Watch Dandy

For better or worse, Kickstarter is now a firmly entrenched part of the watch production, retail and marketing landscape. Watches have historically been a phenomenally popular category on the crowdfunding platform, but for every glittering success story, there’s an equal number of projects left on the cutting room floor.  If you’re the kind of curious cat who’s wanted to know more about the data behind Kickstarter watch projects, boy is it your lucky day. WatchPro posted this snazzy report from Swiss consulting company Mercury Project, who break down the data in interesting, and meaningful ways. Turns out just more than half (52%) of watch projects fail. A rate that has been consistent for years. The real interesting takeaway, though, is this: “Overall, the number of projects is flat since 2017, but the number of backers is drastically down. To reach their financial goals, creators have now to become more professional in term of product proposal, but also in term of marketing, in order to attract backers.” Read more at WatchPro.

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Editor’s note: The other day I was spending some time at my local Blancpain stockist, and I found my eyes consistently being drawn to the Bathyscaphe (which was only a little awkward as I was meant to be checking out Blancpain’s 2019 releases, which was a decidedly Bathyscaphe-free zone). And while the Bathy is offered in a few variants, one of the coolest is the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe in black ceramic …  Blancpain’s Bathyscaphe is one of those rare, chameleonic watch designs. A watch that, broadly speaking, owes great fidelity to its primogenitor, but a watch that doesn’t look dated. It’s a neutral watch — something that gives the Bathyscaphe broad appeal and great versatility. In steel, it’s a classic, traditional dive watch, but here, in black ceramic, it’s something much more modern in style. And the execution of the ceramic really is gorgeous. Crisp lines, even brushed finishes, really lovely stuff — the material is finished like metal, but with ceramic’s advantages of light weight and scratch resistance. No matter how you slice it, the case of this watch is cool. The dial isn’t half bad either, and I quite like how reserved Blancpain has been, keeping the hour…

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Dan Henry is a pretty great little watch brand — the brainchild of a Brazilian watch collector who is dedicated to making affordable modern versions of classic designs. And while other brands go down this path of well-priced retro nostalgia, too often it comes across as inauthentic pastiche. But this isn’t an accusation you can level at Dan Henry. There is so clearly a level of love, care and attention that goes into these watches that the intention is never really in question. And the brand new Dan Henry 1962 Racing Chronograph is a great example of this.  As you might be able to deduce from the name, the 1962 Racing Chronograph is inspired by racing chronographs from the, um, 1960s. The 39mm steel-cased chrono comes in three dial variants — panda, inverse panda and blue — and is powered by a meca-quartz movement (a Seiko), which gives you quartz accuracy, battery life and price tag combined with the feel of a mechanical chrono. We got out hands on the panda and the blue options. It’s a solid option for this sort of watch. The dial, hands and tachy are all lovingly done, with strong Universal Genève vibes (especially the straight-up Panda), thanks to the…

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