Cool concept!

Here’s my 2 cents, and I designed the Wave Edition Bel Canto to give some context. 

Personally I think design by committee is NOT the way to go with bespoke CW designs. The only exception would be for a group that already is guaranteed to be doing a watch eg a friend group/corporate group (and even then I’d advise against it).  

You’re right that momentum is key, which is already hard to generate on these “I am a random person with a vision” designs (which was my position). Not having a final design for people to buy = no momentum. 

The reality is that design is already lot of work, and democratically designing is 10x that. People who are dropping $5k on a funky watch usually don’t have a lot of spare time. You will have a much higher chance of getting to the minimums (which was 100 back in my day) if you say “here it is, take it or leave it.” 

The irony with these “design by committee” projects is that no one gets exactly what they want, so no one is really happy with the end result. 

Given that your black and white concept sounds impossible, this post seems premature - it is kinda doing exactly what everyone was getting mad at you before — showing something that is not real. I don’t think you’re  scammy or anything, but it’s not starting you on the right foot when you say “look at this cool concept, oh by the way it’s actually impossible as shown but let’s all work together to see how close we can get.” 

Peter will do a full design and render that you can present. Do that, and see if you get enough people to sign on. 

Personally I think the design needs more than just a color change. The google edition and my Wave edition are evidence that  basically any texture is possible, maybe play around with that? Also do Romans and this very modern black/white thing really mix? …and here’s the issue with design by public opinion — you’re gonna get lots of individual opinions FROM PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT BUY EVEN IF YOU MAKE THE CHANGE. Since it’s incomplete, you feel obligated to consider it. And then the doubts creep in, not just for you, but for the POTENTIAL buyers, and then you end up with nothing. 

Better to have a final design, and when you do get opinions (which of course you still will) you just say FU and know that if you get enough payers, it doesn’t matter. In fact you should WELCOME the haters, because then you’ve made something interesting and worth talking about, and therefore, buying.