The watch is offered with a cool-looking, waterproof strap that has a checkered patterned nylon exterior, thick and soft padding inside, and a leather lining on the inside. The black strap feels great and is extremely comfortable once it has broken in – although until that happens, the strap does fail to follow the curvature of the wrist. The strap holds the watch firmly in place while its black PVD buckle and pin go nicely with the case and the PVD black crown. One design element of the strap I found it difficult to get used to is how the checkerboard pattern of the strap collides with the totally random texture of the case. Sure, this may sound like some fashion-inspired nit-picking, but to my eyes, the two different patterns do clash – as opposed to working well together.

The standard 20 millimeter lug width, however, allows a virtually endless range of possibilities – and with the key target demographic of indie brands in mind, I am sure future owners of the Tempest Forged Carbon will live with the splendid opportunity and experiment with the unique case and how it works with different straps. I had some 20mm NATO straps laying around, so I gave some of them a shot: I found that a monochrome NATO strap of a different color works wonders, and does help the texture of the case stand out a lot more – as pictured above.

In conclusion, the Tempest Forged Carbon is not just a cool watch, but also a very impressive technical achievement from a smaller independent brand. The rock solid build quality will come as no surprise to those who had the chance to see another Tempest watch before – although I am sure the forged carbon material will be very new to most. The watch’s Kickstarter campaign is launched on the day this review has been published, and you can pick up the Tempest Forged Carbon watch there for prices between $865 and $885, depending on how early you join the campaign. Once the campaign is over, the price will be $985. tempestwatches.com