Thanks, in part, to the popular crowd-sourced funding organization Kickstarter, the clock is ticking for Zach Raven to launch his line of specialty watches.
rvnDSGN is the brainchild of Raven, an industrial designer, who long had an interest in watches. He was also especially intrigued about the possibilities in trying a new approach to having the watches made. "All the pieces are built with 3-D printing and rapid prototyping," he says.
"The watches are very cool with geometry and shapes that traditional manufacturing can't do," explains Raven, who stresses that the manufacturing process is really one of the key features to the brand and certainly promises to be a conversation starter.
Raven is emphatic that he is not competing against Rolex and other premium brands. He wants to keep the watches in a $200-$250 price point. "I want the watches to be a conversation piece and be affordable."
To raise money for this venture, Raven began a
Kickstarter project. "My goal was to get the watches on the market and I did not want to borrow money," he says. "I also wanted to see market interest."
His project was successful, as he not only met his goal, but almost doubled the money and received important feedback on the watches, which he was able to incorporate into his design.
Raven initially plans to sell his watches through his website and eventually add speciality retailers. Check out rvnDSGN's
site for more information.
Source: Zach Raven, rvnDSGN
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor
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