My 2nd Kickstarter: A watch made of MARBLE

Hey Core77 heads!
I am a 28 year old industrial designer in Philadelphia - graduated in 2012, then in 2013 turned my undergrad thesis into a small wooden watch brand. We raised 75k and my life effectively completely changed. I’ve been able to travel and explore manufacturing first hand, open a small studio, and hire 1 employee. It’s been wild managing the product development as well as the business growth - things like line sheets, wholesale accounts to manage, payroll software, etc!!

Anyway, I’ve finally launched my 2nd line and would love some input and opinions.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/analogwatchco/the-mason-watch-an-innovative-solid-marble-timepie

We’ve hit our goal and our on our way, but as business now - things such as business tax, employee wage tax, insurance, etc. all come into play and we really want to exceed 150k. I had been really anxious leading up to this, worried that, the first time around it was a fluke… that I wasn’t a “real designer” until I was able to execute this for a 2nd time and reproduce something that worked at least once.

Feedback is appreciated, from price point to language. Thanks everyone!

Core77 Boards usually aren’t too happy about designers having there first and only post be about there kick starter. So hopefully you can post a bit more info so it can be a productive thread and not just an advertisement.


Watches look great by the way. Simple yet iconic. Not totally sold on the strap attachment (seems like it could slide around easily. But see the manufacturing benefit. (Cheaper strap and case cost)

Only think thats really lacking to Me is the Crown. Could have easily done something a bit more iconic/bold. Seems overlooked in terms scale and impact.

Few comments on specs:

ATM rating? Assuming not even 3ATM as sealing the crown area seems difficult. But might be nice to call out on your page.
Strap Length? Usually nice to call out min/max circumference. As the length of the strap is almost useless to consumer. 140mm to 190mm (5.5" to 7.5") for example.



Care to talk about the process after design a bit? We often don’t get too much into that here. But what was some big challenges you faced that you didn’t really consider your first tine around and have remedied in your 2nd kickstarter? Taxes, Fulfillment, Costumer Service, Figuring out Margin? QC? Finding PO’s etc to anything you completely overlooked the first time

Resources that helped you transition from the design part to the company part? Curious as to how your view of the design process has evolved in the early steps of creating brand/company.

Lets see some process. Hod did you arrive at these forms and materials? Show us the steps.

More on the design: Curious as if you played around with adding a more aggressive locking feature to the Strap so the case does not slide around as easily. (I see some tab things, but not sure how they work)

Notice how the Stone watch has a small lip and uses the same lug design as yours.




Did you play around with rounding the edges on the marble any bit? How prone to chipping in the shaper edges? What happens if I nick it on a door? Not talking as extreme of a radius as the Giuliano Mazzuoli Carrara. But still curious as to how the watch case will age.

Modern Man is perplexed by this question to Lorenzo_Buffa about how these forms and materials were arrived at.

Clearly, the forms are derived as extruded circular and hexagonal cross-sections appropriated by Lorenzo_Buffa. Circles and hexagons are shapes of Euclidean geometry that appear in nature. No man can be credited with the invention of the hexagon and circle.

Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals naturally formed and long predate humans. Bronze, brass, steel alloys, nickel and chrome plating and glass were created long before Lorenzo_Buffa’s joined date at 9:14 am on June 22nd, 2015.

Perhaps, you’re inquiring about the order of commands Lorenzo_Buffa used to model these forms in his chosen 3D CAD platform and how created and applied the materials in the rendering app?

I would be in for a green marble version.

I could not care less about your product, as it is offered in KickStarter. As a designer, reading a discussion forum, I would like to see the progression of the product from it’s conception.

How did you arrive at the end product (the “process” yo is speaking of)?. i.e. I would much prefer to see hand drawn sketches of off the cuff ideas, wood or foam mocks ups, wrist band ideas that were discarded (and the reasons they were)… . you have some of this on your K/S page. Did you consider posting it here?

Apologies for my abruptness, but this is a Discussion forum, not an advertising billboard.

Three weeks after the original (and only) post, and no response by the OP; apparently not too interested in “feedback”.