New brand, sober dial and launch date

Here we are, close to the home stretch! The Goldgena Project fell behind schedule during the last few weeks and some of you got worried and lost patience, sharing your concerns with us. This is the kind of drawback a small company can experience when it decides to share all of its steps and timing, promoting transparency to its supporters and future customers. It’s quite a long way to go, and very few companies got it all right at first attempt I guess. But as I write, here we are close to the home stretch! Real prototypes (not 3D printing) are currently being manufactured, definitive production costs have been calculated for good and crowdfunding is scheduled!

The final countdown November 22nd 2016

Save the date and get ready for the crowdfunding. Why November 22nd and not earlier? Because real prototypes are a must-have that both customers and crowdfunding platforms (a mandatory requirement) are expecting from you before the campaign starts.

That way a company secures investors assuring a tangible product and the ability to manufacture it without delay. We should receive our prototypes around mid-October – three weeks before the launch – in order to prepare photo shoots, video clips and teasers we will use for promotion.

Models and prices

In most cases, we received top feedback regarding our watch design. However, some people would have preferred a more sober dial, a date display, and the delicacy of an ETA movement. Well, I have good news for them: we will introduce two models for that launch!

ETA vs. MIYOTA Movements

As explained in our previous chapters,the reliability and sturdiness of both movements are similar. However, ETA movements stand out from the crowd thanks to a higher finishing and a slightly better time-accuracy. Given that the price is not much more expensive for a 3 hand movement (around $40 extra), we have decided to use the ETA 2824 for our sober model.

Special Movement

In the previous chapter, we introduced a model including a very special movement. Such a product requires time and research. Consequently, we won’t propose it for November 7th crowdfunding but it’s just a matter … of time 😉 Stay tuned and eyes wide-open in 2017.

Colors & Materials

During the coming weeks, we will show you all colors and materials available for each model.

Brand Name

What a tricky problem! Sweat, laughter and tears resulted from hours of brainstorming. While I’m writing the chapter, I’d like to thank all the people who shared their ideas with us. We received more than 150 interesting names or trends, which nurtured our passion for endless debating! It has been quite a challenge to find a name fulfilling all the requirements (cool sound, easy to pronounce, embodying our values and business approach etc.) … and above all not yet copyrighted! At the end of the day, we made up our mind: CODE 41.

Why CODE41?

41 is the country code for Switzerland. Although we try to focus on global approach and synergies regarding manufacturing and our community involvement, we do not forget our beloved Swiss roots, which are part of our DNA.

In IT, code 41 is a « System Error ». You can easily draw a parallel between IT and the Goldgena Project that is a kind of « anomaly » in the well-established Swiss watchmaking « system ».

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