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Kickstarter has become something of a mix of old and new as it has grown. When the site first launched it was full of new ideas by new companies, including watches. Over time established brands, whether done so on Kickstarter or not, have taken to the crowd funding method just to get their next item into production. Browsing through watches on Kickstarter the past year has been a mixed bag of brand new start-ups as well as established brands. Tactico Watches is in the later category having been around for a few years now, but for their latest endeavor, the Geomaster GMT, have turned to the crowd funding platform.
The mission of the Tactico brand are watches inspired by historic military models, whether they be divers, pilots or infantry watches. The brand’s first two releases, the TC1 (sea) and TC2 (land) are sold out with a limited, three variation run of the TC3 (air) (the TC3, TC3.2 and TC3.3) still available for order. Tactico has also done limited commissioned watches as well.
Their latest piece, the Geomaster GMT is based off of the work they have done on the TC3 line of watches, specifically the TC3.2. The case, hands, movement and most of the dial elements are the same. In fact, it’s practically the same watch. Ignoring that for a moment, the Geomaster is housed in a 43mm x 48mm case with a height of 13.7mm and 22mm lugs. The 48mm length should make it comfortable for most wrists without hanging over on smaller sizes. The case is constructed of 316L stainless steel and comes in either a sandblasted or PVD finish. The watch has a sapphire crystal and a screw down caseback; the two crowns are push-in only, not screw down.
The movement in the Geomaster is the ETA 2893-2 automatic movement. This movement has 21 jewels, hacking function, beats at 28,800 vph and has an adjustable second time zone. In the case of the Geomaster this is a second rotating dial underneath the main dial with the second timezone indicated by a red triangle at 3 o’clock. It can be set independently of the center hour hand to track a second time zone. The cut-out for the 24 hour dial is fairly large, spanning from one o’clock to five o’clock, somewhat cluttering up the dial. The other side of the dial has the Tactico logo at nine o’clock. and 3, 6, 9 and 12 hour markers. Also present is an inner rotating bezel which has been displayed as used in timing. The hands are an interesting combination of three different styles. The minute hand is nearly all lumed white except for the center and end being black, the hour hand is hollow with the frame lumed and the seconds hand black with an airplane style point on the end.
The watch will ship with a 2 year international warranty and a kit containing nylon and leather straps, a brochure, strap tool and extra spring bars. The Geomaster is nearing its Kickstarter goal of €25,000 with the funding ending on September 26, 2015. Additionally the release is limited to 88 pieces. There are still a few left at the lower price level of €789 (~ $882 USD) with the next pledge level at €1189 (~ $1330 USD). To get the full rundown and pledge, should you be interested, click on over to the Tactico Geomaster Kickstarter page now.
