Thanks to 231 backers and with total pledge of over CHF 74'000 we brought the PEARL DIVER on Kickstarter alive. All watches pre ordered get a 3 year warranty!
But our journey is not finished yet, you can have the chance and support the WICKED WATCH CO. and receive your bronze diver at exclusive offerings. In case you haven't heard of us yet, here is our introduction:
Codename: PEARL DIVER
Location: Aesch BL, Switzerland
Brand: WICKED WATCH CO.
THE CASE
The PEARL DIVER is made of CuSn8 Bronze. The dive watch features a uni-directional 120 clicks bezel, screw-down crown, drilled lugs for easy strap removal, and is up to 200 m / 20 ATM waterproof. It comes with 2 variations.
NH35A Case
We keep the case as compact as possible--- 40 mm in diameter (43.80 mm including the crown), lug to lug size is 46 mm and the lug width is 22 mm. The thickness of the timepiece is 13.77 mm including the crystal. The slight domed sapphire crystal with multi layer (5 Layers) anti-reflective coating (blueish) and a fully lumed CusN8 bezel insert, are just two of the highlights.
STP1-11 Case
Thanks to the slimmer movement, we are able to create a thinner watch, this case is 12.50 mm in height, including the double domed sapphire (11.50 mm without sapphire).
THE BEZEL INSERT
The bezel has a 120 click uni-directional mechanism and feature a bronze insert. The markers at are engraved deeper than usual to be able to hold more lume.
THE CASE BACK
The screw-down case back features as tribute to our hometown Basel, the "Basilisk Dragon" as motif.
You can read more about the mythic creature here: WIKIPEDIA LINK or here more
The NH35A version will feature a 316L stainless steel case back, while the STP1-11 will have a titanium grade 2 case back. Our Bronze Diver is a limited Edition of 500 pieces per colour and movement. A serial number will be engraved on each case back.
THE SAPPHIRE
NH35A Case
Our sapphire crystal is 3.80 mm thick and 30.00 mm in diameter in the NH35A Automatic Model. The slight domed design gives it a very special look. The crystal features a blue shimmer multi layer antireflective coating (5 layers) on the inside.
STP1-11 Case
The crystal on the STP1-11 Automatic Model is 3 mm thick and has a double domed structure. The sapphire is 100% made in Switzerland, manufactured by SEBAL SA, a Swiss company with over 40 years of experience in crafting sapphire for famous Swiss watch brands.
The Swiss made sapphire features a very special AR coating called ARunic® by Econorm.
The premium two-sided colourless AR coating provides the sapphire with the following features:
THE MOVEMENT
Our mission is to develop stylish yet affordable watches for all watch lovers against the soaring watch prices nowadays. With that goal in mind, we did research on many different movement suppliers such as ETA, Seiko, Miyota, Sellita, etc.; the secret boiled down to one specific movement = SEIKO'S NH35A.
WHY?
The NH35A is a power horse par excellence, within the same price range this movement is unmatched in reliability, accuracy and durability.
Using this mechanical movement allows us to offer the PEARL DIVER at an unbeatable price.
BUT
We know some people prefer Swiss Movements, that's why we chose to offer our PEARL DIVER with an upgrade to STP1-11. The mechanical movement is made in Switzerland and offers these specification:
- Hours, minutes, sweep second
- Date, rapid corrector
- Stop second device
- Self-winding mechanism with ball bearing
- 28'800 vibrations per hour, 4 Hz.
- 26 jewels
- Power reserve 44 hours
- average rate; -0/+15 sec/d
- Producer info: STP
This movement from one of the newer supplier (Swiss Technology Production since 2006) was tested by our watch maker and approved.
You can choose between the following movements:
- NH35A (Date)
- NH38 (No date)
- STP1-11 (Date)
- STP1-11 (No date complication, no ghost position)
THE STRAPS
Your PEARL DIVER comes with a genuine Italian leather strap with crazy horse treatment. The leather strap is 22 mm wide on the lugs and tappers down to 18 mm at the buckle. Choose between vintage brown or black.
The leather strap is not made for diving as everyone knows. Your timepiece will come with a fluoro rubber (natural rubber) strap with fitted and hardened endlinks. This premium rubber strap allows your watch to enter the darkside of the sea !
Every strap comes with the bronze buckle with a lumed logo engraved.
The last strap that comes with the PEARL DIVER is the high quality nato strap, made of soft woven nylon and bronze hardware.
THE DIAL
After a quite intense discussion about our first dial version, we decided to completely redefine it. You will find our dial with the hour glass at 12 o'clock, round pearls on the hours in between and "long" pearls at 9 and 6 (and 3 for no date versions). Our dial bases are made of recycled brass from Switzerland and Japan. The WICKED text will be replaced with our W logo made with Lumicast.
MAGPIE - forged carbon
CROW - black grainy textured dial
PHOENIX - forged carbon with gold dust
BASILISK - Green sunburst dial
CARDINAL - Red fumée dial
RAVEN - Black MOP dial (Grade AAA)
THE HANDS
Our handsets are coated with N5 rose gold coating. They are brushed and cut with highest precision from our trusted supplier.
The second hand features our Anchor logo, with a pointy end and red finish, filled with same lume as the other hands. The arrow hour and sword-like minute hand help you read the time easier and at one glance.
All hands feature the same superior grade Swiss Super-LumiNova® like on the bezel insert and dial. This generates a homogenous look of the lume.
THE LUME
The creation of best luminous power/effect of our PEARL DIVER was a core task for us. We want to have lume as bright as possible and clean without shadows. CREATE A WICKED LUME BEAST. We did our research and optimized the design for a great lume effect, for example: Our bezel insert is higher than usual, for deeper engravings = more pigments can fit in = better lume performance.
The default lume will be Swiss Super-LumiNova® C3 ef GL, X1 Superior Grade, but for our kickstarter campaign, we give you the chance to customize your lume to either C3, Old Radium or BGW-9 instead.
These parts will have the lume applied: Bezel insert, crown, buckle, dial and hands.
For best glowing results we guarantee that we use the premium products of RC Tritec AG the swiss manufacture of Swiss Super-LumiNova®. Our lume is 100% guaranteed Swiss made.
BGW-9 GRADE A ef
C3 Grade X1 GL ef
How good is our lume? The lume battle:
TEST REPORT AND QUALITY CERTIFICATE
THE LUMICAST
We are proud to announce that, WICKED WATCH CO. will be the first micro brand (as far as we know^^) featuring Lumicast on their dials. Meet the next generation of Lume, today!
Lumicast is used in the haute horology segments in some watches of brands like IWC, H. Moser & Cie., etc.
For the Lumicast process and application, we are working with Les Cadraniers de Genève SA, Meyrin Geneva (a famous dialmaker from Geneva who enjoys the trust of Vacheron Constatin and many other big brands) and RC Tritec AG (manufacturer of Swiss Super-LumiNova®) together.
A comparison of the different lume applications:
our application:
THE COMPANY
Meet the team! Pascal is the designer and the mind behind PEARL DIVER, gathering all his best women and men to create this beautiful timepiece.
About me: I started my "career" in banking business, but after several years of working in different fields in banking, I decided to do something else. Growing up in Basel was a beautiful time. I developed my interests for tennis and watches in early ages and never got tired of them.
We managed to get through troublesome times in 2020, now it's a new era of our brand. I pour my heart into this project. It is more than just "business".
You can read about our brand here: https://www.wickedwatch.ch/about
THE WATCHMAKER
The Swiss made watch (STP1-11 Movement) will be assembled by our watchmaker in Bern, Switzerland. Mr. Galeano-Wüthrich has experience in watch business of over 40 years, he has been working for OMEGA, Richemont Group and others. He personally assembled and regulated more than 300 movements of the famous 7750 VALJOUX automatic.
He and his team will ensure our high quality standards and will assemble the watches carefully with Swiss precision.
THE PRODUCTION
We don't hide the origin of our watches. We are a SWISS brand, with manufacturer partners in Shenzhen, the famous metropolis in Southern China, Switzerland and other countries. We work with professional watch part suppliers that have served various brands from Switzerland or Germany for more than 20 years, some do it for more than 40 years (our Swiss sapphire supplier as an example). We are confident about our quality.
The mix of swiss and international manufactures allow us to offer you the watch on Indiegogo and later for a good price.
To ensure the quality of every single WICKED WATCH, we sourced and tested all materials ourselves. For example the sapphire crystal, the luminous powder, the movements, just to name a few. We have been on this journey for more than 2 years, and we are just at the beginning.
Our mission has always been: deliver the best quality/price ratio.
THE REVIEWS
Take a look at what independent watch reviewers say about our PEARL DIVER wristwatch.
Random Rob "Wicked Watch Co Pearl Diver"
WatchChris "Wicked Watch Co The Pearl Diver - INSANE BLINDING LUME - Bronze Swiss Made Automatic $329"
WatchGeek "
Watch Addiction Watch Reviews
Consigli per gli acquisti
You can find all reviews here: https://www.wickedwatch.ch/reviews
THE TIMELINE
FULL SPECS
STP1-11
BEHIND THE SCENES
Arranging NH35A prototypes
Videoshooting
Photoshooting
THE BOX
We have been thinking long time about the box..... What shall we do, keep the original design with the cork box, or do we completely change it. Eventually we decided to go with the second option. Who uses these big heavy boxes anyway?!
We offer our bronze pearl diver with our hand made, genuine leather travel pouch for up to 3 watches. We selected the vintage brown leather with crazy horse treatment (wax) to achieve a nice vintage look.
On the inside we covered the leather with a microfiber to protect the watches from rough surfaces.
Custom made wallets for manual, tools etc.
A SPECIAL THANKS
At this point I would like to take a minute and thank some people that supported me so far....
First of all my beautiful wife, she is my motivation to keep going and creating beautiful watches! Without her support, I wouldn't be able to make this project happen. Thank you so much my soulmate! I love you!
The next one goes to my team and suppliers, I know it can be very difficult to deal with me and my wishes. So thank you for being patient and deliver what I want, what I really really want! :-D Can't wait for our next project!
The next shout out goes to the reviewer, they have done a great job testing our prototypes and gave us essential feedbacks for improvements.
And of course, a big thank you to every backer that supports this project! You will be the ones that make it actually happen at the end. With your support we are able to follow our dreams!
CHANGES
Some features of the watches change on the production version, here you find what:
- Shorter hour hand, a bit longer second hand
- Spring bars instead of screw bars for easier strap removal
- 15 min track on the bezel insert
- NH35A Sapphire will have a blue shimmer AR-Coating
- STP1-11 dials will have SWISS MADE printed at 6 o'clock
- STP1-11 has titanium grade 2 case back
- Anchor logos on buckle and crown exchanged with our W logo
- WICKED on the logo disappears and our W logo made with lumicast will replace it
If you have any questions please do not bother contacting us, we are glad to help you.
THE STRETCH GOALS
THE SHIPPING
If everything goes smooth as planned, the watches can be shipped in September 2021 (NH-Series) and October 2021 (STP-Series). We are keeping our followers with posts here or in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wickedwatchco updated.
THE END