Ka La Ladies Watch - Kickstarter

My Kickstarter project is now live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/758138000/ka-la-ladies-watch

Any support or promotion would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to raise $20K USD and at least 130 supporters to get funded. The watches will retail for $400 but early supporters can pick one up for as little as $150.

This ladies version of my Ka La watches will also feature a 316L Surgical Stainless Steel case and a Sapphire Crystal. The movement will be a Swiss Ronda 763 (quartz) and the watch will have our signature spinning seconds disk. The watches will come with 2 straps (in your choice of colors) which have quick release pins that allow changing of straps without any tools or special skills.

Dimension are: 34 mm wide, 8.4 mm thick, 45 mm length overall.

I estimate May 2015 deliveries.

Mahalo for your support!

Ka La GMT Dial

The Ka La GMT watch is nearing completion. The dials are done while the hands are in the final stages of production. These watches will feature an ETA 2893-2 movement which provides for a second time zone indication (in 24 hour format). The existing Ka La cases will be used but the hands and dials are completely new giving this model a very different look. The dial and hands will use Super-Luminova (light blue and green) to provide outstanding visibility in the dark. The first production watch is expected to be ready in mid-February.

Special Holiday Prices

Holiday Special Pricing announced through January 31st, 2014.
All standard Ka La references are priced $200 below retail. Applies only to direct Internet sales.

Regular prices are scheduled to increase in 2014 by $200 to help offset the tripling of movement prices in the past 3 years.

Enjoy double saving by taking advantage of our holiday pricing and avoid the 2014 price increase by shopping now.

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BMW M6 Tach Inspired Watch

Group Buy on the M6Board.com

If there is enough firm interest, I can produce a limited edition set of watches which are designed to resemble the tachometer of an E63/64 BMW M6 (and E60 M5).

I'm already in the business of designing and making watches using Swiss mechanical movements, so this project is nothing new for me except that if I offer it as an M6Board.com "Group Buy" I can keep the price very attractive. If I don't receive enough interest, these watches will not be produced.

1) The watches will NOT say BMW, M6, M5 or have the ///M logo as that would run afoul of BMW's trademarks. BMW already has a exclusive watch branding arrangement with Ball Watches, so it will do no good to even ask for permission to use their name or logos. The best I can do is to have the same colors as the M logo on the dial (but not angled).

2) These watches will use the same stainless steel (316L "Surgical Stainless") cases that I use for my "Ka La" line of watches. The cases for this limited edition watches will be PVD Black coated. They are 43mm in diameter and 12.5 mm thick. They have a domed sapphire crystal (with anti-reflective coating) on the front and a sapphire crystal on the 'exhibition back' so you can see the Swiss Selitta SW 260-1 automatic movement. These watches do not use batteries, they are wound either manually or by simply wearing as the weighted rotor keeps the watch wound when worn. The movements come from Switzerland. The watches are designed (by me) and assembled (by a Swiss trained watchmaker, not me) in here in Hawaii.

3) The watch will use dials and hands custom designed just for this limited edition run. They will come with a leather strap and a deployment (folding) buckle. The leather strap will vary from the illustration.

4) The minute hand of the watch is designed to look like the tach needle on a BMW M5 / M6. The hour hand will be white. The "small seconds" hand will be at the 6 o'clock position (to mimic the oil temperature gauge). The marking on the small seconds will be "20", "30" and "40" but the seconds hand will spin in a full circle.

5) The dial and hour hand will use Super-Liminova which makes them glow (for while) in the dark.

6) These watches would retail for at least $1500 USD if I produced them as a normal production item. But with a committed group buy, I can offer them for just $1000 USD.

7) If I get a minimum number (10) of firm orders, the project will proceed. Only after the green light will customers be asked for a 35% ($350) deposit. The balance will be due when the watches are ready to ship.

8) Estimated shipment will be 100 days (and probably less) from the "green light" date.

9) Once I have orders for these watches, I will not repeat the production. So your watch will remain a limited production, collectors piece.

10) Below is a render of the proposed watch along with photos of the Swiss Selitta mechanical movement. The decoration on the back of the movement may vary from the photo.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/m6-e63-group-buy-sponsor-discussion-offerings/318857-e63-64-m6-tachometer-wrist-watch.html

or contact me directly at: Mark@MarkCarson.com

Touch of Modern Sale - Last Day

TouchOfModern has had my watches on sale this week. Today is the last day of their sale, so head over to their website for some savings. https://www.touchofmodern.com/sales/ka-la-watches--2

 

 

Movement Rings Are Done

The new movement rings are done and will head to Hawaii soon. These items will allow me to continue with the Ka La Honu GMT watches which use ETA 2893-2 movements. These rings differ from the ones designed for ETA 2824-2 movements by less than a mm in 2 dimensions. But that is what it takes to make the movement fit properly in the watch case. The new rings let movements sit 0.2 mm lower and the opening is 0.4 mm larger in diameter. On the dial and hands front, I'm off to the bank this morning to wire funds.

GMT Watch Design Under Development.

ETA 2893 movements are getting very hard to find, so this would be a very limited production watch. But the technical hurdles have been cleared, so this watch could be a reality early in 2014. The dial and hands are dive watch inspired while the addition of a GMT/24 hours hand and hour markers make this a great traveler's watch. Featuring easy to read hands and dial and lots of lume for easy night viewing. Stay tuned as this Ka La model develops...