Please tell me a little about yourselves. Where do you come from, where do you live, what are you doing a single day, your hobbies?
I am from Basel, Switzerland. I am living in Aesch (small town near the “big” city) and in Shenzhen, been travelling between the two countries several times the past years. That is due to my Job.
Every day starts the same, a cup of coffee and then work.
My hobbies are tennis, swimming, travelling, art and food (I love to try out different things all the time, while having sushi which is one of my absolute favorites).
When did the idea for your own watch brand come up? What was the trigger?!
I was selling watches for other brands since 2017 and helped several brand with their sales strategy etc. and at some point I was thinking, why do I put so much effort into others works. I should focus on my own visions. So I started to plan. That was back in 2018.
Tell me some specifications about the watch!
40 mm case diameter, 46 mm lug to lug with unusual 22 mm lug width. Comes with total 4 different movements (Japan Made NH35A, NH38A and Swiss Made STP1-11 with date and no date), Lumicast indices (in short: high precise 3D fully lumed ceramic parts with a higher lumepigment density than other applications hence the amazing glow effect and longevity), and a lot more.
How was the name and the logo created and what exactly does it mean?
BASEL WATCH CO. or BWC wasn’t doing it for me. Felt a bit too boring, no dynamic. I am a person who likes history, magic and mythical things, I visited many museums around the world (Louvre, Forbidden City, British Museum etc.) and started to think more.
There are different dark stories about Basel, such as Witch Hunting, Animal Courts/Trials or the Dance of the death (Art piece that shows the death dancing with all kinds of social ranks from King to Priest to normal worker).
The logo shows a styled W for WICKED WATCH CO. and its shaped like a fire branding that was used in old times.
How did you come up with this design?
The design is inspired from the Fifty Fathoms by Blanc Pain and then I put my own design features into it. It would be understood as a homage to the legendary diver from them but with my influence.
Are you making the watches or you hired a professional watchmaker?
We are a small start up company (family company) and we do not have our own machines to produce. So we trust on different suppliers for the watch parts.
For example: the Lumicast is done in cooperation with RC TRITEC AG and Les Cadraniers de Genève SA, the sapphire for our SWISS MADE watch is manufactured by SEBAL SA, a major sapphire supplier for the Swiss watch industry and in business since 1978. Just to name a few of our manufacturing partners.
The assembly is done by a friend’s father who has experience of more than 40 years with watches and assembled/regulated himself over 300 VALJOUX 7750 movements, worked for OMEGA, RICHEMONT etc. We support small local business.
We are not using a trading company to produce our watches, we have sourced all part suppliers by ourselves. This gives us a flexibility which most others probably can’t do. It also assures our high quality standard which we can communicate directly with each manufacturer. It is more work, but I think the result speaks for itself.
Are you planning to make other types of watches as well or only dive watches?
Yes, the next new watch will be a none-diver.
As I Know your Kickstarter campaign was funded in 1 hour! How does it feel like? What were you thinking before the start of the campaign?
After failing on Kickstarter first time in 2019 and now this amazing support. It was a very good feeling and a confirmation that we are on the right way with WICKED WATCH CO.
Before I pressed the button GO LIVE on Kickstarter together with my better half, I was superb nervous and had a heart beat at +150 etc. Too many thoughts in my head… Now I am a bit more relaxed.
What do I or my readers have to do to get a watch from you as soon as possible?
Support either our Kickstarter or pre order on our website www.wickedwatch.ch after the campaign. Kickstarter early birds are 249 CHF for NH35A, 399 CHF for STP1-11 and
pre order prices will be 299 CHF and 449 CHF.
And what do you want for the future?
That our brand grows and my family stays healthy.
Do you want to mention anything else?
I am no native English speaker, so please forgive me for any grammar mistake.
There are some changes from the prototype to the production version and I think most people like them very much. Such as the WICKED disappears from the Dial and will be replaced with a lumed W logo.
Also the anchor will be replaced with the W logo to unify the look of the watch. The prototypes were already more than 1 year old and we didn’t want to produce new ones for these “small” changes and better save the money for other parts.
And as my Kickstarter supporters already know, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail or Facebook.
Thank you for your interview!
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