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Zelos Watches is among the number of upstart brands that launched their presence on Kickstarter and has continued their business using the crowd funding platform. We covered their first launch, the Helmsman and reviewed the watch as well. In the fall they successfully funded their second watch, the Chroma, a minimalistic automatic watch. Now Zelos is back for round three with their Abyss 3000M Bronze campaign.
The project revisits the diver platform they first used with the Helmsman. In fact there are definite Helmsman design cues found in the Abyss. Both watches have bronze cases and use a dual-crown set-up for an inner rotating bezel. The watches also appear to share the same style hands as well. Things depart a bit from here. The Abyss 3000M Bronze initially looks like a beast, and in some aspects it is, but it comes in at a very wearable 43mm in diameter and 51.5mm from lug to lug. It will be hard pressed to fit under your shirt cuff, however, as it measures 18mm in height. The 9 o’clock side of the case has a helium escape valve, while the other has the dual DLC sandblasted crowns.
The top crown works the inner rotating bezel while the bottom is for time functions. The inner bezel is not the only timing bezel on the watch, however, as a 120 click uni-directional rotating diver bezel is also present. This can allow for different timings or even a back-up should the outer bezel be bumped and changed. Speaking of crowns, each has five gaskets to ensure a strong waterproof seal.
The sapphire crystal on the Abyss 3000M Bronze is a massive 7mm thick and double domed to reduce distortion over the multi-level dial. The dial uses a similar layered build as the Helmsman without the added textures. All the markers on the Abyss are coated in Superluminova as are the hands and the triangle on the outer bezel. The movement inside is the same as the Helmsman, the Citizen Miyota 9015 that many of us have grown to love. The movement is encased behind the 4mm thick double o-ring screw down case back.
The Abyss 3000M Bronze looks like a true tool watch; the design is functional and attractive but not flashy. The watch is set to ship with both a leather strap and rubber divers strap as well as a carrying roll. The dial will be available in blue, green, brown and black, with a second black dial model with a black DLC bezel. Each variation will have a run of 500 pieces should funding be successful. The initial pricing starts at $599 AUD / €390 EUR / $490 USD and goes up to $699 AUD / €460 EUR / $575 USD. The funding goal for the project is $30,000 AUD ($24,415 USD) and the campaign closes January 28, 2015. If you want in head over to the Abyss 3000M Bronze Kickstarter page and get in now.
