Status Update
I hope that everyone is having a pleasant holiday season. I scaled back my holiday plans in order to continue working on watch orders, which are currently behind schedule. In order to focus on watches orders placed this week will be scheduled and e-mail notifications sent out next week after the 1st.
I am replying to e-mails but those that I don’t get to by the evening of the 29th will be take care of after the 1st of January.
Vantage customers:
* The Swiss Made Vantages have been delivered. Half of the bracelets have been completed and I am currently waiting on a shipment date for the first half. I won’t hear from the manufacturer until after the 1st of January. In the mean time the watches are being checked. I still expect at this point to begin shipments of the pre-built and custom Vantages in January. The exact date will be determined by the delivery date of the bracelets which the large majority of the pre-orders requested.
Sea Fighter customers:
* The cases at last word were undergoing their final quality assurance review. All of the dials, movements, and other related components are in stock and being checked so that they can be sent to Switzerland for assembly as soon as the cases arrive. The 2836 movements were delivered at the end of November (almost 3 months late) but at least they are here. At this point I expect be able to begin shipments of custom Sea Fighters and to ship the components for the pre-built Sea Fighters to Switzerland for assembly by the beginning of February. An e-mail summary to the same effect will go out shortly.
Custom watch orders with delivery dates before December 31st
* I am currently working on these orders as well as a number of orders scheduled for January 5th. I expect to be able to ship most if not all of the watches scheduled for delivery prior to December 31st by this Saturday.
Please note that our office will not be closed from December 30th through January 1st. If there is anything urgent please call me at 484-683-1875
Pre-built watches en-route
Albeit late the pre-built Blackwaters and Stingray watches are finally on their way out of Switzerland. They should be here, baring custom’s clearance delays, by Friday.
In other Mk II news:
- An acrylic insert option has been added to the custom Sea Fighter page although the preview function will not be updated for a few more days. Essentially the insert is a single luminous triangle that is split down the middle. The Split-T as its called was modified from a single triangle for two reasons 1) to distinguish these watches from the original and 2) to provide added support to the luminous section. In the vintage versions you will often see the luminous triangle cracked practically right down the middle. I believe that this is due to a lack of support for such a large luminous area. In order to get around that I have split the triangle down the middle (engraving two smaller triangles rather just one large one) to add support to where the triangle is weakest.
- Updates for Vantage deliveries will be e-mailed out later today. Unfortunately there is a delay. The Vantage is to be assembled after the Blackwater and Stingray watches and since completion of those two watches was delayed at the assembler the Vantage is just being started. Originally they were to be completed by now. With the holiday rush to deliver watches to retailers I am doubtful that the Swiss company will be able to complete the watches before the end of this month which will likely push delivery to me to sometime in December. December will have its own problems considering the Christmas rush and end of year holidays. As a result deliveries for the Vantage will be pushed back to the end of January 2008. Given that the watches are not likely to be shipping in time for Christmas delivery there seems to be little value in scheduling shipments before year end.
Mk II Vantage
The pre-order pages are now up and running! The pre-order is going to work a little differently this time because of the current backlog. The Swiss Made Vantage will be shipping first, approximately in the October/November 2007 timeframe. In the past the custom versions have shipped first but that isn’t possible given the number of product launches planned for this year. The custom Vantage will begin shipping roughly in January of 2008, which is where our current lead times place new custom watch orders at the moment. As a result the pre-order discount for the custom Vantage is higher than for the Swiss Made version. The custom versions will be scheduled together with other custom watches so the lead times might change quickly (especially when the Sea Fighter ordering opens later this month.)
The length of the pre-order period will depend upon overall demand and the beginning of a new phase for Mk II. Demand is a factor because of the industry wide shortage of mechanical movements for the foreseeable future.
Starting this winter we will begin a new phase in the continuing development of the Mk II brand; print advertising and an increased focus on marketing. Look for our first ad in WatchTime’s Nov/Dec issue!
Status
I fallen a little behind at the moment on e-mails and shipments of watches. The movements didn’t arrive early enough for me to finish any watches last week since I had to review them to make sure there weren’t any hidden problems. Watch shipments will resume by the middle of this week.
The Vantage pages will go up sometime tomorrow. I also spent quite a bit of time over the last week finalizing details for the ordering pages, taking photos, and reviewing the bracelet samples. The pictures of the Vantage that will be posted tomorrow are what the mass production will look like with one important exception. The preview of the new hands that were commissioned for this project won’t be ready until the 3 week of this month so I substituted some Stick and Ball hands and the sweep seconds hand off the Sea Fighter. Its close enough for now but I didn’t want anyone to think I have lost my attention to detail 
The one spot of bad news is that the SKX007 sapphires are going to be out of stock for at least another two months. The Monster sapphires are still in stock.
The Sea Fighter pages I hope to have up in the next week or so…
Movements are here!
Big sigh of relief! ETA delivered my 2824-2 movements earlier this week. I will finally be able to send components again to Switzerland for assembly of Blackwaters and begin offering pre-built Stingrays in about two month’s time. Much of the industry is currently “on vacation” for another two weeks or so. There are a few companies, like ETA, that don’t formally observe the summer break but the vast majority of firms are practically shut down for 2-4 weeks each summer.
The pre-order of the Sea Fighter and the Vantage will open in a few days to a week from now. I am working on the ordering pages at the moment and now that the movements are here a huge varible in the production schedule for the next couple of months has finally been removed. The Vantage should begin shipping around the end of October. The photos that will be posted in a few days of the 1016 homage will actually be temporarily using the older Stick and Ball handset and not the new hands as they aren’t ready at this time. The Sea Fighter, initially shipping as a pre-built homage to the Blancpain BUND diver using a 2824, should begin delivery before the end of the year. A 2836-2 version of the Sea Fighter should be available around January of 2008.
Vantage - First pics of the Mk II 1016 homage
I am pleased to post the first pics of a project that has been in the works for almost a year. I started sketching out the case design, which is based on the vintage Rolex 1016, last summer while I was visiting my sister-in-law out in San Francisco. Here is a short list of the specifications for this watch that should debut in the early Fall this year:
Diameter: 39 mm
Water resistance: 200 meters
Movement: ETA 2824-2, Elabore grade
Crystal: Domed sapphire
Strap: Blackwater natural rubber strap or Mk II solid-end link bracelet
The case, Mk II reference “39″16 aka the “Vantage”, is compatible with all of the QUAD10 dials and hands. Shown below is the GS date dial with Type 53 hands and a stock date wheel. The railroad tracks on the GS dial make the watch feel smaller than it should with the new 1016 style dial. A new 369 date dial and “Mercedes-style” handset are currently in the works specifically for this watch but won’t be ready for a preview until probably the end of July.
The following is a better shot of the bracelet:
The bracelet features the following:
- Solid links with screw pins
- Solid-end links
- Mk II signed adjustable safety clasp
- Heavy guage milled deployant arm
Regarding Pre-orders:
Its a bit premature to be talking about this but I am going to address it because I know I am going to get quite a few e-mails asking about the option. Given the anticipated demand for the version with the new 369 date dial and Mercedes-style hands we will be taking pre-orders only for a Swiss Assembled/Made version of the Vantage. The other reason we are only going to take pre-orders for the Swiss Made version is because I don’t want to see my backlog get ridiculously long, which it is already approaching. Custom versions will be available but customers will have to go through the normal ordering process. As soon as we are able to post pics of the watch with the dial and handset that are currently in the works we will begin taking deposits. I hope to be able to post pics of the watch with the 369 date dial and hands by the end of July.
With the introduction of the Mk II Vantage the QUAD10 will be pulled from the line-up in July to undergo a re-design.