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Our Story

Hi everyone - my name is Sujain Krishnan and I'm the owner and founder of the Melbourne Watch Company.

As an enthusiast and collector of affordable mechanical watches, I originally started my adventure into the world of watch making through building homage style pilot and military watches for the online enthusiast community. I ran this small business ("Melbourne Custom Watches") for the better part of the last year with success. 

However, I decided recently that I was not satisfied with simply building other people's designs and that I would like to pursue the goal of launching my own brand of original design mechanical timepieces. 

From this idea, the Melbourne Watch Company was born. My goal is to create product offerings that provide customers with the option of a quality mechanical timepiece at an affordable price point. 

Through this Indiegogo project we are offering you the chance to secure a Flinders at the pre-production price of $395AUD (or $350AUD for the first 50 backers!). 

The planned RRP for the Flinders is $525AUD.

We are targeting delivery of the Flinders to customers for mid to late February 2014.

**Please add $30AUD to all watch order perks for international shipping. Shipping is free within AU.**

The Flinders

The Flinders Automatic is our first original design and was created after research into affordable dress style watches. I found that many watches in the sub $500 range were either quartz, unappealingly designed or were fairly chunky in thickness.

Named after Melbourne's iconic Flinders Street Station, I wanted our first timepiece to be one which would not look out of place among higher end watches. Additionally, I wanted to give buyers the combination of a high quality mechanical movement, a slim case and affordable price tag.

Note - All photos below are of the pre-production samples of the Flinders and are not renders.

After many hours of research, I decided on the top grade Miyota Cal. 9015 self-winding mechanical movement to be the heart of the Flinders. This 24 jewel automatic movement operates at 28,800 BPH and has a power reserve of 42 hours when fully wound. Miyota is a subsidiary of Citizen watches and is known for producing high quality, accurate and reliable mechanical movements.

The case for the Flinders is a high grade 316L stainless steel with a slim case height of only 9.8mm. This will allow the Flinders to be easily slipped under a shirt cuff for use with a suit, or to simply be comfortable for everyday wear. 

The Flinders caseback features a sapphire glass display which will show off the Miyota movement as it ticks away. The caseback itself is engraved with the text "Flinders Automatic Movement Stainless Steel" and also features our company logo and a serial number.

Note - The sample case back shows the logo incorrectly positioned as the engineering team were forced to move the screw positions. The production case back will be changed for a neater look.

The dial is multi-layered and features a guilloche centre and stainless steel markers. The date will be shown at the 3 o'clock position. There are two colour options - a white dial with silver markers and black hands or a black dial with silver markers and silver hands. The dial and hands are framed by flat, anti-reflective sapphire glass.

Note - The dial on the samples incorrectly has luminous dots at the base of the hour markers. The production version will have stainless steel dots as per the original design.

I wanted the Flinders to have a unique touch to it, so I designed the sweep seconds hand to feature the "M" from our company logo. Unlike quartz watches, the sweep seconds hand of a high beat automatic watch glide smoothly around the dial. 

The Flinders will come with a genuine leather strap (20mm tapering to 18mm) with stitching and an engraved thumbnail style buckle. The white dial version will come with a brown strap with white stitching and the black dial version will come with a black strap with black stitching.

As a final touch, all watches will ship in a leatherette display case featuring our company logo.

Full Specifications

The Flinders will have the following specifications:

Case: 40mm 316L stainless steel
Glass: Flat Anti-Reflective sapphire
Movement: Miyota Cal. 9015 automatic
Dial: Guilloche with date window at 3 o'clock
Hands: Hour/Minute/Sweep Seconds
Water Resistance: 5TM/50m
Strap: Genuine leather (20mm tapering to 18mm at buckle)

All watches come with a 12 month manufacturers warranty.

The Design Process

The first step of the design process was to create the draft of the concept via some (very rough) sketches. I then took these designs and approached several manufacturers to begin the process of bringing the Flinders to life.

Below: The initial rough design sketch of the Flinders

I was then provided with the initial design renders and engineering drawings for the Flinders in order to get a better picture of how the final product will look. This process went through several iterations before we settled on the final design which was approved for prototype creation.

Below: The final 2D design renders

Below: Engineering Drawings

From the 2D renders and detailed engineering specifications I had some 3D renders created to help visualise the final product before proceeding to sample creation.

Below: 3D renders of the Flinders

The next step was the delivery of the pre-production samples which we have received and approved. Photos of these can be found throughout the project above and in the campaign gallery.

The Timeline

Where are we at now?

As of 7th January we have confirmed that the Flinders is going into production next week and should be ready by the end of the month as per the original plan.

Project Timeline

The following is a list of our planned activities and their target timeframes.

Completed:

Early November 2013: 
- Release of design renderings and project information on Watchuseek (the world's largest online watch community)

Late November 2013:

- Delivery of pre-production samples of the Flinders in both colours. 

December 2013:

- Indiegogo project setup with details of production plans and detailed photos of the samples.
- Samples and/or photos to be sent to popular watch review websites such as Watchuseek, WristWatchReview and WornAndWound.

To Come:

January 2014:

- Production of the Flinders to commence.

Mid February 2014:
- Target for Production version of the Flinders to be ready for acceptance. 

Late February 2014:
- Targeting delivery of Flinders automatic watches to project supporters.

As we progress I will update this Indiegogo page to communicate any and all relevant news including delays if they arise. 

Backer Perks
Funds raised through backing our project on Indiegogo will be used to help with the production of the first run of Flinders watches and display boxes as well as for consumables such as postage boxes and packing etc. The balance of funds required to deliver the production watches will be supplied by the company owner.

Please find more information regarding the different perk rewards below:

Pledge $2AUD - Receive a personal letter of thanks 

If you pledge $2AUD you will receive a personalised letter in the mail (not an email!) from company owner and founder - Sujain Krishnan. All letters will be delivered at the conclusion of the project in January.

Pledge $5AUD - Your name on our website "Indiegogo Backers" page

If you pledge $5AUD you will have your name placed on a special "Indiegogo Backers" page on our website (page will be created at the conclusion of the project in January). 

Pledge $25AUD - Receive a pair of cufflinks featuring the Melbourne Watch Company logo

If you pledge $20AUD you will receive a pair of cufflinks with the Melbourne Watch Company logo embossed on them. Each set will be placed within a black velvet box.

Below is a sample photo of the cufflinks - Delivery will be in January at the conclusion of the project.

Pledge $40AUD - Receive a men's black leather wallet featuring the Melbourne Watch Company logo

If you pledge $40AUD you will receive a men's leather black bi-fold wallet with the Melbourne Watch Company logo embossed onto it. 

Below is a photo of the wallet sample:

Pledge $350AUD - Receive a Flinders Automatic watch at a further reduced "early bird" pre-production price - Limited to 50 only!!

If you are one of the first 50 people to back us you will receive a Flinders in your choice of colour at the early bird price of $350AUD. 

Pledge $395AUD - Receive a Flinders Automatic watch at the pre-production price in your choice of colour

If you back us for $395AUD you will receive the Flinders Automatic in your choice of colour. We are targeting mid to late February 2014 for delivery of the Flinders to our supporters.

Pledge $700AUD - "All In"

If you back us for $700AUD you will receive the Flinders Automatic in both dial colours as well as a set of cufflinks and a black leather wallet (both featuring our logo). 

Risks And Challenges

While we have tried to be realistic and conservative with our estimates for the time-frame of this project there may be unforeseen delays that arise as we progress. In this event all target dates will be revised and communicated to backers accordingly.

Also - according to our manufacturer, the demand for the Miyota 9015 movement has risen dramatically in the last 12 months. In response to this we have already pre-purchased the Miyota 9015 movements for the Flinders to avoid any issues with supply down the track.