Horology Goes The Crowdfunding Route

To date, there have only been a handful of watch projects on Kickstarter, and of those, there really have only been a couple that grabbed my attention. But here’s an interesting one that just popped up on PleaseFund.us, a new crowd-funding site that looks to be a direct Kickstarter competitor.

Terranaut Watch is bringing an oversized (50mm) watch to market, but one that they feel will “wear” signigicantly smaller, due to the lugs being hidden and the 13mm case. I’m not the biggest fan of watches over 46mm – but if their design choices work out, this could be an interesting one to keep an eye one.

The most interesting thing, however, is that they are crowdfunding the manufacture so you, the buyer, and pony up if you want the piece.

So, why crowdfund? They’ve actually got some intriguing developments along with the watch that they’re shooting for. First off, they want to create a carbon fiber case – which, if you ask me, is a pretty nice upgrade over plastic cases. Second, they’re working to develop a glow-in-the-dark strap.

Not that the strap itself will glow in the dark, but that the stitching will. I’m a sucker for anything that lights up a watch in the dark, so this is really intriguing. Plus, this 26mm strap should be nicely padded, so it looks like it would be a comfortable one.

It’s a Citizen/Miyota movement, and has had some components painted to keep things looking nice on the inside of the case. They had initially considered a Swiss quartz movement, but of the two they tested, one broke, and the offered a horrible user experience.

The watch itself looks to come in four variations including a choice of bezels (stainless or black) and dials (60 second or 24 hour layout). They’re looking for £3,500 and your pledge is refunded if it doesn’t fund. The piece costs £175.00.

There are also cheaper funding levels on their project page, so you can decide what level to get in on before it closes in August. You can also read up on their website, or follow them on Twitter.