About this project
$17,221
186
Our mission: design a watch that would be worthy of our favorite comic characters of all time - superhero-inspired looks that are smart, cool, modern, and sophisticated enough to be worn by everyday humans.
We live in a golden age for comics, superheros, sci-fi, and fantasy. Even your mother knows who Daredevil is at this point. And while many grown-ups are superfans, they don't necessarily want to cosplay everyday at the office. So we wanted to come up with a subtle, cool way to nod to our favorites in a modern watch, without over-doing it.
We love the look of fresh, edgy, colorful chrono watches, like are sold at Nixon and IWC. But in the real world, no one wants to spend $300 on a daily driver watch, especially if it's in fun, bold colors. They should be affordable for everybody. Can we make one for under $100? Yep. How about under $60? Lookout!
Why should "cool factor" = "rich factor"??? It shouldn’t.
DESIGNS
We call the two designs we've come up "HERO CHRONOS" - with color palettes inspired by 2 comic VIPs who are close to our hearts for different reasons.
Deadpool would probably be really annoyed that we got all warm inside every time we saw his beautiful masked mug. His brash 'tude (to put it mildly) is the kind of company we want to be. Bold, irreverent, and getting the job done. Oh yeah, and he's immortal.
Our first Hero watch, in Mission Red and Deep Black, is inspired by this big, smelly oaf. DP's red leather suit with cute black eye patches (sorry we called you "cute," Pool.) is reflected in this watch's bold red rubbery strap and a tech-y chrono face and black tachymeter accent. This is not an officially licensed watch, but ask any young guy which superhero this reminds him of and we know what he'll say in about 3 seconds. Case closed.
A high-octane adventure watch with all the trimmings, Hero 1 includes a tachymeter ring to measure speed, 3 in-set sub dials (day, date, 24hr), an inner second ring, and a powerful ISA9238 multi-function movement under the hood. Here's a fun fact: the minute hand, hour hand, and base of the second hand are luminescent and glow in the dark, so you can read it by cover of night. Everything is covered by a 3-year warranty for repair or replacement, so don't be afraid to use it and enjoy it everyday.
The flipside of all that attitude is our other favorite inspiration, the relatively mellow (yeah right) Daredevil. Going blind has cast his world into darkness, but has sharpened his other senses as a result. We designed this watch to represent a dark city night, through which our hero - you - can see the world with pinpoint accuracy.
This show-stopping style bridges the gap between undercover and conversation-starter with dual crimson sun sub-dials (day, date, 24hr) set in a rich modern face. Red hour markers line the dial, which houses an ultra-accurate ISA9238 multi-function movement. A bendy stainless steel/silicone strap hugs the wrist on whatever rugged adventures you take on. Just like Hero 1, the minute hand, hour hand, and tip of the second hand have a glow coating you can see in the dark. It is also covered by the same 3-year warranty to protect you from any mechanical issues.
Features
•stainless steel case
•sub-dials for day, date, and 24-hr cycle
•silicone band
•steel square buckle
•ISA9238 multi-function movement
•tachymeter (Hero 1)
•luminescent hands (glow in the dark coating)
•3-year warranty for repair or replacement
How we’re gonna do it:
How can we produce watch like these for under $60, when Nixon charges $300 for a similar look? Crowd-funding basically allows us all to go in together on the design and production of the watch. We build and pay for it as a team, and don't go thru any other channels which will cause us to raise the price (marketing, stores, celebs, etc.).
We already have a successful business building watches - we have long-established relationships with our manufacturers and a simple, clean distribution system that has served us through the production of hundreds of styles over the past 12 years. Now, we are looking for innovative ways to make watches faster, more creatively, and deliver them for very low prices - while involving the public in the design phase.
What you get/REWARDS:
$59. SUPER LEVEL. Be the first to get a Hero Chrono. ($75 less than retail $124.) Choose which model you want - Hero 1 or Hero 2 - at the end of the Kickstarter project. Estimated to ship in April 2016. Only 50 available.
$79. HERO LEVEL. Your choice of any Hero Chrono. ($55 less than retail $124.) Pick which model you want - Hero 1 or Hero 2 - at the end of the Kickstarter project. Estimated to ship in April 2016.
$115. POWER LEVEL. BOTH Hero Chrono watches ($133 less than retail $248). Estimated to ship in April 2016. Only 50 available.
$150. MEGA LEVEL. BOTH Hero Chrono watches ($98 less than retail $248). Estimated to ship in April 2016.
$500. LEGEND LEVEL. You get to design a one-of-a-kind watch based on the superhero of your choice, from the ground up. You choose the colors, you choose the strap, you choose the face and features. We'll produce your custom design just for you - and it could potentially be offered to the public as a new model in the future. You'll get sketches to approve and be a part of the process every step of the way. We can only offer 4 of this opportunity. (Made-To-Order watch builds typically require minimum orders in the 100s, but for you we will make just 1.) Estimated to ship in June 2016.
All watches will come in a commemorative red velvet pouch, perfect for desktop or backpack.
STATUS OF THE PROJECT:
*Watches have been designed and prototypes have been built.
*Photos above are of the exact watches which you will get.
*We have negotiated the production order with our manufacturer, we have priced all needed materials, and now need to your support to complete the plan.
We are confident that watches will ship in the month of April, 2016.
Who is the Cadence Watch Company?
We are an American watch designer and seller based in Philadelphia, PA. We are run by a small core group of passionate, fun individuals who are always looking for ways to take on the behemoth fashion industry corporations to create and deliver awesome watches to people at prices they can afford.
Not exactly climbing buildings and capturing villains, but in our own way, we are sort of real world caped crusaders fighting on behalf of the people. All you really need to know is that we'll make a great watch for you and help you look and feel your best everyday, while you take on your own adventure story.
Our main website is cadencewatch.com.
Risks and challenges
As a company, we build dozens of new watch designs every year. The reality of manufacturing and the size of our company creates a natural limit on how many new watches we can produce each year, so we decided to try to fund our most fun and creative projects here on Kickstarter. We have tried to set realistic goals which will allow us to complete our production process and deliver watches on time, at the quality and design standards we insist upon. Now it's up to the people whether or not these new designs will get produced. As long as we reach our minimum funding goal for the project, these watches will be produced and shipped. If we fail to connect with the right audience, or our ideas don't land with the pop we hope they will, we will not be able to fund these designs. There are also some general risks associated with any manufacturing which we will face, such as unexpected delays at the plant, or slow-downs connected to packaging and shipping completed products. However, these slow-downs are rare and generally predictable, so if something is going to take an extra week, we'll know in advance and give a heads up to our backers. Overall, we have enough experience with the watch manufacturing process that we know what to expect.
A big challenge for us now is learning how to adapt and evolve with modern ways of creating and sharing new products. Doing a fun watch in superhero colors is a little outside of our normal vibe, so this is an experiment to see if we can try more creative ideas on a smaller scale. Really, this idea started with one staffer's love of comics, which he pitched as a fun design inspiration for some new watches. If you guys like these, we'll be emboldened to go further with more fun, limited run designs in the future. Thanks for taking the time to read our proposal!
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Funding period
- (60 days)