New picture from our brand: BAOBAB

Its a good looking watch, but Baobab?

What’s up with the name? Does it mean anything? No offense but it’s like the Chinese watches on Amazon with names that look like someone randomly pulled Scrabble letters out of the bag.

Hi Jon! Thank you for your comment. I hope not to offend you with our answer.

Baobab is a very famous species of tree found in Subsaharian Africa. It has a very peculiar shape that looks upside down and this always attracted us. It also exemplifies the adventurous and GADA spirit that we have towards life. After all we are but a bunch of engineers with a love for watches and for new activities.

We recommend you to look for these magnificent trees. They are truly something to see!

Hi @ayadai. Thank you for you feedback. Very helpful. The text in that manner is a clear homage to one of our inspirations. I'm sure you can easily recognize it if I mention "watermelon" to you...

THe track for GMT is only for you to know the time. We trust tat our users are quick enough to read a 24 Hrs bezel... If not, you can always multiply by two the index numeral!

Thanks again for your answer!

Overall I like the watch a lot! Name is good.

I dig the color scheme of the 12,3,6,9 being green!

I kind of like the bezel as is so maybe to utilize the GMT hand but keep the bezel as is change the minute text on the inside to a 24 hour track? The bezel as is has a nice "tool" look to it that I would keep personally.

Hey! That’s great feedback! I see you got our bezel exactly like we thought of it! Thank you!

As for the 24 hour track that is something we will seriously consider! Great counsel! Thanks

It’s a tree that grows in Africa

I appreciate the aesthetic, but is NSFW intentional? I also agree with the centering of the text...

Great features there. But the lower text is not centered and should just read Swiss Automatic. NSFW also means something else in western countries. Try showing it on a jubilee bracelet or leather as Nato is more a utilitarian budget option and with Swiss movement your not going to have a budget price.

YES! NSFW is intentional, as the spirit we want to put into our watch is that it is "Not Suitable/Safe For Working 9 t(w)o 5"

It is a watch that can withstand and accompany you to those activities that you can't stop thinking about when you are working. And we hope that the watch works as a time capsule and reminds the wearer of those adventures outside work.

Cool watch, really naff name.

Looks like boobob , which makes me think of nude ladies running 😂

NSFW: not safe for working from 9-2! It is intentional yes! This watch will make you go out and explore every time you look at it.

Thank you for your feedback! A bracelet is coming, we are still fitting the best one we can design. The other option is a suede leather that will for sure make you want to buy it! Follow us (or me) and we will keep posting pictures of it!

It's named after these trees.

Fitting for a GADA watch though I am surprised they went with an ETA movement instead of sourcing a Sellita 330-1.

So, just a few comments here:

I like the overall look of the watch (e.g. dial, handset, numerals, etc.) -- but:

1. Why are the numerals for the hours inverted towards for the bottom half of the dial, but the numerals for the 5 second intervals aren't?

2. Lower dial text should be centered.

3. Change the model name -- NSFW isn't likely to gain traction, or rather, I wouldn't want that on display to my bosses at the office.

4. Only "Automatic" should appear on the lower half of the dial. If you want to have "Swiss Mov't" on the dial, it should be under either side of the 6.

5. The bezel is kind of useless with hash marks only. There should be a GMT scale somewhere on a GMT watch.

I love it, cool exotic name, and great design. I would definitely be interested in buying it, but using an eta movement could make it cost prohibitive for a lot of people who like the design.

Thanks for your reply! Lume is only applied in the 12-6-9 numerals, as well as all the hands (gmt, hour, minute, and the tip of the seconds hand) soon we’ll share a picture around here!

What a lovely reply! It is great to see others engineers are attracted to the watch as well. After trying it for some days, it does grow on you, and the depth of the dial and the optical effect of the doomed crystal is only noticeable while wearing it.

We also designed it having vintages field watches in mind, as you have noticed, as I am a huge fan of thise style and like collecting them.

Regarding different colours, the minute track between 5 and 9 is of a different colour, light blue, same color as the gmt hand, to emphasise the no 9-to-5 philosophy as we like to call it. It is true that that’s one of the things we are working to improve, to bring more colour to the dial, as it is barely noticeable the way it is.

Regarding that test drive…try contacting @gadlleto via direct message and we’ll try to arrange it!

Do you know I just saw that colour change detail as I’ve been on the website since - clever. Reminds me of the Timex x Snow Peak in terms of ethos. I’m not sure I can help you regarding ideas, but the subtleties are the depth.

Re:colour, I was thinking maybe black dial, but I appreciate that this is a run of 150. I’ve signed up, don’t know if I’ll be around when you launch as I’m travelling during the tail end of the year, but if the stars align maybe I’ll get lucky.

We were also experimenting between different colours for the dial, including black, but for 150 pieces we had to decide on one! Nevertheless, we were planning to include other options when we reissue the watch if we manage to be successful

I understand - to be honest, white dial instead of black is a noble choice. I like it… good job, I’ll be keeping tabs.

Sorry, just can’t see this on my wrist. I hate the bezel, the hand are so so and the finish not attractive to my eye. And then it is on a woven strap? Definitely not me.

If you think this is too negative, I went to architect school and my critique is light compared to arch school juries.

Oh well. Can’t please all the people.

Of course! your opinion is as valid as anyone’s else. And it is not a rough critique, not a single watch in this world is perfect, and we didn’t try to please anyone but ourselves!! There are other brands that I’m sure that fill all of your likings!

It looks like a rugged watch and very readable and I like this. The date window I think I would put at 6 and if possible in bold to better match the rest of the watch face. The name: I know very well it is a tree but at first glance it sounds a bit like a kids toy brand, but hey, that is just me. Overall it seems an attractive package and a versatile watch!

Congratulations on this! Takes work and bravery to put yourself out there for such a venture.

Few questions below, doing a quick look at the watch:

- are you adding GMT markers? Are the markers on the bezel intended to represent GMT time? 40hr power reserve?

- does it have lume? Is that a lume pip at 6 o’clock

- what’s the size of the watch?

- what’s the story behind the name boobob? And what’s up with the alignment of the text at the bottom?

- what is the case made of? And finishing in case?

- what’s the targeted MSRP?

Baobab is a tree

At some point, would you consider a world timer? I've always thought that the spirit of an adventure watch is best expressed in that way. As if you're ready to jump on a plane with Indiana Jones at any time! Explore ancient ruins and fight off the Nazis! Haha

Hey! Let me tackle those questions for you. First of all, thank you!

- we are thinking about a proposition that was made in this post about putting the 24 hrs ule here the seconds are.

- hands, 12,6 and 9 are lined! Yes. And in a beautiful way.

- size 38 mm

- the alignment is an homage to Studio Underdog. The designer of this watch had a reason to do it, being chrono, but we wanted a small homage to such an inspiration.

- stainless steel, 316L, brushed. The case is our proudest work. It is very solid, and the caseback is jaw dropping (se other posts I did)

- target price is below $1000. Aiming as low as we possibly can.

Hope this answers your questions!!!

Congratulations! I am sure it’s been a lot of hard work bringing your team’s vision into reality - hopefully very rewarding experience as well!

Couple of constructive thoughts - moving forward as I am sure this watch is already in the box:

• I wasn’t familiar with the tree until it was mentioned, and unfortunately the specific typeface used made it read Boobob - which reminds me of baby-gibberish/nicknames I would use when talking to a baby, haha. While the reference might be more of a me thing, I do think a different typeface could better combat that initial reading - one that uses a 2-story “a” letterform and maybe a serif style to further balance all the curving letter shapes?

• I think you should drop “watches” from below the name. I don’t think I’ve ever owned/seen a dial that had the word watch somewhere on it - feels a bit redundant. If you add a line of sub-text, maybe consider using the city/town where your team is based. Or if maybe something like Design or Artisans - though this might be a bridge too far.

• I think the model name is funny, but maybe it can be saved for the caseback? I just feel it reads too much like a model number versus a model name like Speedmaster or Explorer which I don’t mind being on the dial.

• Not a big fan of the text alignment but this is very subjective. If I had my way, I’d have the word Automatic with the word Swiss on a second/next line all aligned center.

• The rest of the design is all about someone’s particular style/taste. I am sure this will have a large audience of fans!

I'm always in awe of people who put themselves out there and put together their own time piece, so massive well done for that!

I've heard of the Boabab tree from 'The Little Prince' book, which was translated into over 300 languages, and is a story about taking care of ones planet, so that's kind of cool.

I love the ethos of your company on your website.

Being a lady with a smaller wrist I would have loved to see the lug to lug 45mm or under, but I appreciate I am not your target market! I do like that it's 38mm.

I would love bolder colouring. I think the GMT hand looks a little lost on the white. Make it a more powerful green or blue and it would be awesome.

I think the watch would look amazing on a white silicone strap 👌

…and now we know the rest of the story. Thanks!