Inside The Vanacci Watch

Last week, we talked about getting Carbon off the ground and the challenges it posed. The Carbon campaign was a real eye-opener for us: we've all got backgrounds in some form of design and manufacturing but the learning curve was very steep.

So, moving onto the next project would be a breeze, right?

Rule Number One: Never Say 'It'll Be Easy'. It Never Is. 

After some deliberation, we decided upon a watch for our next design. We got the initial designs done and started speaking with suppliers for movements, the watch face and various other components.

The watch face was a happy accident. The shimmering dichroic effect was achieved purely by chance. We'd initially wanted the face to be a rich teal, and it is, but the way the face changes in the light was a game changer for us. Full steam ahead with that.

Secondly, the strap had to be carbon leather. It was the linchpin of the Carbon campaign and we wanted it to run throughout the entire range of designs we intended to put out. However, the GT weave was just a bit too 'large' for a watch strap. We had to find something smaller, more appropriate for this timepiece.

This is where we happened upon Mach. This variant of carbon leather we had specially made, just for the watches. If you have a Mach strap or Mach wallet, or even a Spirit from the original Stealth range, you'll be familiar with this luxurious, micro-weave carbon leather.

So, we had the face, the strap and the bezel. Now, we had to choose a movement. After much research, we decided to stick to our European roots and go Swiss. We were certain of the accuracy and function of Swiss Ronda movements and we continue to be impressed with them.

It took months and months to get the watch design together. This was our first large scale back-and-forth with both domestic and international suppliers. Sometimes a reply would take weeks. 

Despite some uncertainty, when the very first watches arrived, we were overawed. It took some doing, but we managed, with very little knowledge on watch building, to create a watch from scratch that went on to be our third successful Kickstarter campaign.