LIV Watches is a direct-to-consumer microbrand founded in 2014, whose stock-in-trade is “crafting durable Swiss timepieces built to suit the modern man.” The first watch the company launched on Kickstarter was the GX1, at the end of 2014, which was fully funded within the first 11 hours. Just over a year later, another Kickstarter campaign raising 1.1 million brought its sequel, the GX1-A, to life. In March 2017, a third campaign, which raised over $1.7 million from more than 2,900 customers, birthed the Rebel, which remains the most crowdfunded Swiss watch to date. Now LIV Watches announces its fourth Kickstarter campaign, began on May 29, called “The Breakthrough,” which the brand says will take it to the next level, launching not one but four all-new limited editions — the GX P51 Swiss Auto Chronograph, GX Swiss Auto Chronograph, GX Divers Swiss Automatic, and GX Alarm.
The GX P51 Swiss Auto Chronograph Pilot’s Watch, limited to 500 pieces, is dedicated to the P51 Mustang WW2 Plane and constructed with a titanium case, ceramic bezel and a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal in the front and back. It features a Swiss automatic movement, the Sellita SW 500, with 25 jewels and a 48-hour power reserve. The movement powers a 12-hour chronograph and a quick-set date; the dial’s hands are coated with luminescent substance. The case is water-resistant to 100 meters, with a screwed caseback and crown. It will be available on the Kickstarter campaign at $1,170 (Super Early Bird) and $1,190.
There will also be a non-titanium version of this watch limited to 1,000 pieces, the Pilot’s Steel, with a 316L stainless steel case, priced at $970 (Super Early Bird) and $990.
The Sellita 500 movement is visible through the caseback.
The GX Swiss Auto Chronograph, a limited edition of 1,000 pieces, is inspired by the brand’s first watch, which many of its fans at the time were clamoring for a version with an automatic movement. These cries have finally been answered. Like the Pilot’s Watch, this model features the 25-jewel Swiss automatic chronograph movement Sellita SW 500. The 316L stainless steel case features a three-dimensional multilayered “sandwich” dial with luminous-coated hands and indices. This watch will be available on the Kickstarter campaign for $770 (Super Early Bird) and $790.
Above and below: LIV GX Auto Chronograph
The watch is powered by the self-winding Sellita 500.
The GX Diver’s Swiss Automatic boasts 300-meter/1,000-feet water resistance. Limited to 1,000 pieces, its steel case is topped by a rotating divers’ bezel made of ceramic. Under its “sandwich” style dial, with luminous hands and indices, beats the Swiss-made automatic ETA 2824 movement, with 25 jewels and a 40-hour power reserve. The movement, which is visible through a “Cyclops” sapphire caseback, is also outiftted with Incabloc shock protection, an Etachron regulator, a lever escapement, and a quick-set date mechanism. Both the crown and the caseback are screwed down. Kickstarter pricing: $470 (Super Early Bird) and $490.
Above and below: LIV Diver Automatic
The Diver contains the automatic ETA 2824.
Finally, the GX Alarm, another limited edition of 1,000 pieces, is outfitted with a multifunction quartz movement, the Ronda Startech Caliber 4120.B, which powers the time, big date display, small seconds, and an alarm function. It features the same stainless steel case construction (here with 100 meters of water resistance) and multilayered dial construction as the other three watches with Swiss mechanical movements, but is offered at even more value-oriented prices on Kickstarter: $270 (Super Early Bird) and $290.
Above and below: LIV GX Alarm
Behind the solid caseback, a quartz Ronda movement powers the watch.
“We tallied up the requests, personally spoke to some of our most die-hard fans, scoured every single review that we have ever received and boom! – something magical was born,” says Esti Chazanow, the microbrand’s co-founder, of the new collection. “A whole series of watches that give new meaning to combining form with function, at an accessible price.”
