kickstarter

[Image: Kicking up some dust in the Judean desert on an epic adventure. And yes, for you eagle eyes, I kept my COURG at EST and used the bezel for IST.]

Greetings courageous crew! Wow. I can’t believe it’s been one year since we started fulfillment on the first COURG production run.

After a year of mostly feeling like I mostly trekked the e-commerce wilderness, it’s time to take a breath, and get my bearings. So, I wanted to debrief with you all about what we’ve worked on this year and where I hope we’re headed.

“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.” Brené Brown

TL;DR

Redux & Co. 2016: Beyond the comfort zone
Mission Accomplished: Flyboy Nicholas, Wings for Wishes
The Redux & Co. Workshop
2016 strap build in progress
Limbo: Strap changer multitool order
Navy Squadron special edition
R&D: Seeking new ballistic nylon material + technology
Welcome, Glazy — client care+support extraordinaire!
E-commerce stack build out
2017 Projects? Paging IP attorney?
Fulfillment & repair operations migrate Stateside
17 Book recommendations from my 2016 stack

Continue reading →

(Image courtesy firefighter H.Hudgins, on duty)

“Jump off the cliff and learn how to make wings on the way down.”
– Ray Bradbury

#COURGcrew —

Thank you, thank you, ad infinitum. I thank each of you for rallying around when we jumped off the Kickstarter cliff of building something new. Your enthusiasm, passion, and patience were the essence that became the nuts, bolts, gears and drive that made COURG possible. I apologize for the lengthy radio silence. Let’s debrief, crew.

Continue reading →

(Image: Nav panel of an Airbus 330 with headings that include waypoint COURG in living color on a flight from Helsinki to New York City shared by fellow COURGcrew member Capt. PK — thank you!)

COURGcrew —

I’ll keep this lean.

Final major wave deploys Monday

Our final major wave was packed today and ships first thing on Monday. There’s roughly 370 of you (and me!) in this wave of mostly TiGr5 backers and I want to sincerely thank you for your long-suffering and gracious patience having to stay in a holding pattern over the lunar holiday festivities.

Continue reading →

(Featured image: Mike M.)

COURGcrew —

I understand it’s likely that it feels like not much is going on, but it’s been one of the busiest stretches thus far for us. It’s been roughly 15 days since the last update, and there’s much to report. Thanks to so many of you who have waited patiently, cheered us on, and updated one another on arrivals.
Continue reading →

COURGcrew —

Welcome to 2016, hope you all enjoyed some solid R&R. We’ll get right to debrief, there’s lots to cover. (Image above, fellow backer, J. Chiew.)

TL;DR

The COURG has landed — first field reports from 12 backers.
500 COURG units deployed.
+Wave 1: Titanium grade 2 Type-A stock kits, with no leather strap add-ons. Quantity = 200.
+Wave 2: The second wave included multiple titanium grade 2 variants and added some Horween strap orders. Quantity = 300.
Production Update
+Wave 3: Scheduled for 10Jan, and planned to include remainder of titanium grade 2
+Titanium grade 5 COURG scheduled to arrive 10-20Jan
+Mil-straps scheduled to begin arriving in two days.
ATTENTION: Inspect the Mission Log when the COURG arrives.
+Review the Operator’s Manual section RE: functions and best practices.
+Date change is counterclockwise rotation.
Working to have everything shipped before Lunar new year festivities that shut everything down in Asia for 3-4 weeks.
Communications update.
Growing pains = Learning. Thank you.

The COURG has landed — first field reports.

Continue reading →

COURGcrew —

We started shipping this week! Tracking info to follow shortly.

In the meantime, here’s intel on COURG units reporting for deployment. It’s been an intense couple weeks gearing up for this stage. From supply chain details, to accounting coordination, I can’t convey how proud I am of our team and field operatives for how all the gears engaged the right cogs and meshed.

Continue reading →

COURGcrew —

As promised, I’ve debriefed with the special ops crew over the last 10 days as soon as I published a new post about the tour of duty to visit our ground operations. Actually, some crew members caught the posts even before I had time to notify everyone via email. On point.

Here, I’m summarizing the Meet Your Makers post series for all the entire crew in case you’d like to catch up and binge on production details. I’ll start from the beginning in case any of you missed day 1 over the Thanksgiving festivities. Continue reading →

COURGcrew —

TL;DR

All systems go for first wave deployment beginning of December
Dial, hand, and case manufacturing walk-throughs.
Many people work hard to build your COURG — in these 3 areas alone, a minimum of 15 craftspeople.

Here’s a Thanksgiving edition update. I’ll blast this out to everyone since it’s been a bit of a radio silence since our last debrief. But the next 3 trip debriefs I’ll summarize before the next blast.

Apologies for going MIA for a week. I planned to file these dispatches in real-time each day, but we took some enemy flak in the form of the Great Firewall of China, some food poisoning (I blame seafood), and a cold. And then I didn’t realize that all work shuts down for 1.5 hrs each day for lunch and siesta.

In some cases, workers stayed at it and let me see the workflow so I could move on to the next stop on time. The workshops and factories were scattered across the industrial outskirts so everything was an hour apart, and then we also contended with traffic bottlenecks at almost every turn.

The trip was an eye opener and really humbling to see how many people must work in tandem in order to craft the COURG for us. I have new-found respect for the men and women who help make the COURG. They are tireless in the attention to detail and stringent in producing excellent watch components.

As I toured these workshops and factories I saw many other big name brand watches on parallel production lines. We benefit from the stringent policies and standards that the larger established brands adhere to. For example, one brand insists on 5-day work weeks (other factories open 6 days), with hefty overtime.

Please know that this is a rough outline to give us a sense of the production. There are many other steps left out. The first day was jam-packed. We started around 8:30a and didn’t wrap at the titanium grade 2 factory until after the workers had already left for the day around 8p. What follows is a chronological account so you see as I saw, with some tidbits gleaned from later in the week for context.

So, this is quite long. Grab your favorite brew, sit back and enjoy the flight. Welcome to the hangar.

Continue reading →

COURGcrew —

TL;DR

Tons of production photos in this one
BackerKit to charge cards Monday, 9NOV
TiGr2: GO! We’re well into production and I’m very pleased with our progress.
TiGr5: Production prototype scheduled to arrive next week
I head out to inspect manufacturer production lines in Asia, 14Nov. Sign-up now if you want alerts for daily updates on this trip.
Special order NH35 movements arrived and are being regulated
Helvetica Type-B prototype Helvetica looks and glows sweet
Lume brightness upgraded & vintage white finish achieved
Horween prototype, regular = 10″ XL = 11″
COURGcrew made a strong showing at the Chronos launch

Continue reading →

#COURGcrew —

All systems point to scheduled departure in December. We’re sorting through the multitude of logistical details to ensure smooth fulfillment, from best practices for SKU tracking and instruction inserts to optimizing packaging to accommodate the diverse orders. In the midst of taming that chaos, we keep our most intense focus on COURG itself and all the details I obsess over.

As an aside, I noticed at Wind-Up (more on the fair below) that some people pronounce COURG, “CORG”. NO. NO. NO. It’s pronounced /ˈkʌrɪdʒ/. Eh yeah, thanks for no help, Oxford dictionary.

COURG = COURAGE. (In case you’re a new recruit, check out the ‘splainer.)

Redux = RE-DUCKS. (Bring back, revive)

TL;DR

Production and fulfillment on schedule for TiGr2 starting in early December, then TiGr5 to ship a couple weeks later.
TiGr2 vs. TiGr5, aesthetically nearly indistinguishable
Titanium hardware in full production mode, slotted to arrive in the US end of next week.
Developed a proprietary lume for true blue: RDXb1 Layered 7 times +sealant
BackerKit lockdown activated, charges to follow when closer to fulfillment
Wind-Up NYC x Redux COURGcrew = Good times.
Meet Chronos, a clever new device for alerts from your case back

Continue reading →

#COURGcrew —

Just in, the photos we’ve all been waiting for — and quite possibly the first TiGr2 vs TiGr5 direct comparison posted anywhere online based on everyone’s extensive web hunting!

TL;DR

Titanium grade 2 and grade 5 prototypes do not differ noticeably in color.
Worn & Wound to host “world’s first affordable watch fair” in NYC, 23-25Oct. We’ll be there.

Continue reading →

#COURGcrew — October SITREP.

Thrilled to report we’ve made steady progress in the last few weeks. This got a bit long as usual, and I hope you enjoy this dispatch from the ground crew hard at work here in the hangar.

DANGER

If you haven’t already, FILL OUT YOUR SURVEY NOW so we can include your order in the first production wave … we’ll wait right here for you … until this MONDAY.

SITREP TL;DR

Mission on schedule
Survey lock and load: 19OCT (MONDAY)
Production underway for Ti grade 2, pressure tested to 17ATM
Ti grade 5 prototype near completion, pressure tested to 20ATM
Helvetica for Type-A
Exclusive titanium strap hardware confirmed
Multiple order shipping & freight no added cost
Horween leather patterns in motion
Fly Boy –> Superbowl Boy
Check this space for HQ dispatches

Continue reading →

Mission Control: BackerKit Survey Dispatched.

TL;DR — GO: https://reduxwatch.backerkit.com

Problems? support@backerkit.com
Titanium grade 2 and grade 5 order mix enabled
Horween XL!
Quartermaster Requisition Directive: Scramble backers to review preflight checklists to confirm COURG order details on the double so that we can taxi down the runway and prepare for on time departure.

Continue reading →

SITREP: Ground Crew Operations

Directive current as of 14:50 19SEP15

TL; DR Coordinates

BackerKit surveys Monday/Tuesday
Pre-production case molds for both titanium grade 2 and grade 5 on schedule
Case back design distilled with room for engraving
New titanium grade 5 manufacturer, upgrade add-on price revision = 35USD
Consulting with Seiko about shock resistance
Horween backers only — Raise your hands for XL Straps, and VOTE on strap tail shape: http://goo.gl/forms/Z4lUTjmZpu
Titanium strap hardware design and development process evaluation
18 ATM confirmed after pressure testing
Wish Kid wants to fly a fighter jet!

Continue reading →

#COURGcrew —

TL;DR

On schedule: Look for BackerKit order survey early next week
Paid deposit to start watch movement building ahead of timeline
Ti2 vs Ti5 visual difference should be minimal
Added Asia fulfillment partner (53% international backers!)
Completed RDX x WW Horween leather strap prototype = Butter (Translation: I like it a lot and would eat it if I could.)

Onward:`
Continue reading →

#COURGcrew — !

Debrief from the latest developments with the ground crew in the hangar and beyond.

TL;DR: Please report your locations and Ti strap hardware upgrade preferences for logistics planning:
[CLOSED]

Mission Phase: Production Prototypes

Airframe: Our agents in the field report our manufacturer has production prototypes in motion. This means that the makers begun to build the molds, and tooling that will shape the titanium grade 2 and grade 5 for our COURG cases, bezels, backs, and crown.
Continue reading →

MISSION CONTROL, WE HAVE TOUCHDOWN.

Ladies and gentlemen we’re on our final approach into the Kickstarter departure gate, with 14 days before we can fully disembark. On behalf of your crew here at Redux & Co. we want to exclaim,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Thousands have joined our COURG maiden voyage and enriched the project way beyond our expectations. We are humbled by the passion, enthusiasm, and confidence you have entrusted us with. We are elevated by the friendships we’ve formed, the encouragement shared through both clear skies and stormy headwinds.
Continue reading →

COURGcrew —

Here’s a compilation of prototypes that make up the design benchmark for where we’re headed into the final production of the COURG.

COURG, Type-A.

COURG Titanium grade 2, with final bezel triangle marker dimensions

COURG on prototype Italian Leather MilStrap with exclusive Redux strap titanium hardware

All the Variants.

Note that all variants come in date and no-date versions, including the Type-B.

Both Type-A and Type-B have been

Straps

Horween Chromexcel collaboration with the Worn & Wound team.

Horween Chromexcel: Color 8 (left), Natural (right)

Prototype of the Natural strap. Note that we will use a natural uncolored thread for this, and dark gray thread for the Color 8.

Italian leather MilStrap with secure understrap.

Italian MilStrap: Distressed tan (top), Saddle dark brown (bottom)

All together now:

Image: Bernard, editor in chief Everyday Carry at Wind-Up, NYC

Packaging: The Redux Crate + Waxed Canvas Mission Folio

#COURGcrew — Full Throttle.

Welcome new backers, we’re full throttle on approach, with T -60 hours and change. And as promised, here’s the final drawings of the refined bezel and variant designs based on backer surveys and with navigation from flight tower to unify the diverse constraints into one cohesive fleet:

I wanted to preserve the use of colors in the legendary A-11 and Type-B, so I selected Pantone colors (Red 187 and Blue 534, if you’re geeks like us) for the respective dial second hand counterweights that hinted at their heritage without overpowering the rest of the dial. As I told A-11 backers, some of the WW2 watches featured a nice rich red. Some Type-B dials used blued-steel, so I went with a deep blue. And no, I don’t think blued-steel belongs on the COURG.
Continue reading →

Username
Password

	Remember Me Lost your password?

TL;DR

“Jump off the cliff and learn how to make wings on the way down.” – Ray Bradbury

#COURGcrew —

COURGcrew —

Final major wave deploys Monday

COURGcrew —

COURGcrew —

The COURG has landed — first field reports.

COURGcrew —

COURGcrew —

COURGcrew —

COURGcrew —

COURGcrew —

TL;DR

#COURGcrew —

#COURGcrew —

TL;DR

#COURGcrew — October SITREP.

DANGER

SITREP TL;DR

COURGcrew —

COURG, Type-A.

All the Variants.

Straps

All together now:

Packaging: The Redux Crate + Waxed Canvas Mission Folio

“Jump off the cliff and learn how to make wings on the way down.”
– Ray Bradbury