Congratulations, @Gardner !! Enjoy the Strat!

What an awesome result! Congrats on seeing the support from the community. That is something really special.

About your tangent....Although I live and breath JM, I'm a watch fan too and it's an interesting dynamic between an enthusiast and brand owner. I'll first start off by saying, I have the highest of respect for heritage Swiss brands. Without them, this hobby wouldn't drive so much enthusiasm. Like you, however, each year W&W for the most part isn't anything to write home about and that's probably because these companies have been around for so long, it makes no sense to waver too far from what has been working.

This is where the beauty of smaller independent brands come in and I think there is more of a growing appreciation for brands like us from collectors who primarily have stayed in the higher end Swiss segment. Brands like us almost scratch the itch of something you wanted to see from your favorite luxury brand.

This is where I find a lot of enjoyment in designing our own watches. That's not to say that our design brief is based on what the Swiss don't do, but more so it's about finding opportunities and ceasing them being a more nimble company. Manufacturing in watches have become more homogenized where it evens out the playing field a bit when it comes to pound for pound watchmaking.

I'm honestly not sure if I've many any points here and this response has already gone far too long so I'll excuse myself from here...

Boxed sapphires serve as more of a design advantage over those that don't have it. You are able to create a slimmer watch as the curvature from underneath the crystal opens up a lot more space for the hands, dial, and movement to sit. If you haven't bit on a Nodus, this would be the one to get! They killed it on this one.

Thank you so much for including the raffle. Love what you do and keep up the great work!

On the wrist as I type this now!

Watches are materialistic but they certainly have stories attached to them. Thank you for sharing yours.

I'm a fan of that. Trying to get more guys to wear gold!