We finally received the Kalahari prototypes!
After an extremely long wait, we have 8 pieces of the updated legendary desert field watch.
It has been a rollercoaster of emotion since they arrived. I was initially a bit down because of the couple of details we got wrong, but after a day I came to realise what an incredible timepiece the Kalahari is, and was reassured that all the flaws in the prototypes are easily fixed. After all, the whole point of doing prototypes is to test and verify a design.
When I put it on my wrist, I instantly see what so many people love about this design. It’s rugged, tactical, bold and functional. It’s got a lot of detail, but not unnecessary detail.
Other than the movement, nothing is stock here, and although the Kalahari is not completely new, there were several changes to the design, plus we are working with new parts suppliers compared to the last Kalahari.
Getting the sand colour right has been a challenge. It’s not there yet, but it’s close. The fact that the lume also glows green further complicates the process. There is lume on different components from different suppliers that all need to look the same. We have now isolated a formula that will get us much closer to the sandy colour we are after.
For the lume junkies out there, the Kalahari does not disappoint. Not only is the power reserve disk luminous, but the date disk too. The numbers on the black disk and the background on the full-lume sand version.
There is, of course, lume on the crowns, and the numerals on the black inner rotating bezel are luminous.
One of the big improvements on this version is the inner rotating bezel. The action is smooth and precise. It doesn’t have any play once you screw it back down.
I love how the new power reserve grill fills up when you wind or wear the watch. It adds a lot of depth and shadow to a dial that would otherwise be quite flat. But actually, when you look closer, there are so many details. The thick layers of painted lume, the sandwich dial cut-out batons, and the recessed date disk. We are also adding a sand texture to the inner circle of the dial, tying back to the source inspiration of the Kalahari.
The straps we’ve chosen are a perfect fit, and once we get the dial colour right, it’s going to be a killer combination👌. The primary strap is a sand canvas with our chunky bead-blasted buckle. The secondary strap is a sand-coloured hemp strap that has great texture and feels like it came off the wrist of Laurence of Arabia.
We are still working on the case back, so I won’t share any pics of that, but it will be a nice surprise, especially since this will be a limited edition.
When will you be able to get your hands on one? We are finalising the tweaks to make for final production. Assuming there are no delays, it will be a 4-month wait. Because the prototypes were not quite right, we won’t be sending them out for reviews or for photography. We will do that with the production versions in October.
We’ll keep you posted on how it progresses, talk some more about the details over the next few months, and share pricing info closer to the time.
For now though, enjoy these quick shots I took with my phone. Feel free to leave a comment on this article on our blog.
Kia kaha.
Mike
