About this project
Wingman Watches: Classic Aviation Design with a Modern Touch
$117,966
405
We are a small collection of military pilots who have one goal in mind; provide a quality built watch inspired by vintage military aviation at an affordable price. Wingman Watches started when we were looking to purchase a watch with an historic aviation design and modern feel, without paying for the huge markups found in most modern aviation watches. With a love of all things flying and a very specific attention to detail, we started down the path of creating our own design, and the Wingman was the end result. We’ve spent countless hours working on a design that combines the true history of aviation time pieces with a modern style and sophistication. Now this is where you come in. The design and production lines are all complete, the prototypes are made, and the manufacturer is standing by to start production. All we need is your help to fund our first production run of Wingman Watches.
When we were discussing what our T-shirt design should be, we only had 2 requirements:
- Have a simple design
- Make it ridiculously comfortable
We've accomplished both with this 4.3 oz, 100% combed ring spun cotton shirt. This is seriously one of the most comfortable T-shirts we've ever worn. You won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Leah and Rittner for agreeing to model our shirts. Check them out on IG @leahwardfitness and @jacksonritt, or search facebook for Leah Ward and Jackson Ritt.
Our friends at Squadron Posters were generous enough to custom design a piece of art specifically for the launch of our new watches. The combination of a clean, dark design and the wrapped canvas makes for a subtle yet powerful piece of art. The stretched canvas wrap is 16"x20" and ships ready to hang.
Each one of your Wingman Watches will come in a hand made wooden box, made by a local family craftsman business in a small town in Utah, and specifically designed for this watch. We try to support locally owned businesses as much as possible.
When we set out to create our watches, we knew we wanted to include design elements from historic aviation timepieces. In our research we came to understand how close the ties are between aviation and wrist watches. One of the earliest wrist watches was invented by a young aviator. He was so frustrated with having to pull out his pocket watch at each turn, that he took a piece of leather and strapped it to his wrist, thus creating the first aviation watch. This story drove us to use a leather strap instead of the more common metal, canvas, or rubber straps seen in a lot of aviation watches today. We also wanted to draw on the iconic watches of WWII. They were clean, simple, and had easy to read faces. These are just a few of the inspirations we used to create The Wingman.
While taking product photos, we recognized that each of our watches had it's own distinct character, and this led to their naming. The Patriot fit in with pretty much anything that said USA or Air Force, or any version of that. Naming it was easy. The Defender seemed to fit in with a rougher crowd. Knives, guns, flashlights, it was like another tool that you'd use to protect. The Classic, on the other hand, fit well with the older planes. It liked to sit on the wing of a P-51, and was at home in the cockpit of a Spitfire.
In terms of the namesake of our company, "Wingman" came from a couple different areas. First, and most obvious, is that we are military pilots, and the concept of a wingman is inherent in our blood. In flying, the wingman is there to provide mutual support. They are a force multiplier (sometimes), and someone you need to be able to count on to watch your six. If all goes well, they are the silent professional on your wing, doing their job without fault. In a sense, this concept extends to your watch as well. It is there to support you, and it needs to be something you can always count on. It is the silent partner on your wrist, always doing its job.
When it comes to manufacturing, we have pulled out all the stops. Our partners at Smith & Bradley are world renowned for the quality of their watches, and we've spared no expense when it comes to designing the Wingman. We source all our parts from around the world and assemble them right here in the U.S.A. All of our watches come with a 12 month warranty that protects against manufacturing defects.
Our leather straps are 22mm and handmade right here in the USA. They are the most comfortable bands we've ever worn.
Movement: Miyota OS20.
- Japanese movement built by Citizen watch company.
- 3 positioned chronograph, which is a fancy term for “stopwatch”, but when used in flying or driving for that matter, helps you determine speed, distance, etc.
- 3 sub-dials. 60 sec, 60 min, and 24 hrs.
- Pull/Push crown used to set the time and date and to adjust chronograph settings.
Case: 44mm wide, 10mm thick 316 stainless steel, comes in PVD black as well.
- At 10mm this is incredibly thin, especially for a 44mm sized watch. This gives it a sleek, low profile on your wrist, unlike many of the 44mm+ sized watches that look big and bulky.
- The case back is screw on stainless steel, which increases the thickness a fraction more than the snap on backs, but provides a lot more protection and strength.
Hands: Luminescent markers on the minute and hour hands, as well as on all 3 sub-dials.
Strap: Genuine oil tanned padded leather made in the USA.
- 22mm wide.
- 3 different colors (black, brown, and chestnut) with contrast stitching.
- Water resistant with a stainless steel buckle.
Sapphire Crystal Window: Used in most high-end watches, it provides a much higher scratch resistance than the more common mineral glass.
- Hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale.
- Only surpassed by diamond in terms of hardness.
Water Resistance: By no means is this a diving watch, but it is water resistant to 100 meters (Note. Not water proof), though not recommended to spend a prolonged amount of time in the water due to the leather strap.
Other internal components: Top and bottom rockers are 100% stainless steel, and they run through a stainless steel routing into the movement.
- A lot of cheaper watches will use a plastic router that breaks easily.
- The stainless steel adds an additional cost but increases the strength by an order of magnitude.
Manufacturer: Hands down one of the best manufacturers in America today. Smith & Bradley has built a reputation that is surpassed by very few in the United States, and they are nothing but professionals.
Check us out on Facebook at Wingman Watches, on Instagram @WingmanWatches, or on Twitter @WingmanWatches.
All clips are creative commons or public domain. To view the entire videos that the individual clips were taken from, use the below links. All credit goes to the original creators.
Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode
Original Videos: https://vimeo.com/nicholaskurtz/videos; http://www.wpclipart.com/world_history/the_hand_of_man/wright_brothers_first_flight_1903.png; https://vimeo.com/124244671; https://vimeo.com/104818804; https://vimeo.com/104818804; https://vimeo.com/121699047; https://vimeo.com/107477914; https://vimeo.com/107477914; https://vimeo.com/59640300; https://vimeo.com/61242920; https://vimeo.com/123841760; www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdSMCMyASXE; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7_eb1hr9Y; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBIBbMt-psY
Risks and challenges
With any project, there are always risks associated with manufacturers not being able to deliver products on time, or design decisions causing the project to be delayed or halted all together. We’ve minimized these risks by funding a prototype production run of our product to ensure that all design elements are finalized and the manufacturer is completely ready to produce our product.
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Funding period
- (30 days)