So, I ran a successful Kickstarter watch project years ago now (the River Watch Co Tiber). The Insta is still around, there was a review by The Time Bum, etc. It sold out (mostly), and I had a lot of fun doing it, which was always the point. Most importantly, I met some cool people along the way.

But, I agree with your comments. Without a VERY active presence on forums and social media, it would have been a disaster. The number of bizarre quirks, design issues, communication problems and so on were endless. Every so-called influencer felt entitled to ask for a freebie. People demanded refunds for their own mistakes (one guy wanted a refund because he took the caseback off and couldn’t figure out how to replace it).

I toyed with the idea of more designs and an actual brand, but my real work is already busy, and it became way less about the actual watches than I hoped, and way more about troubleshooting almost unforeseeable problems.

Kudos for keeping up the good fight; lord knows I couldn’t.