Watch Poll Now Posted HERE!
Please read this BEFORE voting in the poll. This post has all the preliminary details of both watch options. The poll will only be for those that are interested in actually getting the watch. So, please review the details to make an informed choice.
As you might already know, I started an interest list for a Special Edition/Group Buy for a forum watch a few months ago. Time to move forward and look at some options :exclamation:
So…what have we been up to? I’m glad you asked! 
In addition to working on several KRONOS lights (more on those later 
), we have been looking into producing watches. Watches are cool, and add another EDC item to anyone’s arsenal. JohnnyMac, Bugs and I really want to make a KRONOS BLF SE watch a reality! To get the ball rolling, we are in touch with a few respected watch manufacturers/distributors in China.
There are some challenges in getting a watch made for our community. First: Not everyone wants a watch. Second: Agreeing on a common design/spec. Third: Coming up with a minimum number of units.
Therefore, we want to make it easier by narrowing it to a couple options. The two proposed watches we selected are popular and VERY cool looking…the Carnival Tritium watch, and a custom, specially designed Seiko diver homage with Tritium indices and hands. Here are the two options in more detail:
1) First Option - The Carnival (Jianianhua) Day/Date watch w/Tritium indices and Tritium hands. Side note: JohnnyMac pulled the trigger on the Date (no day function) version of this Carnival already, and has nothing but good things to report after months of wear! It has a Swiss Ronda quartz movement and a Sapphire crystal. If we get enough interest, and reach a MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) of 500 units, we could customize it the way we want with logos, etc. Not enough for the 500 MOQ? We could still get the regular production version with Carnival logo, which is still an awesome watch! Here are some pics:
^ Carnival production watch with no changes ^
Target Price: $100-$125
2) Second Option - This is what I am most excited about! A custom diver homage to arguably the most popular dive watch ever, the Seiko SKX and variant line of watches, but with some exciting, proposed changes. I believe that this will be a HUGELY popular watch, and will probably appeal to non-BLF members as well. The challenge is that this would be a project where we would have to create a watch almost from the ground up. MOQs/minimum quantities would be at 500 units. This may or may not be achievable. A huge help would be promotion inside as well as outside of BLF. A few pics of this classic diver (not my pics):
As stated, there are changes we would like to make to the existing design. Please note that these are not written in stone. They will be subject to change, and final spec could look quite different. I will do my best to keep this thread updated and accurate. The biggest change will be going from an automatic movement (self-winding) to a quality quartz movement. Why? To keep the cost down, accuracy, offer an alternative to what already exists, and automatics can be VERY finicky. So…here are the current proposed changes:
1) Tritium hands.
2) A quality Japanese or Swiss quartz movement with day or day/date function/complication.
3) A sapphire crystal.
4) Case size increased from 42mm to 44mm.
5) Raised indices (hour markers), perhaps with tritium.
6) A one-way, rotatable bezel (60 click or preferably 120 click), perhaps ceramic ‘Pepsi’ insert (Blue/Red), with Tritium pip on top. (Note: Ceramic is expensive. Aluminum would be the less costly option),
7) A Stainless Steel, oyster (Rolex style) type bracelet with solid end links.
8) An option to add NATO strap(s) in your color choice or rubber band.
9) The crown moved to left-hand side of watch (8, 9 or 10 O’clock position) for comfort.
10) Utilization of excellent lume, i.e. Super-Luminova or equivalent GITD product on areas w/o Tritium.
11) An original dial with a fresh look and interesting design.
12) Pierced lugs (for easier strap changes/spring-bar removal).
13) A signature crown (raised logo).
14) All series numbered (1/500, 2/500 and so on). NO dibs on getting the series number you want. :cowboy_hat_face:
15) A presentation box option, perhaps w/matching series number
16) Target price: $150-$200. This is purely an estimate on my part due to the variance of options.
The proposed changes have a definite cost and might make option 2 too expensive, so please keep that in mind. We might not be able to do many/all changes…this is more of a wish-list. Remember, the more rigid you are on what “has” to be on the watch for you to want it, the further away we will be from reaching the MOQ of 500 pieces. There are a lot of cool options out there. BTW…there is a huge, watch modding community out there. Some of the ideas are from them. There are many stunning options that modders have come up with…but…we can’t do them all and keep Option 2 affordable.
We also want to keep the other specs that made this watch such a classic, such as: SS case, screw-down SS case-back, screw-down crown, etc.
For reference as to what I am talking about, a company named Deep Blue did something similar to what I am proposing, but kept the automatic movement. They are wildly popular, even though they are kind-of a blatant copy of Seiko’s timeless design. I would like our version to steer away from a blatant copy, and offer some changes that make it unique, including an original dial design. That is why I have the above improvements/changes. Here are some pics of Deep Blue’s version:
I know 500 units is A LOT! However, I will also seek interested individuals at some of the watch forums I frequent. Tritium watches are popular, and there are not many on the market. Therefore, there is opportunity/interest out there at other forums to reach that MOQ.
Anyhow, this is what we have so far, but nothing is carved in stone 
. Option 1 and 2 are different looking watches…so, please vote for your preference in the poll!
Additionally: Please indicate your option interest by posting which you prefer, and quantities interested in.
Poll options:
- Option 1 - Carnival quartz watch w/Tritium hands/hour markers (with or without logo changes, depending on MOQ).
- Option 2 - Homage dive watch with improvements.
Thanks!
krono aka kronological
Team KRONOS
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