Hi all, it's been a while since we've last made a new post here -- it's been a busy few months, and we have lots of exciting news to share with you all very soon! First up -- we're announcing the Retter 22 extras sale! Extra watches and straps will be available for sale this Wednesday at 10AM EST (3PM GMT). Read until the end for more details.
Today, I wanted to take a moment to discuss the preorder system that we (and lots of other brands) rely upon to launch our watches! We frequently get questions and comments regarding it, and we wanted to discuss our experiences using it, and how we think it benefits everyone.
I came across the preorder system in late 2019, in an area completely separate from watches. One of my other hobbies is collecting custom mechanical keyboards, the the term "group buy" is one that is often thrown around in those circles. Usually, a designer will create a prototype of his/her design, and run a "group buy", where buyers will put down a full deposit for the price of their keyboard, and the funds are used to pay invoices to the factories for the production run. "Group buy" and preorder are interchangeably used.
At first, I was hesitant, but I began to understand the appeal behind the system. Creators are able to supply a larger number of people with their products and can operate without huge amounts of starting capital, while customers receive fairly substantial discounts for waiting for their products. Designers are also able to frequently create new designs, and are able to take larger risks and adapt based on what enthusiasts like.
Mechanical keyboards that were sold via "group buy" were generally made of CNCd aluminum, and the prototyping costs were generally affordable and could be made within a month or two. Watches are different, though. The design-to-prototype phase on the Retter 22 took over two years, and molds were created for most of the parts.
Making watches is more expensive and more time consuming than keyboards ever were, but the preorder model allows us to make sure that after all our work and effort, we're able to get our watches into the hands of as many people as possible. Eventually, we hope to have a better gauge on interest and be able to consistently stock watches in-stock, but for now, this system offers the best.
However, we know that some of you would rather wait for the watches to be in-stock before making a purchase. When we placed our production order for Retter 22 following our preorder closing, we ordered extra units to be sold in-stock after all preorders were shipped and received by customers.
We're excited to announce that these units will be available on Wednesday, December 13th at 10am EST (3pm GMT). We have a limited number of watches and straps available, so set your alarms!
We wish you and your families a happy holidays, and we're excited to continue sharing more behind-the-scenes content through blog posts like this!
