MOT Forum watch????

[TheJohnP]

Took a look at Chronowatch and they have an interesting catalog. They also have small production batches:

Link?

I had previously provided a link to Chrono


Chrono AG (they manufacturer the Swiss Military brand)
- https://www.chronowatch.ch/en/

[IKEEPGOODTIME]

I found this alibaba listing that would do 1-300 pieces for MOQ @ $100

They also claim to do offer full customization options


https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... ypass=true

[MoT]

A forum watch is something I would like to do. What form that takes remains to be seen. I need to give this some thought, and I think the first step will be to create a poll to gauge interest. I'll put one up in the next couple of days.

[Sporkboy]

I found this alibaba listing that would do 1-300 pieces for MOQ @ $100

They also claim to do offer full customization options


https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... ypass=true

Doc Vail on WUS has some distinct opinions on venders like this that advertise one price to get you talking but can’t deliver anything decent at that price. The real life pictures also show a 500m watch even though they list the specs at 30m, so those may not be their pictures.

[IKEEPGOODTIME]

I found this alibaba listing that would do 1-300 pieces for MOQ @ $100

They also claim to do offer full customization options


https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... ypass=true

Doc Vail on WUS has some distinct opinions on venders like this that advertise one price to get you talking but can’t deliver anything decent at that price. The real life pictures also show a 500m watch even though they list the specs at 30m, so those may not be their pictures.

All true. Lots of due diligence needed. Doc's watches are roughly $600......I don't expect everything to be equal when the "ali-special" is only $100.

That being said, I'm sure between many of the members here we probably have the contacts necessary to bypass the alibaba listings and go straight to a factory if thsi becomes a reality.

[Sporkboy]

I found this alibaba listing that would do 1-300 pieces for MOQ @ $100

They also claim to do offer full customization options


https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... ypass=true

Doc Vail on WUS has some distinct opinions on venders like this that advertise one price to get you talking but can’t deliver anything decent at that price. The real life pictures also show a 500m watch even though they list the specs at 30m, so those may not be their pictures.

All true. Lots of due diligence needed. Doc's watches are roughly $600......I don't expect everything to be equal when the "ali-special" is only $100.

That being said, I'm sure between many of the members here we probably have the contacts necessary to bypass the alibaba listings and go straight to a factory if thsi becomes a reality.

If we have the contacts to get right to something decent, then that is great. I can contribute nothing on the contacts front sadly. The members of this forum surprise me all the time, so I wouldn’t put it past them.

[baldrick]

I think there's a balance to be struck between price and certainty of quality.

I know I would be less keen on using an untested vendor, even at a lower price, because I would be wary of chucking money away on something that turns out to be junk. Same goes for factory-direct.

The benefits of teaming up with Bernhardt, Undone, NTH, whatever, are that:

- You can probably be certain of a minimum level of quality.

- Ultimately, they've done this before and know what can and can't be done, how to source parts and from where, etc., so that could smooth the process.

- You should get warranty protection that might actually be worth something.

The obvious downside, of course, is that they have to make a living, so the price is higher.

However, I'd wager that most people would pay that extra cost for the peace of mind and it may also increase chances of hitting MOQs if the project has that backing.

Edited to add: for me a forum watch must be more than just a novelty to be worn once and chucked in a drawer. I'd like something robust that I can and would actually wear.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[TheJohnP]

As has been discussed before the three essentials are:

1) Team lead
2) Price point
3) Style

[pgcity]

unsure if this is appropriate so please delete if it isn't. Hemel Watches is doing a pre-order for a FB group where the owner himself is as one of the moderators. Take a look https://www.hemelwatches.com/collection ... al-edition

[tinpusher]

I know it sounds bad, but I would like to stay away if possible from the Seagull and other Chinese movements. I haven't had much success with them in the past and prefer to stick to Seiko or Miyota for my affordable movement needs

[MoT]

Poll here:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1788

[uaconcorde]

San Martin can do it im sure, they currently customize logo printing for you....

I think with enough volume they can do a complete customization

[Slant]

San Martin can do it im sure, they currently customize logo printing for you....

I think with enough volume they can do a complete customization

I was thinking San Martin as well since they are quite affordable and people seem to praise their bang-for-buck and quality control.

For instance, their bronze 6105 homage goes for $225 USD with their own logo or no logo. Custom logo is only another $20 which makes $245 USD per watch before any type of volume discount, if any. This one has workhorse Japanese Seiko NH35 movement.

Someone with design talent comes up with a nice logo and nice font and we're good to go. Maybe even the masked logo that someone suggested could work as a reminder of the timing of the forum project - simple uncomplicated design always works.

Here are pics of the watch I'm talking about:

[Sporkboy]

I like the idea of using San Martin or one of the companies that BSH has used so that the ‘mystery entity’ is less of a factor.

I did a little digging and found some SanMartin custom dials.

EF3D0523-8416-4976-A5AF-3B48BACE954D.jpeg (29.47 KiB) Viewed 7466 times

7440AE90-4692-4BD3-B3F0-CDAB87290022.jpeg (40.15 KiB) Viewed 7466 times

[uaconcorde]

although i have a feeling the existing San Martin watches might be a bit too big for the tast of this forum...
Most of them wears like a 42mmm even the 39mm pilot watches due to all dial

i think if we can get 50 watches going they'd be happy to make a new one from scratch. Mr. Liao has been very eager to design new watches, although he admits he hasn't had too much success. for the time being he's resorting to homages but he had bigger aspirations