The dream for Akura timepieces began two years ago in November 2017. Hailing from Dundee in Scotland, the company was born out of a passion for watches and a belief in the benefits of community design. These days, digital platforms enable pre-production feedback for a brand’s audience. When implementing this feedback, it is important to keep the original design vision intact, while making sure the best suggestions become part of the design.

Back in 2017, the goal was to create a new sports watch that bucked the trend of minimalism. The initial design was proposed in-house and then shared online, with comments actively encouraged. While the response was incredibly positive, advice and suggestions flooded in. With more than 300 comments received, the design team picked their way through the slew of critique, remodeling the watch to cater to enthusiast demands.

Some of the most notable suggestions to come from the watch community were to shift to a non-proprietary strap system (in contrast to the inaugural draft), to change the hands and dial to improve legibility, and to narrow down the color options out of a proposed 20 colorways.

The result is a durable sports watch, which, thanks to its surprisingly slim profile (just 10mm-thick) is
versatile enough to be worn with any kind of outfit. Particular attention has been paid to the visual
depth of the dial. The central angular wave pattern on the dial is structured and masculine, while
recalling the classic pattern of the Omega Seamaster 300M —  an established benchmark in the sport watch field.

With a 41mm 316L stainless steel case, scratch-proof sapphire crystal, a metal bracelet, and water-resistance to 100 meters, the Akura Wayfarer is an ideal watch for everyday wear. Multiple finishes, including fine brushing and polished and bead-blasted surfaces, enliven an edgy, yet respectful case design that boasts an excellent mix of novel and recognizable design aspects.

Akura chose to power the Wayfarer with the Miyota 9015 automatic movement (embellished by a customized rotor weight visible through a sapphire crystal caseback), which is part of the Premium Automatic category in the company’s movement portfolio. This is an upgrade from the often-seen caliber 8215 and sports better finishing and improved timekeeping potential. The fact that the 9015 measures just 3.9mm-thick enables the overall thickness of the Wayfarer to be kept as low as 10mm.

Versatility and wearability were priorities for Akura, and so, too, was legibility. As such, BGW9 SuperLumi-Nova has been applied to the hands, all indices (even the minute markers), and the internal compass bezel. All luminous elements glow bright blue in the dark, creating a homogenous nighttime display.

The non-integrated 22mm stainless steel bracelet has a brushed finish with polished edges. A push-button deployant clasp (with micro-adjustment) releases it from your wrist. The bracelet can easily be dropped out in favor of a genuine calfskin leather strap, which is available as an optional add-on. The leather strap features quick-release pins for fast strap changes.

Early-bird pricing for the Akura Wayfarer starts at just £399 (with £439 regular campaign pricing). As part of the initial campaign, customers can choose among the black, red, and gray colors, with blue and white available as stretch goals when certain targets are reached. The white Wayfarer sees the date window numbers stacked on top of one another to better fill the available date window at 6 o’clock. Delivery for the completed watches is scheduled for January 2020. You can follow the campaign on Kickstarter, then head over to the official website to learn more at akuratime.com.

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