u/Competitive-Force1

Up front, I'll say this: I have no idea how this suggestion will land, and am happy to receive attaboys and brickbats either way.

But hear me out: the most useless 'feature' of my otherwise well-loved Essence Space Ghost is the date window. I have to take my glasses off, and peer closely under the right lighting, to make out the number.

A 'cyclops' window would improve on that.

It's a different manufacturing cost consideration than adding gems to a bezel or dial-face, but arguably a simpler and cheaper one, amortized over time. (Engineered once, batch-manufactured 100 at a time...?) And a chargeable extra at "Bespoke" pricing, at least until the initial investment is paid off?

https://preview.redd.it/9p9lupfnk9jh1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=a35cf91498153f7fff87d35b47ee7645a9654be2

Well, that kinda came outta nowhere -- it answers a question that I'm guessing not too many *current* Formex customers have actually asked of them.

But it also suggests an indirect response to the question of whether Formex will develop a dress watch, in the near-term. Apparent answer: not directly; instead, Formex will follow various mid-luxe Swiss target brands (Tudor, Longines, Tag Heuer, etc), and provide opportunities to overlay precious stones onto established designs.

And, true confession here, it's not as if there's no such market:

https://preview.redd.it/1507nm14p9jh1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81a749fd5102d349898ddbe0ce4241bd4c6d950d

That was a recent gift to my wife for our wedding anniversary (shown on my wrist, just before I gave it to her).

https://preview.redd.it/o5fhp90jl9hh1.jpg?width=3012&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67cd4b2455a7d12116ac14a1baadbb544a753f2a

(Oops, scratch that far far away bit, apparently the meteorite source for the dial face came from within our solar system.) Though it is still very old, and intriguing to me.

For me, it'll be an alternate workday watch (it has a much lighter colorway than the Seiko I currently mostly use for that).

First impressions are very good: the build and finish quality are comparable to the Seiko (not a low bar; it's not a lower-end Seiko), and the bracelet is as comfortable as all the online reviews I'd read about Formex suggested. And the main features of the dial / colorway are working out exactly as I'd hoped: a bit subtle, but still very readable for a workday watch.

Except for the date window. That's pretty useless, i.e. it's tiny and the contrast within it is poor (the magnified image above exaggerates its readability). I get that it's not intended to be a Rolex Cyclops, and that the feature kinda came for free with the selected underlying movement, but its implementation seems like an afterthought. (IMHO, either do it right or lose it completely.)

Got the Swatch ESTA rejection message overnight. Not unexpected of course, given the odds, but mildly deflating.

And made so much worse, from a Swatch marketing perspective, by its framing:

"Your ESTA status: DECLINED" (with zero explanatory context) comes across as a "**** you" to me, as one of many non-flippers who went through a 2 AM lineup in front of a Swatch store for a previous iteration of the series.

I get that they had to make the result unambiguous, but I wonder if they really thought through about how such a message would land with (now former) fans of the series.

"Future interest in Swatch: Zero."

With the Aria, they've launched a new thin-case form-factor suited to just one known movement: the Formex version of the Horoge K1. Which Formex wants to claim as its "manufacture" movement (a bit of a stretch, but the Formex version does have a unique and better pinion gear mechanism).

Logically, that alliance almost certainly is already contractually locked in for further development; the question is what Formex do with it. A mildly-lower-end steel version, in new colorways and bigger batch sizes., seems likely, but I suspect the pricepoint will disappoint longtime adherents of the brand.

Meanwhile, will they want to move even further upmarket with the platform, and launch a proper dress-watch from it? Or, some complications?

I'm new to the watch buying bug, let alone the economics of micro-brand watch production. But my impression is that many of the standard off-the-shelf calibers (Sellita et al) relied on by micro-brands come in multiple levels of accuracy (incl. external certification at the high-end) and power reserve durations, but are dimensionally identical.

So why do so many microbrands, even well-established ones, offer multiple dial colors, but only 1 caliber choice, for a given watch design?

Just 24 hours ago, I passed on ordering a 'hot' microbrand limited edition, that apparently sold out within an hour online, because as attractive as the watch was, the calibre was pretty basic. I just couldn't pull the trigger on the look alone.

But I would have happily paid more ($300 - 500 more) for the same watch with better accuracy and power reserve.

I'm new to Tudor. I just bought a nice one for my wife, and was impressed by the quality, and got curious about which ones might work for me.

The new BB Ceramic is a good match for my taste, but a non-micro-adjustable bracelet is a deal-breaker. Other brands (e.g. Formex) have pulled it off; when might Tudor come to the table?

I'm aware any answer today will be speculative. I'm nonetheless interested in the expectations of longer-term Tudor buyers, based on how they've seen other models evolve over time.

I'm new to Tudor. I just bought a nice one for my wife, and was impressed by the quality, and got curious about which ones might work for me.

The new BB Ceramic is a good match for my taste, but a non-micro-adjustable bracelet is a deal-breaker. Other brands (e.g. Formex) have pulled it off; when might Tudor come to the table?

I'm aware any answer today will be speculative. I'm nonetheless interested in the expectations of longer-term Tudor buyers, based on how they've seen other models evolve over time.

Another 150 pieces on offer, with a useful upgrade to the Sellita SW200-2. So, now a 65-hour power reserve, up from 41 for the initial 2025 batch.

The original reviewed well in 'watchworld', and the owner comments on this forum seem to back them up. And apparently the 2025 lot sold out in 72 hours.

Comments? I'm genuinely torn on pulling the trigger, but partially for considerations outside the merits of this specific release. And, the likely reality that a similar opportunity will arise again next year -- Formex has never characterized the Space Ghost as a once-only release, just a limited-quantities-per-year one.