Argon’s First Timepiece Exceeds Its Kickstarter Goal in Less Than a Minute
Pre-order window ends on June 10.
Towards the end of last week, Argon initiated a Kickstarter campaign for its first-ever time-telling offering: Spaceone. Within a minute after the campaign went live, the project already exceeded its initial €100,000 EUR target (approximately $108,826 USD). Three hours later, enthusiastic backers have already raised more than €500,000 EUR.
Some may ponder how a new watch brand could garner so much hype, especially when this is only its first product launch. The creative brains behind Argon are Theo Auffret, an independent watchmaker, GPHG 2022 nominee, and winner of the 2018 Journe Young Talent Competition, and Guillaume Laidet, the entrepreneur who’s also behind the rebirth of Nivada Grenchen and Vulcain. The duo previously showcased the watches during this year’s Watches & Wonders in Geneva, garnering much attention for the brand within the horology community.
Living up to its name, Spaceone is presented in a bold yet futuristic design. Its striking silhouette exudes sci-fi appeal with touches of retrofuturism. At a glance, it’s reminiscent of De Bethune’s Dream Watch 5, and URWERK’s offerings, both of which also share space exploration, as well as the “space-age” era as design influences. As for power, the 52mm spaceship-like time-teller is geared with the Swiss-made, P024 SOPROD automatic movement with jumping hour. It also boasts a sapphire cockpit, a power reserve of 38 hours, and up to 3 ATM water resistance.
Five options are offered for backers of the projects, including two €1,500 EUR packages for either a polished or brushed stainless steel version, both with a 30-day pre-order availability. A €1,900 EUR blue titanium edition is also available with the same waiting time. There are also two 100-piece limited options for the brushed titanium or forged carbon versions of the watch, which are now no longer available.
Available now on Argon’s Kickstarter page, the pre-order window for Spaceone will cease on June 10, 3:49 p.m. CEST. As for those who are already participating, the watches are expected to ship out this December.
Elsewhere in the world of watches, a mint-condition 1958 Rolex Milgauss sells for a record-breaking $2.5 Million USD.
