Complications

Kobold Large Soarway Diver - A Perfect Dive Watch?

Kobold, a watch company that began in the college dorm room (Carnegie Mellon) of its founder Michael Kobold, is, just a decade later, known throughout the world as a manufacturer of exceptional watches for adventurers.  While much of the success of the brand might be attributed to Kobold's philosophy of enlisting the guidance of professionals in the field for which a watch is being designed to assist with its development; stellar customer service combined with a strictly controlled annual production that allows Kobold to maintain a high level of connection with his customers has surely made a significant contribution to the reputation that Kobold enjoys - a Kobold watch is among the best of the best.

Like a lot of our regular readers, I do a lot of diving.  While arguably my dive watches spend much more time on a dry wrist, all of them have gotten wet at one point or another and some have accumulated some serious bottom time.  For diving, I prefer a rugged tool watch with basic and reliable functionality to some gee-whiz chronograph that can be operated 3000 feet below the surface and compute split times. 

I gravitate to watches like the Kobold Large Soarway Diver with it's huge (45mm+) and robust case, easy to see and grab bezel and clean simple dial.  It's obvious that someone who spends a lot of time underwater had a great deal of input into the design of this watch - that someone is Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of world famous underwater adventurer Jacques Yves Cousteau and the co-founder (along with his sister Alexandra) of Earth Echo International, a conservation organization to which Kobold has pledged the proceeds from the sale of the Large Soarway Diver.

The Kobold Large Soarway Diver is waterproof to 500 meters, anti-magnetic (thanks to an inner soft iron case) and shock resistant.  Inside the vault-like stainless steel case is an ETA 2824-A2 that has a Glucydur balance, a Nivarox 1 mainspring and INCABLOC shock protection.  Kobold includes a waterproof nylon strap for underwater missions and a nice leather strap for topside pursuits.

If you are a tool watch purist and want a robust no-frills dive watch that will surely survive anything that you or many future generations may be able to throw at it, you'll find a lot to like about the Kobold Large Soarway Diver.

MSRP is $4250 and production is limited to 150 pieces.

The Kobold Rattrapante Stirling Moss - Taking it to the Track in Vintage F1 Style

During the 2007 Grand Prix in Monaco, Kobold announced the fruition of a working relationship with 16 time Formula One Grand Prix winner, Sir Stirling Moss in the launch of a new watch; the Kobold Rattrapante Stirling Moss.

Kobold, one of a small group of luxury watch manufacturers that have been successful selling their collections directly to their clients, has a history of drawing on the experience of a pioneer or notable explorer to test and refine design concepts in real world extreme environments.  For the task of designing a watch that made sense for the autophile, it's hard to find someone with a greater pedigree than the legendary Sir Stirling.

Whether you are driving a car yourself or watching a race, the ability to determine split times is critical to calculating speed over fixed distances.  To do this easily, a rattrapante is the ideal complication.  A French word, rattrapante translates to 'catch up' and is simply a chronograph with an added second hand that allows intermediate times to be read off without stopping the chronograph.  When you activate the chronograph on a rattrapante, both second hands begin their journey around the dial (one on top of the other).  When the car, or whatever you're timing, reaches the point that you'd like to determine a split time for; you depress the rattrapante pusher (in the case of the Kobold - the bronze colored pusher at the 4 o'clock position).  Instantly, the split hand stops while the main second hand continues on.  After observing and/or recording the split time, you again depress the rattrapante pusher and the split second hand advances to again be linked with the main second hand - in position to be used again for the next split.  In German, this complication is referred to as a Doppelchronograph (double chronograph) and in English a Split Seconds Chronograph.

To simplify the process of determining average speed, the Rattrapante Stirling Moss is also equipped with a tachymetre bezel that's easy to read and use.  The crown and, more importantly, the main chrono pushers are located on the left side of the case - a design that, in it's testing, Kobold has determined is optimal for deploying the pushers easily while you're driving a car.  The dial on the RSM is matte silver and the sub-registers are a nicely contrasting slate gray and classically arranged.  The bezel spans 41.3 millimeters and the crown is screw-down and protected by heavy guards.  A domed and rounded sapphire crystal features anti-reflective coating on the inside only and gives the watch a classic feel.  The case is aero-grade titanium, anti-magnetic, shockproof, and rated waterproof to 20ATM.  Inside is the Kobold Caliber K.780, a re-worked ETA 7750 that's skeletonized and decorated with Geneva stripes, perlage, beveled edges and polished screws.  The winding rotor is gold-plated and also finished with Geneva stripes.  In addition to the alligator strap, Kobold supplies a unique titanium bracelet that was designed by Moss himself and based on a prototype that he crafted and wore during his racing days to rid himself of the hassle of oil getting trapped between his watchband and his wrist.  For the purist, this bracelet may have some appeal - it's definitely 'retro' and certainly has an authentic air about it.  I think that mine would stay in the collectors box that's supplied with the Rattrapante Stirling Moss - it has room for two more watches so I'm sure I could fit the bracelet in their somewhere.

You can count on Kobold for extraordinary customer service.  Michael Kobold has committed to never producing more than 2500 watches in a single year and has a reputation for being serious about the quality of the watches that his company produces - there's always time for the customer and you are always dealing directly with the manufacturer.

The Rattrapante Stirling Moss (ref. KD971712) will be available in October 2008, retail is expected to be $7450.