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We are Deviate Ltd., a small Toronto-based brand of horology lovers focused on designing crowdfunded timepieces. October 2016 marked the release of our latest campaign titled the “Ascent Pro,” featuring a 200m stainless steel case and the Seiko NH35-A movement. The Deviate Ascent Pro is now live on Kickstarter and has already successfully reached its funding goal. With minimum funding now complete, it is now time for our stretch goals, which include new color options and custom straps.
We are a small but dedicated company who has focused on creating black, silver, and rose gold options for our collection releases, and have created the Deviate Ascent Pro to mark our second year in business. Having combined elements from various timepieces we felt reflected intelligent design, we have created our rendition of a dive watch that balances functionality with style.
During our design process, we wanted to create a timepiece that would have the functionality of a professional-grade dive watch, while appearing elegant and refined. Choosing between silver, black, and rose gold as our primary colour options, we experimented with alternative combinations and felt the polished and brushed stainless steel case and straps was the direction we wanted to go towards.
We have received a great amount of feedback since our previous campaign which went live on Kickstarter one year ago, and we wanted to create a new timepiece using our backers opinions and feedback as inspiration. We knew we had to design a 42mm case, to include easy-to-read indicators, and create a stainless steel, 200m-water-resistant timepiece. Our polished and brushed stainless steel strap, features seamless lock-clasp enclosures which ensure that you’re well-fastened for diving and any physical activities. We also include a rubber strap with every purchase of a Deviate Ascent Pro, (we recommend the rubber straps for any underwater escapades) which measure 11mm by 22mm, integrated into the case.
There are a few components we felt were vital during the creation process of the Deviate Ascent Pro.
- Visibility Under Water – but more importantly, in low-light conditions. C5 Super-LumiNova coating is a “glow in the dark” pigment/paint that, on all Deviate Ascent Pro dials and hands, creates a green glow when exposed to daylight. With the luminous paint application on the watch’s indicators and the anti-reflective sapphire glass, the watch was designed to have its user’s visibility unaltered in low-light conditions.
- Pressure – The Deviate Ascent Pro has been ISO 6045 certified with up to 200 meters of water resistance. A watch stamped with “Water Resistance” means that its casing provides the watch and its movement a humidity-protected barrier and can endure depths of 200m without damage.
- Functionality – The Deviate Ascent Pro series offers the Seiko NH35-A . This 24-jewel, hand-windable, and automatic movement provide a 41-hour power reserve. Our Deviate Ascent Pro also features a uni-directional rotating bezel, which provides time indicators for diving. Typically this bezel is used to time how long the diver has been submerged, users will align the bezel with the minute hand, where it stays for the duration of the dive to monitor air tank capacity.
- Style – Over 400 hours have gone into designing the final renditions of the Deviate Ascent Pro series. With three color options, backers have the choice between three different styles. Editions of this campaign include: Recon Black, Slate Silver, and Desert Gold.
- Value – The campaign’s earlybird pricing starts at US$150. An important part of our campaign was to keep the price point of this collection under US$250. Designing mid-end watches without the wholesale markup is something we take pride in offering to our customers, and we would not have the option if it were not for crowdfunding.
With our US$150 price point, each backer will receive their choice of any Deviate Ascent Pro timepiece from Recon Black, Slate Silver, or Desert Gold. In addition, backers will also receive a leather watch box, interchangeable rubber straps, and a link removal tool.
Our value is something that we find very important to the early success we have experienced on Kickstarter thus far. Direct-to-consumer is a new model many companies are implementing to avoid paying unnecessary fees to storefronts and suppliers. This model prevents the inflated prices that go towards marketing, and we take pride in being able to design and create the marketing material and price independently.
With our two projects being released on Kickstarter, we have had the chance to build a great platform and relationship with our group of backers. We love hearing what all of our backers have to say about our designs, and we often make changes and adjustments based on user feedback.
Since the launch of the campaign and attaining our funding goal, we have added some updates and made minor changes to our current campaign:
- The Rose Gold edition dials have been changed to Rose Gold (instead of silver dials)
- As a $15k stretch goal, the NH35-A case will include custom Deviate engraving.
- As a $25k stretch goal, we are upgrading to a Ceramic Bezel.
With the components in the Deviate Ascent Pro and our $150 price-point, we are confident in our ability as a company to provide our customers with a unique experience. We were inspired by various different categories of timepieces that had made a dramatic impact within the horology community. For instance, our 12 o-clock indicator is a custom shape inspired by a Trident, which was traditionally used for spear fishing in early civilization. With our interpretation of the shape, we connected and made small adjustments to create something new that holds a beneficial function. Below are the specifications of the Deviate Ascent Pro.
Case diameter: 42mm
Case thickness: 10mm
Band material: 316L Stainless Steel
Band width: 22mm
Total weight: 115g
Caseback: Sapphire Glass Exhibition Caseback
Glass: Anti-Reflective Sapphire Glass
Movement: Seiko NH35-A Japan Automatic
Water resistance: 200 Meters/660 Feet
We are a small, direct-to-consumer company and this is our second collection release. Our first collection titled “C-SERIES” was funded on Kickstarter one year ago with 115 backers. We love Kickstarter as a platform because it gives us the ability to connect and communicate with our customers directly. We are coming down to the end of our campaign for the Deviate Ascent Pro, and we still have some great plans in mind for stretch goals.
The Deviate Ascent Pro is available at US$150 for the duration of the campaign. Retail cost will increase to US$240.
To find out more about the Deviate Ascent-Pro, you can view the entire campaign and all information on our Kickstarter page. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to create a second collection of timepieces, and it would not be possible without the support of the horology community.
