New watch brand: BAOBAB

An engraved caseback with the GMT observatory and the serial number.

Can you guess the complications of this watch?

And it’s movement?

Thank you for the comment @gadlleto !!

Let’s hope we can have enough backers to launch this beautiful project!

Every time a somebody decides to design a watch I only can congratulate him/her for taking the risk. I have the feeling you are in the right path although there are several elements I consider a bit weird from a first glance.

Mainly focus would be on the bezel without number hour markers. In a GMT to be most functional I'd say you will need to have the 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on, hours.

I like the fixed bezel would, as said, would add the number, or in the dial if easier to do.

I'd keep the numeral all filled with lume and although the alineation of the text at the dial is original, it might be a tad too original and I would leave it centered.

I really like that the hands seem to be painted in black. This contrasts with the white dial nicely.

Would be good to know the asking price too.

Again, this is just a first glance. Without hand on experience I really can't tell.

But again, thanks for sharing this concept!

Thank you very much Mario.

Those are kind words. Let me answer you but by bit and give you our thoughts behind some features.

We decided on a no-number bezel to keep things clean and away from the terrible Explorer II comparisons. We truly trust our users to quickly glance at the GMT and read the time correctly. The fixed bezel was a no brainier too.

Numbers on the other hand… we thought that lume is really not very relevant. More decorative than anything… but we found it funny to add those three numbers and the hands in lume. Again, just for decorative purposes. However the bold big numbers do have a purpose of legibility and the high contrast is what we look for.

The text… well the inspiration is obvious and we found it entrar aiming to have it that way. A little homage to the brand that also empowered us to do so.

A quick thing you may notice is the change of colour in the second markers of the dial. From 5-9, it is a different colour because this watch is for you to make the best of your time whenever your job (the typical 9to5 stereotype) finishes.

Please feel free to contact us and we can maybe meet in person and see your hands-on opinions!

Thanks for the quick reply. I'd say lume is very important in a sports watch given the all time quick glance legibility need in any situation, specially in cave exploring or permanent darkened areas. There's a lot of debate, I get it, but I stand that lume is key and essential in these kind of watches. Of course you add lume and given that there's some, specially in the hands, it is a minor complain on my side. But I had to mention it.

On the text I'm afraid I don't know the brand that uses it. Sorry!!!

About the GMT numbers: Well, here I stand on my ground. If there's a reason the Glycine Airman succeed and was the first to provide this feature, was because that watch stated a simple at a quick way to tell the time. It was a lockable turning bezel with number and for pilots it was key to know the hour for certain in any situation without really having to make any calculation or approximation. This is used by the Explorer II, but not invented by them. It is very popular for a main reason, pure functionality and I'm afraid I'm all for form follow function :D.

And also I'm kind of slow getting the GMT hour unless I have numbers :P

Why are you hiding the dial??? Even at the web site I had to search for the dial images for some time. Once I found it, it was too small to see. I support the bold move though.

Nice job fellas! Smart lookin' timepiece you have there! Best of luck with your enterprise, I hope you sell tons! 😀

Exactly for that! We want people to enter the website, look for the dial and once you are there we hope you investigate and get to know us a little bit better!

Limited to 150 pieces! No money yet for a big launch!

I hope that works out for you. For me, I was frustratrated and ultimately concluded you were ashamed of the dial.

Hello, I'm one of the friends that have developed this watch! We've been working on it for several months now and I still have some trouble believing how far we have gone with it.

This is the first time that we have shown it to the public, apart from our closest friends of course. And it is really nice to recieve your feedback. The idea behind this watch was preciselly to return to the roots of tool watches, so almost every aspect of the desing and every decision has gone in that direction. Or at least based in what we consider that a tool watch is.

The case of the watch has been somewhat inspired by classic and timeless designs, especially how the lugs are born from the body of the case and how the crown guards transition seamlessly. Also, regarding the dimensions -38mm, 46mm lug-to-lug, 12,6mm in thickness-, we tried to make it as wearable as possible for the most number of wrists. And we think we managed to archived a desired result, as you can see in some of Javier's wrist shots (he has a pretty slim wrist). It is a watch confortable enough and tough enough to acompany you in your adventures.

Regarding the dial, little extra to add to what Javier has already said. We opted for numbers intead of markers just to make it easier to read the time, and opted for markers in the bezel just because we didnt want to saturate the watch with too many numbers. In a way, we had to sacrifice GMT readability instead of standard hour readability.

As you can imagine, it is a real pleasure to share this project with you guys, and we would really apreciate if you could share this with other enthusiasts 😊, this comunity is awesome and full of incredible people!

Interesting and strong effort, thanks for sharing.

Glad it’s not yet another Chinese made watch with an nh35, or worse, seagull.

My $0.02, if you’re interested:

I really like the applied numbers,

I always want a date, so that’s helpful.

on your design, a small subtle date at 4:30 and a symmetrical white ‘3’ would look great as a subsequent model

I like the bezel - simple but looks quite useful, it works fine without numbers

Also could do with a lumed pip or line or something on the second hand to make it distinctive

Personally I’ve never had need of a gmt hand so you may consider a giving option without it as well.

That is fantastic feedback.

We thought about keeping it symmetrical with the 3 there. However we thought the classic date at 3 was better suited to our classic style.

Very happy that you find the bezel useful enough! That was one of our biggest fears.

Very interested. I'd be keen to know what movement is being used. I had thought/hoped it was the SW330-2, but the caseback states 21 jewels and that has 25.

I'd generally prefer the case to be 40mm, I feel 38 is small for me liking, but the main thing putting me off is the lack of additional hour markers for the GMT hand. Even if there was only 4, 8, 16 and 20, that would make the bezel easier to read and still minimalist and not "crowded" with numbers.

Saying that, I'm looking at my Longines Zulu Time which has all the even numbers on the bezel, plus applied numbers on the dial, and I don't believe it's too many numbers.

I absolutely love the caseback, that's a really great design feature.

We will keep posting about it so make sure to follow me or the brand (@baobab.watches) and you will be updated with release dates.

It uses the ETA 2893/2, clone of the Sellita. We wanted ETA…

Yes… the bezel is our main concern. But I have been using it for theee weeks now and I manage to read e easily. Basically multiply by two the applied number!

Caseback is a beauty. We hate to wear it in a nato… but sometimes you have to, right?