Unison watches is a micro-brand watchmaker founded by a product designer, passionate about
watches and looking to offer something fresh and original to the watch market. Usually, when we read about a Microbrand watch manufacturer, the story of the company has something to do with some nostalgic moments, a watch that was passed down in the family from grandfather to father to son, or anything that adds some salt to the story. That’s what we expected to see on Unison website. But, to be honest with you, the story we found there really surprised us, for one main reason – because Unison is simply being honest.
Unison founder simply tells us that he was always fascinated by the intricate small machinery that
ticks and tells time – just like most of us watch enthusiasts, isn’t it? When he combined his
background in Design, he feels that with Unison, he can bring new ideas to everyone with the same
passion. The brand website gives us some more information about Unison watches, as it tells us that the watches are being manufactured in China and that they include a Japanese movement – Miyota Calibre 9039.
Chinese watches? Yes. Unison believes that what makes a good product is its quality, not where it
was made. The company states on its website that it takes full responsibility for the quality of every
product that will be shipped to customers. We really like this attitude. We’ve seen in the past many
“Swiss Made” watches that had some quality issues, and we’ve seen plenty of high-quality Chinese
watches. For us, what really matters is the quality of the watch, and not the label “SWISS MADE”
that will be printed on the dial. Currently, the company is in the middle of its Kickstarter campaign for its first model – the Model Orbital.
The Model Orbital comes in a 316 Stainless steel case with a 40mm diameter, 45mm lug-to-lug
distance, and 20mm lug width. What makes this watch unique is its dial.
Unison uses a metal dial with 12 metal domes as hour indexes. The hour and minute hands are also
made from steel and hollowed, with a wand shape removed. At the tip of the hour and minute
hands, we find another metal piece, Filled with Swiss Super-LumiNova® BGW9, that gives a cool blue glow.
The second hand is thin with a lollipop top, also filled with Super-LumiNova BGW9.
All the hour indexes are located on an etched rail, which is also filled with the same blue Super-
Luminova. At 12 O’clock, we find Unison Logo. The watch comes with a solid case-back, with an etched pattern to match the dial design with the Unison Logo in the middle of the case-back.
Inside the watch, house the Miyota 9039 High-Beat Automatic Movement (28,800 beats per hour)
with a power reserve of 42 hours. The watch comes with a stainless steel bracelet with H-links, which provides better articulation and easy form around the wrist. The bracelet combines polished and satin-brushed surfaces and Comes with a 5mm half-link and 7.5mm half-link, guaranteeing a perfect fit for all wrist sizes from 6” to 8.6”, Joined by solid end-links for a strong and sturdy connection.
Unison will offer the watch in two color variations – Ion Blue and Neutron Gold.
The Ion Blue model comes with a metallic silver-tone dial, with a blue circle around the hour indexes
and heat-blued hour, minute, and second hands, while the lollipop tip of the second hand is painted
yellow.
The Neutron Gold model comes with a black tone dial, with a Gold circle around the hour indexes
and polished silver hour, minute, and second hands, while the lollipop top of the second hand is
painted red.
You can support Unison’s campaign on Kickstarter’s website and pre-order one of the models. If you
pledge CA$ 550 or more, you can pick one of the watches – the Ion Blue or the Neutron Gold. If you
find it hard to decide which model you want, you can pledge CA$ 1,000 or more, and you will receive both models. Shipping is CA$ 40 worldwide.
On the 28th of March, Unison updated the campaign. It announced that every watch would come
with a complimentary free Italian leather strap – A Black leather strap for the Neutron Gold model
and a blue leather strap for the Ion Blue model.
We’ve sent Unison a few questions, which we believe will help us get to know this company, its founder and its spirit better, here are the questions and his answers –
A few words from Unison’s founder:
- Can you tell us a little bit about you?
I’m an industrial designer by training. Growing up as an art student, I’ve built some solid art skills. Thus, I am pretty good at visualizing my thoughts, observing the beauty in design, and creating new ideas that I believe would also bring refreshing designs to other people.
I’ve been in love with watches since I was a kid. I would buy all those watch magazines and admire all those great pieces from top-notch brands and independent watchmakers. I was just fascinated by the intricate little machine that can be put on the wrist, that beats with such precision. Watches, as something right on the balance point of beautiful design and functionality, naturally grabbed my attention. When you put product designing skills, love of watches, and some eagerness to create new things into one brain (being the brain in my head lol), starting a Microbrand just naturally happens. - What was the inspiration for the Orbital? what’s the story/idea/inspiration behind the dial?
The dial is inspired by the Retro-futuristic style started from the “space age” in Modern Design. The idea is to create something unique, something fresh. The 3-dimensional dial gave it more visual depth, with contrasting colors and surface finishes. - How long did it took from the first idea to launching the campaign?
It took almost a year, from the first sketch on paper, to idea development, run through all the iterations, and making 3D printed prototypes. Another 4-5 months for making the first batch of actual production prototypes. Almost 2 years in total, from ideation to campaign.
- What are your future plans? new model? expanding the current model?
After model orbital, we will be looking into developing new models, however, this does not stop us from expanding more color options for Model Orbital. - What was the most challenging part of the design or development process?
For me, the most challenging part is spreading the word. Designing and communicating with the manufacturer comes naturally, but creating the campaign, and letting more people get to know my creation was a bit of a challenge.
Visit Unison campaign at Kickstarter.
Disclosure: This post is a promoted content in partnership with Unison.
