The first ever Tourbillon watch is now live at kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1999579353/the-worlds-first-mechanical-tourbillon-watch-on-ki
- Thank you Felix for taking the time to speak with us today. Please share us more about yourself and your background in this industry.
First of all, thanks again for having us and giving us a chance to share our product with you.
I am a serial entrepreneur who actively seeks for ways to express my products as an art form.
With a background in E-commerce & marketing, I have been involved in various luxury lifestyle market, but this is my first entry into the watches market.
- How did you get started with Phantoms Tourbillon?
We started Phantoms Tourbillon because my partner and I are both enthusiasts about watches, especially mechanical watches. We look for the complexity in watches but we also think that most people nowadays seem to forget about how this great invention works. A big part of the reason is because they can not see what is going on inside of the watches. We want to show them visually with a tourbillon and that is why we started our flagship model with a tourbillon. Another reason is because we understand how important men accessories are. Simply a little piece of accessories on you, could potentially tells a lot about your style, your personality and your attitude.
- Where do you get the idea to create this brand. What inspires you when it comes to design?
We get ideas from various places. Mostly from things that men love, from cars, speedboats, gaming, fashion, sports, hobbies. For the Phantoms Dark Soul in particular, we have looked at various luxury speedboats. The aerodynamic streamline design of boats, can also be found on the casing of the Dark Soul. The hands are also a resemblance of the shape of speedboats. We have taken inspiration from the windows of boats, and you might be able to find some resemblance out of it as well. We named it (Dark) Soul, not just because everyone is a unique piece of soul like no others, but also everyone has their unique journey to sail in life. There’s a lot more that I can disclose from our design concept, but we also want to leave it a bit of a mystery for people to explore and fantasize.
- Let’s talk about your various market. Which countries and/or cities do you think will be your biggest market for this launch
Right now, we are going towards the North American and European market with our Kickstarter Campaign, but Singapore, Hong Kong & Japan are definitely one of our focus in Asia because they also appreciate the uniqueness of individual watchmakers.
- Do you plan to create more watches in the future, or will this be more of a one-time, one-design idea?
There’s a few concept designs that are confirmed, and we are definitely looking forward to create it. The Dark Soul is a flagship model but as a watch collector ourselves, we want variation. So we will definitely create more variety this year.
- Is there anything you’d like to highlight to the Gracious Watch readers related to your current model?
I want to say that the Dark Soul is only our first piece of art. It will be forever legendary. We will always stay in our boutique size production, so each country should only have less than 5 to 10 pieces of this high quality authentic tourbillon mechanical watch.
- Where will the watches be available after the launch?
Depending on how successful the campaign is, it is really unpredictable for us because we are literally the world’s first mechanical tourbillon watch available on Kickstarter. If we are very successful, then we will roll out our next design right away. If they are still available, they can be found in stores in Singapore & Hong Kong when it is released.
- What are your goals for Phantoms Tourbillon in the next 5 years?
5 years is a long time to predict, but we are definitely looking to collaborate with artists. We treat this as an art and other artists can bring inspiration or their style to create a cross-over unique piece of art. Aside from collaborations, we are also ambitiously looking to be able to participate in Baselworld within 5 years.
- What do you personally look for in a timepiece?
As for myself, I like watches that are iconic. I actually have poor eyesight, and I do not always wear glasses, so when I look at the wrist of other people. I’d like to know exactly what that piece is. I am also very keen on the details of the finishing of the case and the details or complexity of the dial.
- Is there anything else you’d like to add to this interview?
Thanks again all readers from Gracious Watch and Jeremiah. Spreading the words out would definitely help us and we will do our best to produce awesome watches that are unique, high quality and affordable. Do not forget the KickStarter Launch date is Feburary 1, 2016. 12 PM in UTC+ 08:00, Hong Kong & Singapore timezone.
Follow Phantoms Tourbillon On:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mechanicaltourbillonwatch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phantomslab/
Official Website: http://phantomslab.com/
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1999579353/the-worlds-first-mechanical-tourbillon-watch-on-ki
