Melbourne Watch Company – The “Avalon”

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The Melbourne Watch Company is a leading player in the promising micro watch brand industry. Established since 2013, this Australian watch brand offers customers high quality, stylish and unique timepieces at an accessible price point.  The brand has successfully crowd-funded the Flinders (the debut model), the Hawthorn and most recently, the Portsea. Inspired by these achievements, the brand has also independently released a mid-size dress watch, the Parkville.

Now, the brand is planning the launch of next model – the Avalon, a modern wristwatch on the classic aviation watch theme.  The Avalon is named after Melbourne’s Avalon Airfield – home of the International Air Show, the largest and most comprehensive event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Avalon takes visual themes from both classic and modern aviation and incorporates them into the watch’s styling cues. The matte black DLC coating on the case was inspired by stealth fighters like the F-117 Nighthawk. The elongated markers at 3, 6, 9 and 12 evoke the crosshairs within a targeting scope. The dial’s open heart aperture and “propeller” bridge pay tribute to the open-nose fighters of WWII and the bordering hazard stripe is a nod to the safety markers found on airstrips and aircraft around the world. The case back features stylised jet turbine blades surrounding the display crystal.

The 45mm case is milled from surgical-grade 316L Stainless Steel which has then undergone a process known as ‘DLC’ (Diamond Like Carbon) coating. The dial is framed by flat anti-reflective sapphire crystal and consists of multiple layers, each with different textures. The centre-most dial section features an oil-pressed ‘shuriken’ pattern and is surrounded by applied stainless steel indices.

The open heart aperture exposes part of the high-beat Miyota 90S5 automatic movement. This premium caliber from Miyota operates at 28,800 beats per hour, or 8 per second, allowing for a smooth sweep of the second hand around the dial.

The semi-skeleton hour & minute hands have broad areas of orange Super-Luminova to match the applied indices. As with previous models from the brand, the Avalon features the signature “M” counterweight on the seconds hand. The sapphire crystal caseback gives full view to the movement, decorated with jeweled chatons and Côtes de Genève (“Geneva Stripes”). The rotor features a radial sunburst pattern, which will also be engraved with the “M” logo in the production version.

The brand has launched a Kickstarter crowd funding campaign to promote Avalon timepiece. The backers can pre order the timepiece for a price of $575AUD ($445USD). Delivery of the product is planned on May 2015.

Technical details
Case
Material- 316L Stainless Steel w/ DLC coating
Case Size: 45mm (Excluding Crown)
Case Thickness: 12.1mm
Lug Width: 24mm
Lug To Lug: 54mm
Crown: 6.5 x 4mm (Engraved)
Crystal: Anti-Reflective Sapphire
Water Resistance: 50m/5ATM

Movement
Miyota 90S5 Open Heart Automatic (28,800bph)

Dial
Multi-Layered w/ Applied Steel Indices & Orange Super-Luminova

Strap
24mm Genuine Leather w/ matte black DLC buckle (22mm)

Warranty
24 Months