This is kind of a rush job. We got a little project going and it suddenly got bigger, and we figured we needed a single point of contact. At least for now. So here it is. It isn’t all that polished yet (neither the site nor the watch actually), I’m just trying to give information at the moment.
This is the bronze turtle. It is a mod, or a modification of an existing watch. In this case we got a (actually several) turtle re-editions from a Seiko shop purchased on our own. This project has no connection to the Seiko company other than we like their stuff. The only thing left from the donor turtle is the movement and the dial/face, which we chose because it had the gilt/goldish color that would match what we were trying to do and the little ring that sits between the bezel and the case that you don’t see. The bronze case was supplied by Horology Matters. Also supplied by them were the hands, the domed crystal, the case back (important because we will be going through a few before we end up happy with the engraving work) and the strap.
We were initially going to do three of these things, for ourselves. It then adjusted up, then adjusted up again. We have capped the first run at eight pieces because otherwise it would get way out of hand. When we got the first two donors and mods matched up, we got a fairly surprising amount of interest for a watch we basically modded up for ourselves, and we also learned more about what we really wanted to do. End result is, the watch you see here and another you will see later have become the prototype pieces. Basically these will be the test beds for all that we want to do, so it was good that we didn’t already number them as 1 and 2. It’s also good because I have a feeling I can never actually have any of these watches myself now. Requests from good friends and key people responsible for our ability to do something like this alone will wipe out our first and part of the second run, and those are just my friends and not yet those of Horology Matters. Plus, I once asked Philippe Stern (of the family that owns and runs Patek Philippe) why we never saw him wearing his awesome minute repeaters or similar pieces. He said that there are always people that are waiting for those pieces. If one is on his wrist it means someone else is waiting and they can’t have that. So, basically I am stuck with a constantly-changing test bed. Which I have to admit appeals to me. Honestly, when I was able to pull the bezel off by hand I didn’t think “uh-oh” I thought “Cool!”
So here are some first photos of a work in process. We will try and update as things go along, as I find it hugely fun as we go along. We have two test bed watches, and if you look carefully you will catch the differences.
This a collaboration between Calibre and Horology Matters. It started with a chat. Actually it started way earlier than that but we will start with the chat. Myself and the guys from Horology Matters met because someone likes a watch I had on and I knew that they had a set available. So after several posts on instagram and a watch and car specific fiber group we met up and my friend got some watches. Anyways us and them continued to talk regularly and as the Horology Matters business of modification and accessory products for Seiko watches grew, they spoke to us about tying up with our organization. The C! Group produces print and online content about cars (C! Magazine) watches (Calibre Magazine) and other cool stuff. We continued to discuss stuff,