Fall of the Berlin Wall Watches - REAL History on Your Wrist

Latest News on the Berlin Wall
over 7 years ago – Tue, Oct 16, 2018 at 01:35:35 PM

Hello!

The re-manufacturing of the bracelets and straps is moving along. The bracelets are taking longer than the straps, so we have decided that as soon as the new straps come in, we will start shipping. Then we may have to send extra links to some people after the bracelets come in. Everyone who got the bracelet model gets the straps too, so at least you get to wear the watch if the bracelet is too short.

It is possible this could happen by the first of next month, but realistically I think we are talking mid-November now. I will do my best to send out a new update every 5 to 7 days.

thanks!

Craig

Hardest Update I Have Had to Post on Kickstarter to Date
over 7 years ago – Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 08:52:00 PM

Hello everyone,

Okay, I know some of you are frustrated that I haven't put up another update earlier given that September is coming to a close. I apologize about this and want to explain.

We ran into an unexpected production issue. I will explain more below. Firstly, this delay was like a gut punch to us and I have honestly been struggling with how to deal with it. I will freely admit to some approach avoidance to how we would deal with this publicly.

Beyond this, we have been grappling with some competing options since we learned about this problem. I wanted to give you the most clear update I could and have been gathering all the info over the past few days.

So, here is what happened: When we built the prototypes, we realized that both the bracelet and the leather straps were too short. Certainly there are people, including myself, who can wear them just fine at the original length. But having done this for many, many years, we knew there would be customers with larger wrist who literally couldn't wear the watch with the straps the length they were first produced.

Back in March, we clearly stated to our strap and bracelet manufacturer that we needed to lengthen both. They do not dispute this as we have written proof of this correspondence. However, a few days ago when we finished the first, real production samples to review, we discovered this change had NOT been made. 

So, this threw us into a very difficult situation. Do we send out the pre-sold watches with the shorter straps and bracelets and hope that we don't run into any problems? Or do we delay production, get new straps and bracelets produced, and be sure they will fit everyone? After agonizing over this for several days now, we have decided on the latter.

We realize this will not please anyone and there may be many backers who think we should just send the watches as is. At least I expect that to be the case. But we would rather wait and send everything correct. This was not an easy decision to make. But the last thing we want to happen is for someone to get their watch and find they can't actually wear it and we have no way to address that immediately. Even if we surveyed everyone about their wrist size, this would mean some people would get their watches well before others and we also thought that would not be fair.

The main thing we have been waiting on since we made that decision was exactly how long it would take to correct this mistake. That is still not 100% certain but from all the information we have we are looking at the end of October to receive the first watches.

We realize this NOT what anyone wanted to hear. We are so disappointed about this development. And, again, I apologize for not pushing out a new update faster.

We know these kinds of things happen. But given that this was a matter we thought we had taken care of some time ago, it has not been easy to come to terms with this delay.

I did want to share some pictures from the production process so you can see that we are moving forward. Please know, there is NO QUESTION that everyone will be getting the watch they ordered. It is not a matter of IF but of WHEN. We have been in the watch business for the better part of two decades and never have we not completed a delivery.

We deeply apologize and I will do my best to keep you better informed step by step in the final weeks of this process.

thanks,

Craig

Production Status on Berlin Wall Watch
over 7 years ago – Wed, Sep 12, 2018 at 12:48:43 AM

Hello everyone!

First of all, my apologies for not having done another update before now. My travel schedule has been nuts lately and kept me perpetually behind on things like this.

So, I know you all are anxiously awaiting your watches and some news. At this point, we are on target for the end of September to finish production. That isn't too far off of where I thought we would be a couple months back.

Two critical things slowed production.

1) We were not happy with how the lume was applied to the chapter rings. It did not have nearly the glow we demand for our watches so we had to redo them. This added to the production timeline, but when it comes to something like that we won't accept a sub-standard product.

2) After some additional testing, we changed the design of the nylon-covered leather strap. We did this to make it look more interesting and to make it a bit more flexible for comfort.

In the meantime, we are getting some pics together of the production process and will share those in a day or two. I am finishing up the book that will come with the watch and we have ordered the extras.

Here is a picture of how the pieces of the wall are sorted before being placed into the crown. Yep, this is done with tweezers!

Yours,

Craig and Kristine

We Are Resending the Survey Today
over 7 years ago – Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 10:46:12 PM

Okay, so several people didn't get the survey and we actually left a couple of crucial questions out.

I am upgrading to the paid Survey Monkey in hopes having our name on the survey will help.

If you have already answered the survey, PLEASE resubmit with the new one I am sending in about a half an hour.

thanks!

Craig

Surveys for Limited Edition Numbers sent out
over 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 09:55:07 PM

We just sent out the survey for the LE numbers. This was done with Survey Monkey.

If you have a specific LE request (even if you put it in before) it is VITAL you answer the survey. We got requests from all over the place with different manner of delivery. FB messages, emails, texts, you name it. We just couldn't keep it organized.

So please answer the survey and do so ASAP. We don't want this to slow down the production process.

thanks!

Craig