WW1 Trench Watch
Kickstarter campaign launching on 11 Nov 2020, 11am Singapore Time
When World War I began in 1914, soldiers faced a novel problem. In the chaos on and off the battlefield where precise timing was integral to routines, communications, and synchronizing attacks, reliable and accurate timepieces were vital. Many officers had pocket watches, but these had many shortcomings on the battlefield. They were cumbersome to pull out and to open the protective lid with gloved hands, requiring officers to pause their duties. The dials were impossible to read at night and the glass crystals broke easily. In a setting where a second could be the difference between life and death, it was clear that an alternative was needed. Thus, in the muddy trenches of the First World War, the wrist-watch was born.
Until that point, wristwatches were feminine accessories called “wristlets”. Militaries took the design and upsized it, adding more durable materials and useful features to create the modern design. The shift from Roman to Arabic numerals made it easier to read the time at a glance, and the shatterproof crystal was introduced to protect the watch. Radium-lumed hands and dials were also used to make them easier to read them at night. By 1917, most officers owned one, and they would eventually become accessible to infantrymen.
Towards the end of the war in 1918, trench watches had become a symbol of courage and bravery, which signaled their push towards the mainstream and opened up a mass market in the post-war era. The VARIO 1918 Trench Watch pays homage to this period and the innovations that followed.
1st row left to right - White Dial with White Lume, Grey Dial with White Lume, Black Dial with White Lume
2nd row left to right - White Dial with Orange Lume, Cream Dial with Orange Lume, Black Dial with Orange Lume
White Dial with White Lume
Grey Dial with White Lume
Black Dial with White Lume
White Dial with Orange Lume
Cream Dial with Orange Lume
Black Dial with Orange Lume
Caseback design will be simplified to show up well
Empty casebacks with be available at extra cost for customers who wants an empty or custom engraving caseback. We will provide laser engraving service on empty casebacks for customers as a chargeable service as well. This is the best time to engrave the casebacks as we're doing it in 1 lot which means more cost savings than doing it individually. They make good gifts and help you bond with your watch. Only text will be allowed with a limit of 40 characters and 4 lines.
Signed screw-down crown (10ATM Water Resistance). Real wire lugs to capture the spirit of WW1 Trench watches
We did keep an iconic signature of the classic design, though: the true curved wire lugs. You won't see them often on other modern trench watch revivals. They look charmingly retro, but still make sense today as more secure than springbars. This is why modern “mil-specs” issue watches keep fixed bars, thus imposing single-piece a.k.a. ”nato” straps.
C3 Lume in action (Faux lume takes a longer time to charge)
Crazy horse leather gathers scratch marks and patina easily and contrast the classy 1918 Trench well. Crazy horse leather with bund pad (80mm/120mm) or single pass (270mm) width for Trench 18mm / width for Medic 20mm
Please note bund is suitable for up to a 7.2 inch wrist and up to 7.5 inch wrist without the bund. Folks with bigger wrist should choose the single pass leather straps.
1918 Medic Watch (40mm diameter, 20mm strap, 48mm lug to lug, Seiko NH38 Automatic movement) in White/White Lume, White/Orange Lume and Cream/Orange Lume colour will be offered as an option on Kickstarter and it will be delivered in May 2021. The medics in WW1 would have loved this pulsometer function that only seems to be introduced in the 1920s. White strap is just for illustration and not part of our offering.
We are also considering to offer a quartz version with a Seiko VD78 movement, brass options in 40mm. Please mark your interest and we will offer it if we get enough support.
1918 Trench
Case diameter: 37mm
Case thickness: 10mm
Dial: Enamel
Crystal: 2mm double domed sapphire with inner AR applied
Lug width: 18mm
Lug to lug: 45mm
Lume: C3 Lume
Case Material: 316L stainless steel
Caseback: 316L stainless steel with option for empty caseback and laser engraving at additional cost
Crown: Screw-down crown (enlarged in final version for easy handling)
Movement: Miyota 82s5 automatic movement with hand-winding and hacking seconds. 21 jewels 21.6kpbh
Water resistance: 10 atm
Strap: Crazy horse leather with bund pad (80mm/120mm) or single pass (270mm)
Warranty: 1 year global warranty
1918 Medic
Case diameter: 40mm
Case thickness: TBC
Dial: Enamel
Crystal: 2mm double domed sapphire with inner AR applied
Lug width: 20mm
Lug to lug: 48mm
Lume: C3 Lume
Case Material: 316L stainless steel
Caseback: 316L stainless steel with option for empty caseback and laser engraving at additional cost
Crown: Screw-down crown (enlarged in final version for easy handling)
Movement: Seiko NH38A automatic movement with hand-winding and hacking seconds. 24 jewels 21.6kpbh
Water resistance: 10 atm
Strap: Crazy horse leather with bund pad (80mm/120mm) or single pass (270mm)
Warranty: 1 year global warranty
Model wrist size 7 inch / 18cm
S$26/US$20 EXPRESS SHIPPING FOR WATCHES
FREE FOR SINGAPORE ORDERS
S$8/US$6 OVERSEAS SHIPPING FOR STRAPS
S$3/US$2 SINGAPORE SHIPPING FOR STRAPS
All watches will come with a choice of single pass or bund strap which customers can choose in a survey after the campaign.
The default caseback will be the illustrated soldier caseback. Topping up an empty caseback means you're buying an empty caseback (without illustration) for your watchmaker or us to replace for you and we will include the removed illustrated soldier caseback and send it to you with your watch. We will also provide laser engraving service at an additional cost for those of you who can't find a watchmaker/engraver to do it for you. If you want a caseback with a message, you will need to pay $20 + $28 for us to engrave on your caseback and swap the caseback for you. The original illustrated soldier caseback will be sent to you with your watch. We are providing these options for your convenience and have to factor in material cost, excess and labour costs.
For customers buying 2 or more watches - If we can’t allocate your 2nd watch to you in Feb 2021, we will send both watches to you in May 2021 unless you are happy to pay 2 delivery charges and we will send out your first watch in Jan and 2nd watch in May. We reserve the rights to use a cheaper form of shipping for customers living in remote areas. Customers from Europe can request for us to send by registered mail but if the item is marked delivered, there will be no dispute or claim against us.
WATCH FUTURE RETAIL PRICE US$368 (30% OFF ON KS)
SINGLE PASS STRAP FUTURE RETAIL PRICE US$22 (30% OFF ON KS)
BUND LEATHER STRAP FUTURE RETAIL PRICE US$34 (30% OFF ON KS)
Customers who want to back more than 3 watches can contact us directly.
Some possible stretch goals include
Free Twill NATO Strap
Brass case after 1 month
Brass Case after 2 months
1918 Trench Brass (40mm) 82s5 in Cream/Orange Lume, White/Orange Lume and Black/Orange Lume
1918 Trench Quartz (40mm) VD78 in Cream/Orange Lume, White/White Lume, Black/White Lume
1918 Trench Quartz (40mm) VD78 in White/Orange Lume, Black/Orange Lume, Grey/White Lume,
1918 Medic Quartz (40mm) VH31 sweep seconds in Cream/Orange Lume, White/Orange Lume, White/White Lume
All watches stretch goals will need to be a high stretch goal (over S$100k) since we're already committed to 400 Automatic watches. Do bookmark and follow our KS campaign to keep track if we will release the Quartz models for sale.
We will allocate a limited quantity of 40 pieces for each variant so the 1st 40 backers for each 1918 Trench variant will be assured an earlier delivery in Feb 2021. Customers who are topping up a 2nd watch may need to wait till May for their top up watches. 1918 Medic watch will be fulfilled in May 2021. Customers are encouraged to back early to avoid waiting longer for their watches.
Left to right: Vario Eclipse (38mm), 1918 Trench (37mm), Empire (38mm)
Loren from TheTimeBum
Shane from @indielux_shane
Siva from @horologyportraits
Charlie from @kingcharles_
Anders from Watch On
Vario Eclipse and Empire Testimonials
We've had numerous successful crowdfunding campaigns and delivered thousands of products to hundreds of backers on time before this so we understand the process. We will certainly do our best to make sure that the watches arrive on time so we can get them to our Kickstarter backers as soon as possible.
1 x 1918 Trench Watch to be given away!
