Some half a year after opening their most recent retail location in New York, Time+Tide, our neighbours from down the road in Melbourne, are launching FounderFest, a global, music-inspired get-together headlined by seven special edition watches. The event will take place simultaneously across New York, London, and Melbourne on the 19th and 20th of September, bringing together founders of each of the seven brands (more on the watches shortly), encompassing Awake, Baltic, Beaucroft, Dennison, Echo/neutra, Furlan Marri, and Serica. You’ll be able to buy all of them during a 24-hour online order window on the 22nd of September, and after that, in perpetuity through T+T’s stores.
French microbrand Awake brings their A-game with the Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf in the new Ultraviolet colourway, combining the Vietnamese lacquering technique with the more refined case and dial signature introduced in the Sơn Mài Guilloché Main. Price: A$4,550
Bolstering the Gallic line-up is Baltic with the Heures du Monde Horizon Line, sporting a forged carbon dial, which is unusual for the vintage-inclined micro. The bezel highlights the locations of T+T’s bases around the world in a baby blue (finally, Melbourne is on a GMT, though curiously, Sydney is still there), while the internal 24-hour scale gets a contrasting orange for the hours of the day. At 37mm, it’s really no surprise how well Baltic’s design resonates with the retro aficionados. Price: A$2,650
The first of the British acts is The Punk from Beaucroft, which is sure to surprise anyone familiar with the brand. While they’re never ones to shy away from colour, full black cases and blackened lume atop a transparent hot pink layer is not quite in their wheelhouse, but the name of the watch tells you all about where the inspiration came from. Price: A$1,150
I wonder what the Dennison Carnaby Blue is tributing? This overt ode to British mod-era rock has been rendered with mother-of-pearl marquetry, with the dual time functionality delivered by twin Ronda quartz calibres sitting side-by-side. Price: A$1,595
The Rivanera was a bit of a sensation when it originally came out, its brutalist aesthetic being a unique take on the rectangular dress watch idea. The Rivanera Piccolo is its smaller, automatic cousin, though retaining the ultra-sharp, polished chamfers and the monochrome look. The uniform look of the Rosa d’Epoca is only broken up by subtle highlights of pink added with the T+T collaboration. Price: A$2,880
T+T debuted their first Furlan Marri collaboration a few years ago with the gorgeously brown Outback Elegy, and the colour returns in a slightly different form with the Editions Songlines. It’s the successor of Furlan Marri’s own special edition – the Red Hunter – and features the same hinged hunter caseback, but this time with a new, index-only dial layout and a new three-link bracelet. Price: A$3,750
Last, but most certainly not least, is Serica’s ref. 7505 Sunburst. Its brown dial is taken directly from the warm hues of wooden guitars, darkening to black as it approaches the minute track. The case is ultra-compact at 35mm, and the Bonklip bracelet perfectly matches the vintage sizing. The intersection of music and watches, and Serica’s founders’ interest in both was the very thing that inspired not just this watch, but FounderFest as a whole.
