The Best New Watches on the Market Are From... Kickstarter?

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Sure, a Rolex makes a great statement.

But to truly stand out, you may want to consider Kickstarter for your next watch purchase.

As far as timepieces go, the crowdfunding site inspires unbridled creativity … mixed, conversely, with a reverence toward vintage tickers (usually in the sweet spot of the 1950s and ‘60s).

And above all, they’re just kind of fun.

So, herein: the 7 best watches currently funding on Kickstarter.

All under four figures. All extremely creative. And all extremely limited editions with a tight deadline to buy.

For race fans: Goodspeed PETROL

Godspeed PETROL

If you’re a watch fan and racing movies from the ‘60s and ‘70s are your bag — and you can’t shell out, say, $17 million or so for Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona — go with the debut timepiece from Goodspeed. Inspired by vintage racing watches but made with modern components, these sleek chronographs feature a high-contrast red second hand that measures seconds lapsed when the chrono is started, a left subdial that registers minutes lapsed and a right subdial that displays your current 24-hour time. ($169, ends Nov. 21)

For globalists: Xeric Atlasphere

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A post shared by Xeric Watches (@xericwatches) on Nov 7, 2018 at 10:11am PST

As in, actual inspiration from 18th-century globemakers. The Atlasphere features minutes displayed via an orbiting moon and luminous hands and north/south “poles” that display the date and secondary time zone, all over a bas-relief with latitude and longitude lines. Bonus: Straps crafted from Horween leather. ($199, ends Nov. 30)

For making cars: Huet Brothers

Huet Brothers

Dutch brothers Paul and Tino Huet love fast cars and classic watches. To build their dream sports car — an HB Coupe — the pair needs help. How you can: Pre-ordering their HB Benefactor Chronograph 2018, a Swiss made timepiece with “concepts from already-made HB cars.” Available in two sizes (40 and 42.5mm) and two straps (get the Sport model’s black strap with red accents), with a steering wheel engraved on the back. ($340, ends Nov. 15)

For vintage dive pieces: Meraud

Meraud

Founded by a vintage watch enthusiast from Belgium, these Swiss movement timepieces evoke dive watches of the ‘50s and ‘60s. With 200 meters of water resistance but a thickness of only 12.5mm, this is a sporty and elegant timepiece. ($725, ends Nov. 17)

For winos: Décantheure

Décantheure

An automatic watch for … wine lovers? Let’s explain: With a twist of the crown, you can track the amount of time it takes to decant 30 different varieties of wine. Fun fact: The back is made from a transparent green Champagne bottle. Hey, they reach four million euros in funding, and your watch serves as a lottery ticket to one of their first production cars. ($184, ends Nov. 19)

For none more black: Chronoteca

Chronoteca

“The blackest watch ever made,” they say. The coating on this Swiss automatic self-winding watch is apparently crafted from the darkest man-made substance ever, absorbing 99.9% of light. Plus, it’s scratch-resistant. ($457, Nov. 30)

For DIY enthusiasts: Innovitime

Innovitime

Here, you can customize the watch (and packaging) with any art or design you want, via an online visual configurator. ($79, Nov. 14)

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