales are self-inflicted.  Having their own online boutique could be a first positive step in the right direction.

When the Going Gets Tough...

The "tough" apparently go to SIHH.

Word has slowly leaked not unlike some post-meal flatulence that 2 fairly large brands will be bidding BaselWorld a "not-so-fond" farewell and be pitching their tents at SIHH.  I have asked for comment/confirmation from both brands in question but been informed that an announcement is "coming" in the next few days and until then they have no comment.  Clearly a few days can stretch to a few weeks, but hey, not to worry, I'll be happy to report in detail when the news is fit for public consumption.

Now this also could be a not-so-subtle attempt to gain some negotiating leverage with the BaselWorld organizers for some better rental rates.  But the thing to keep in mind is that there will ALWAYS be someone willing to write the check to be on the ground floor of Hall 1.   So it is entirely likely that this particular bluff will be called.

In fairness, from a sales prospective the logic is that you should make your sales early if you can.  And at least insofar as most accounting calendars go, January is earlier than March.

And I'd love to be there to cover these two brands, but as I am about as likely to get an SIHH press accreditation as come up with the cure for cancer, I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.

So God's speed to these two brands - it's been fun covering you in person, but for the many of us who will not be smiled upon by the marketing mavens at Richemont, apparently our coverage won't be missed.  Not to worry!  I'm sure you'll be covered exhaustively by the outlets sending 5 or more team members.  Goodness knows that they'll have enough people to handle it ; )

Doing Good - Omega and Good Planet

Having a bit of an Omega Love-Fest here at Tempus Fugit.  It seems appropriate that seeing as it's Earth Day and all, Omega announces reinforces their commitment to good deeds with the Omega GoodPlanet Aqua Terra which is available in both a time/date model -

Courtesy of Omega

As well as a GMT version -

Courtesy of Omega

Sometimes a watch is more than just a watch, and this is one of those times.  

Courtesy of Omega

In 2016, OMEGA and GoodPlanet will release the documentary, entitled “TERRA”, which examines the fragile relationship between humans and animals. The hope of both OMEGA and GoodPlanet is that people will be encouraged to make a difference by assuming a different perspective on life and living things.

Courtesy of Omega

So if you are looking for a new Omega, you could get a nice new watch, and do some good!  And stay tuned for more information on "TERRA"!

The Good, the Bad, and the So Ugly it Hurts my Feelings

I give you the Ballast Trafalgar.

Courtesy of Ballast

Let's start out with the good - there are a LOT of very cool, very practical technical features to the Ballast Trafalgar.  A unique crown system that is, in fact not a crown at all!  It covers a push-button locking system which when active, allows you to set the time and the date by turning the bezel.  Once you have set the time and the date and secured the canteen style cover over back over the button, you can then wind from a dead stop by turning the rotating bezel.  I will let them show and tell you about these features via their video -

I think that this is actually pretty cool.  The movement in question is a Miyota 8215 and it is fair to say that Miyota makes a mighty fine movement.

The case is of stainless steel and measures a hearty 46.5 mm.  Not 40 mm, not 44 mm., but 46.5

I was taken back to that wonderful moment in This is Spinal Tap -

So while Panerai might go to 44, "these go to 11", or more exactly 46.5 ; )

Last but not least, the price is good at $499.

So that's the good, now for the bad -

If I have to read one more goof-ball watch website that goes on and on about proud British tradition, history, etc. to sell a watch, droning on with thrilling tails of Nelson, single-handedly defeating Napoleon while battling scurvy and no doubt syphilis at the same time... 

What does all of this have to do with a watch?  Absofuckinglutely nothing.

Stories of the history of the Jolly Roger?  Fascinating to some, perhaps, but again - what is the connection?  And ultimately, we get down to provenance - which remains something of a mystery.  Nothing (at least that I can see) appears on the case or the dial to indicate just where the "home port" of the Ballast Trafalgar might be, but I have a sneaking suspicion it ain't Blighty.  And in fairness, it is certainly not a prerequisite that if your brand promotes itself on British themes that it must, in fact, be a British brand.  But it certainly helps.  Based on the website, I have absolutely no way of knowing.  If anyone out there has some actual info. on this, please let me know.

And finally we get down to the ugly.  And to be fair, opinions are like backsides - everyone has one and plenty of people think that mine stinks.  Having said that, my first peek at the Trafalgar was a bit bewildering.  The second look didn't help.

To touch on it briefly (and to stick with a British theme) the dial is as crowded as the tube at rush hour.  The desire to jam a fairly large logo, large numbers, indices and a date window outline (that I can only assume was the result of a lock-in the Saturday night before the final draft was due), result in a congested dial where the space is tighter than an Arsenal jersey.

The alternating steel, black, and gold plate do not do much to settle the look.  And the strap, well, let's just say that it's not my cup of tea.

So, in fairness - you might look at this watch and wonder "where have you been all my life!".  And that, gentle reader, is what makes a horse race.

Enjoy your watches

Practical, Useful, and the SHIT THAT KILLED ELVIS!

This is an overdue review of the Gavox Aurora.

To give you some background on how this review spooled out, it was Monday night at BaselWorld and Michael Happe, fellow writer Martin Green and I were hanging out at the bar at the Ramada looking at Michael's newest dive watch.  We then got to speaking about the Aurora.  
But this was not my first face to face encounter with the Aurora.  Wendy and I had seen it up close and personal in Brussels back in November of 2014.  It was still in the development / not quite yet ready for prime time phase.

Flash forward a year and a few months and here we were looking at the Aurora in real time!  Michael asked me to check it out and give some feedback, and I started out with good intentions to simply check it out and lend some feedback.  But that was before I started wearing it.

The Aurora was not what you would call a "straight forward" proposition, although the idea/s behind it were.  At the time we sat down to lunch on the day after Thanksgiving in Brussels back in 2014, Michael explained to me all that he had gone through in getting the movement and the functions just the way he wanted with Soprod.  Because this movement, as such, did not really exist anywhere other than the imagination of Michael Happe.  It is quartz, but the number of refinements required made this well beyond your every day quartz movement.

Essentially, we are talking about a watch that provides time, day, date, UTC/second time zone, timer, chronograph, perpetual calendar and because, well it made it extra cool - a moon phase indication.

The Aurora can be had in three different finishes - Gold PVD -

Courtesy of Gavox

Black PVD -

Courtesy of Gavox

And in stainless steel -

Courtesy of Gavox

And it is a very, very good looking watch!  The case measures 43 mm wide,  50.5 mm lug to lug and 12 mm thick.  The watch has been unbelievably comfortable and it has truly been a pleasure to wear these past weeks.

The watch is substantial, but rational.  The lugs just reaching the edge of my wrist.   Like all of the Gavox watches I have seen, the quality of the finish is beyond reproach.  Every edge smooth and neat and incredibly pleasant to the touch.

I was lent the gold version.  This was an interesting style choice for Gavox, as the codes are often of a military inspired nature.  It was, in hindsight, a great decision as the gold tone provides a fantastic frame to the dial and hands.

The case back is solid stainless steel, no PVD treatment which makes sense as that portion of the watch is what sits on your wrist.

The strap is black, stitched and padded and finished off with a Gavox buckle.

And the Gavox logo also graces the crown.

Okay, so that takes care of the look and feel - but really what this watch screamed to me was how functional, useful and (although it took me a wee bit of time to get my small brain wrapped around the set-up) it is incredibly simple and FUN to wear and use!

But what Michael Happe went through to get all of the functionality of the Aurora into one watch was in the end, time very well spent.

Hours, and minutes are pretty straight forward and easily understood.  But if you notice the register and hand down at 6 o'clock, you will soon realize that this is not a retrograde second hand ; )  This is, in fact, the nerve center of the watch itself.  By pushing the crown in, you move from function to function.  So with Home selected, you will see the time in the normal way - small hand for the hour, big hand for the minutes.

Push the crown in and it then moves you to a moving seconds counter at 9 o'clock -

When you move again to UTC that is then your second time zone -

Timer provides a measured (once you set it up) time period -

And the minute hand will actually run counter-clockwise. Once the timer has completed its countdown all of the hands will return to 12 o'clock. In the chronograph mode the Aurora works pretty much whatever every other chronograph does. But this also offers a split and fly back feature.

For the perpetual calendar aspect - i.e. day, date, month? Simply push the crown again to get to the date function -

It is a wee bit hard to make out owing to the light in this picture, but the outer most chapter ring indicates the month (as you can see January printed in a lighter color. The minute hand now points to April.

The hour hand points to the day of the week - Thursday

And the actual day of the month is indicated in the scale at 9 o'clock.  You will also notice a bright white dot just north of the number 15 on the same scale. This is where the moon phase indication lives.  You can notice the subtle shades of the various stages of the moon's progress across the night sky -

And one other interesting feature is the "return to Home" function.  Whatever function you are in, simply press the crown down for 3 to 4 seconds and the function returns to Home.

And that is that ; )

So how do I sum up a watch that overwhelmed me in so many ways?  Not easy, to be sure.  I think in order for you, the reader, to have some perspective on why I am so emphatically impressed by the Aurora is to understand that I am perhaps the last person in the world who would be too interested in a technical watch.  During interviews and BaselWorld appointments my eyes tend to glaze over as soon as the conversation turns "techie".  Moreover, you could certainly get just about all of this functionality out of a G Shock or a connected or smart watch.  But this is special.  This movement was painfully fretted over by Soprod, and Micheal Happe was not willing to accept merely "good enough".  And this wonderful watch is the result.

So truthfully, if you have the funds and the inclination, you will be very, very happy with this purchase.

Here are the pertinents -

Gavox Aurora 446.3 rose gold

Technical specifications:

• Measurements  Ø 43 x 50.5 x 12 mm
• Measure between lugs 22mm
• Autonomy between 4 to 7 years depending on mode usage
• Analog watch with 4 hands (1 for the mode, 3 for the information).
• Day and night visibility thanks to luminous hands and markings. Swiss Superluminova DGW9.
• UTC time reference, and local time by increments of 15 minutes.
• Countdown from up to 31 hours, with visual alarm.
• Mission chronograph to 31 hours, with split and flyback features.
• Perpetual calendar with simultaneous indication of date, day, month and leap year.
• Moon phase.
• Surgical 316L stainless steel, highly impervious to salt and sweat.
• Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflection coating.
• Water-resistance to pressure of 10 ATM (333 ft).
• Serial number.

The Porthole Watch

This is a new and intriguing design idea from a new brand out of the Netherlands -  Pheidippides Watches.

Courtesy of Pheidippides Watches

One of three new designs, this will be the first to go into production providing the Kickstarter campaign that is launching it is as successful as it appears it will be.  Although Pheidippides Watches is based in the Netherlands, my understanding is that the watches themselves will be produced in Germany.

Courtesy of Pheidippides Watches

The case is of bronze, the movable lugs are stainless steel as is the crown.  

Courtesy of Pheidippides Watches

The hands are of polished nickel.  

Courtesy of Pheidippides Watches

The dial is, to my eyes at least, one of the most beautiful blues I had seen for some time, and is described as lacquered.  

The movement is an automatic (self-winding) mechanical one described as the STP 5-15 which is put out by Swiss Technology Production

Here are the pertinents as described byPheidippides Watches - 

Main features:

• Polished bronze case and screw-in see-through back, 42mm in diameter and 12.3mm thick
• Polished stainless steel movable lugs, stretched out lug-to-lug size is 55mm, 22mm wide
• Blue lacquered dial
• Polished nickel hands and hour markers filled with C5 Superluminova
• Sapphire glasses top and bottom
• Swiss mechanical movement: STP 5-15 by Swiss Technology Production
• French brown genuine leather or black silicone tapered strap, size 22/20mm
• 10 bar water resistance

For those of you wishing to get in on the Kickstarter deal, here is a link -

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/115801433/the-porthole-0

The Intrepid

From Kobold

Courtesy of Kobold

We don't hear as much as we once did about Kobold watches these days.  Word around the campfire is that Michael Kobold is focussing upon charitable endeavors and if that is indeed the case, more power to him!  But Kobold is still in the business of making and selling watches, and this one caught my eye.

The case is of stainless steel and measures 44 mm in diameter.  At a time where chronographs are "under dressed" unless they have thirty additional complications this one is wonderfully, blessedly straightforward and clear.  Hours, minutes, seconds and a chronograph function that only measured elapsed time.  The crown and pushers have received a DLC treatment.

The movement is the Valjoux 7750.

Available direct from Kobold for a reasonable $3,350

The Scafograf 300

From Eberhard -

Courtesy of Eberhard

Stainless steel case, measures 43 mm in diameter.  Water resistant to 300 meters.  Screw down crown and case back.  The unidirectional bezel is of ceramic with a diver's countdown scale.  The movement is ETA's 2824-2.  Secured with a black rubber strap.

The Milano Classic

From Terra Cielo Mare

Courtesy of Terra Cielo Mare

Now I have been assured by members of a well known watch forum that Terra Cielo Mare is well-known by their group and hence I am a late comer.  Well, I guess I am at the end of the "conga-line" again ; )