Less than a year ago, a Singapore-Malaysia-based watch company launched a sleek analog-looking smartwatch. Their creation, the BOLDR Voyage, made waves across the world, and the Kickstarter campaign was backed in less than 48 hours.
Now the team is back with a second BOLDR watch. And this time, their campaign was backed in 16 hours! To date, the pledges are over thrice the initial goal of CAD 25,000, with 19 days still left to the campaign.
Unlike its predecessor, the BOLDR Journey is a normal watch—normal in the sense that it’s not a smartwatch. But far be it for you to think that it’s just like any other timepiece.
Committed to integrity, the BOLDR team has put in equal amount of creativity and effort into ensuring the Journey is an authentic handmade quality timepiece. And it follows in the theme of the Voyage.
“What makes this watch special is how it blends the old and the new, vintage style with modern technology. It’s design is inspired by vintage airplane dials, but is powered internally by an advanced meca-quartz movement by Seiko, making it truly one-of-a-kind,” Travis Tan explained in the press release.
Travis and his childhood friend Leon Leong are the duo behind TRAVISLEON Watch Company, the initial entity that had released the BOLDR Voyage. But now they’ve come together with the rest of the Voyage team and are under a new banner – the BOLDR Supply Company. They seek to build “a lifestyle microbrand watch company that creates watches for the modern-day adventurers”.
BOLDR Journey: Limited Edition Timepieces
The Journey boasts these elements:
- Aviator-inspired design – Available in three colour themes, different textures and layering are used to bring out the details of the watch face. The numerals are inspired by those used in vintage aviation instruments.
- Mineral glass lens – The domed shape of the scratch-resistant lens adds to the aviator look, while also helps to create a “soft, even tone of light”.
- Leather strap – Premium calf leather with matching stitching. The second stretch goal will throw in an extra silicone strap.
- A hybrid mechanism – The Seiko VK64 Meca-Quartz Movement is a hybrid of quartz and mechanical movement. “This gives the watch a mechanical feel, while still containing a quartz crystal so you never miss a tick.”
- Limited edition artwork – And to make your Journey timepiece even more authentic, the caseback of each watch will feature a unique limited-edition art piece by famed Malaysian tattoo artist Kevin Tan.
The Kickstarter campaign will end on July 3. Production is set to start immediately after, with the first of deliveries to be shipped out in September.
One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
The quick success of this new line really originated from the Voyage campaign of last year. Voyage’s campaign had broken grounds, what with its goal met four times over long before the campaign were to end. The idea of an analog-functioning watch with features of a smartwatch drew the excited interest of many.
But then, suddenly, the BOLDR team cancelled the campaign. It was a tough decision on their part. But basically they were faced with sharp increase in costs due to certifications and unforeseen changes related to their smart module.
In their update, they had explained, “In the end, we decided to be honest and not risk the trust our backers have placed in us… We do not wish to be in a situation where we’re unable to fulfill your pledges, nor delay what we’ve promised. We wish to be 100% sure that we can deliver what we’ve promised, that being a creator’s responsibility and commitment.
“We had to make some tough decisions recently – but at the end of the day we decided that we do not want to compromise on the quality of our product, nor change the features or prices we promised.”
It’s not easy for anyone to come down so fast after such a high from all the buzz. But because they stuck to honesty and transparency, the BOLDR team got something better in return—respect. The backers then knew that these people are trustworthy. So it’s little wonder that their BOLDR Journey campaign is doing well. Kudos also to the BOLDR team for not letting one setback stop them from continuing their passion for quality timepieces.
All we got to say is: good job for the hard work put in, and we wish you the best with this and future creations!
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