A couple of years ago, I reviewed the Mark Carson Kailua watch. The Kailua is an elegantly designed, square-themed watch from independent Hawai’i-based watch designer and collector/community enthusiast Mark Carson. He released a few watches before the Kailua, but I think he really hit his stride with this model because it combines both originality and familiarity in a way that speaks to fellow enthusiasts. The Kailua is named after a beautiful part of the city of Honolulu where he lives, and the square theme of the watch is a shape profile that has been interesting to Carson for a while. Following up from the strap-based version of the Kailua, Mark Carson now offers a matching steel bracelet that can be fitted to any of the dial versions.
The polished bracelet has a nice taper to it and a blocky shape that goes with the square case rather nicely. Adding a bracelet to this case was probably harder than it looks. Getting the thickness and proportions correct, as well as the shape of it was probably a considerable headache. You can see how the bracelet is wider than the lugs, which means it needs to be engineered especially for this purpose and is not likely an “off the shelf” bracelet available to other brands. The polished links go well with the mostly polished surfaces of the Kailua watch case.
One bracelet component you can find in other watches is the deployant clasp. It is nice that Mark Carson wanted to go with something that offered a bit more functionality than just opening and closing, so opted for a deployant with a sliding micro-adjust system. The only issue with this particular system is that, when extended, the micro-adjust system is clearly open and is not as nice-looking as when it is closed up. Given that this isn’t a sports watch, a more elegant solution might have been to use a thinner profile deployant with a comfort adjust (one or two “open” positions), versus a full diver’s extension system used for watches intended to go over wetsuits and outer gear.
The review linked above has more information about the Kailua watch, and I think Mark Carson did well with the overall shape. I also discuss more context around the historic challenges designers have had when creating square or angular watches. The Kailua holds up pretty well, in my opinion. I like the bold wearing style and legible dial that feels very Americana as a whole. The small turtle logo elements are a fun way to recall the tropical home of the Mark Carson brand.
The Kailua watch case is in steel, 40mm wide and 11.3mm thick, with 50 meters of water resistance. Inside the watch is a Swiss Made ETA 2824-2 Top Grade automatic movement which you can view through the sapphire crystal caseback window. In the few years since Mark Carson released the Kailua, I don’t think new dial colors have been added outside of the original selection (which includes this handsome blue model), but there is a slightly more expensive model that uses Hawaiian Koa wood for the dial, which is pretty neat-looking, too.
While the Kailua watches are not limited editions, they are individually serialized, which is a nice artisanal touch and meaningful since Mark Carson is not exactly a high-volume producer. The personal attention you get from the brand proprietor is part of the intimacy people like when doing business with small companies like this. The steel bracelet option for Mark Carson Kailua watches is a reasonable $200 USD. It takes the price of most three-hand versions of the Mark Carson Kailua from $1,499 USD (on the strap) to $1,699 USD on the bracelet. See more at the Mark Carson watches website.
