Neuroscientist's atomic wristwatch launches on Kickstarter
Baku, April 14 (AZERTAC). John Patterson has a chip on his shoulder. He hates big watch companies and wants to destroy them: with superior products. The neuroscientist-turned-founder of Bathys Watches, based in Kauai, Hawaii, last October unveiled the first-ever atomic wrist watch in spite of the fact that some of his deep-pocketed competitors had been working on their own prototypes for years.
Today, Patterson launched a Kickstarter campaign to finally put the Cesium 133 atomic wristwatch on the arms of customers. But he hasn't lost his disdain for big brands.
Patterson is a neuroscienst who moved to Hawaii as part of a side-project doing research on how to create artificial pearls. But after his wife got pregnant he needed to get a "real" job and after writing a list of 12 possibilities decided that watchmaker was the most feasible.
Founded in 2005 the self-funded company builds small batches of high quality wristwatches with a loyal niche following, partly from Patterson's garage, and partly with the help of his Swiss manufacturer, Ronda, which the entrepreneur said is one of the few companies in Switzerland still willing to work with upstart watchmakers.
After using Craigslist to find an expert with experience using the Atomic clock microchips at the core of the watch—a man who just happened to also live in Hawaii—Patterson went to machining the prototype and quickly found massive interest in his undertaking from the media.
Inspired by the popularity, his Kickstarter goal is nevertheless a modest $40,000. But it's well to remember that another Kickstarted watch, Pebble, set out to raise $100,000, and brought in $10 million. Unlike that project though, Patterson said some of his rewards are guaranteed, because as an existing startup he already has inventory.
Entry level donors will receive a postcard, $175 donors will receive one of his Lunar Watches, made with the same movement as the Atomic watch, but not as accurate; $500 donors will receive one of his Benthic TI all titanium quartz watches; $6,000 donors get one of the yet-to-be-made Cesium 133 atomic watches; and one $10,000 donor will receive a Bomb Timer watch, inspired by World War II bomber plane watches.
The idea of crowdfunding a project that has the intention to sell came under fire this week when the crowdfunded Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, which raised $2.4 million, sold to Facebook for $2 billion. The concern being that if the idea is that valuable, a venture capitalist would be interested in investing in the project and using crowdfunding is just a way to prove customer interest without sacrificing a stake in the company.
Other news in this section
