Buy our ‘Koallaboration’ with Nivada Grenchen and seconde/seconde/ and save koalas until December 31
Andrew McUtchenComing up on three years ago, Australia had one of the most lethal summers for wildfires – we call them bushfires down here – on record. It was, quite literally, a nightmare. During the days, the skies would darken to a point where cars would use headlights at midday. But it wasn’t thunderstorm, or night-time dark. It was cloud cover with a reddish hue, combined with stifling, open oven door heat. A true hellscape.
Because these weren’t clouds. It was smoke. From huge tracts of land burned back to scorched earth. Countless animals, and scores of people, died in the fires. And those that survived – both humans and animals – were left to face a barren landscape, without their homes. At the time, we alerted the watch industry to the situation and together, we did an auction that raised a quarter of a million dollars to help.
Now, it’s time to help again. Results from the Australian Koala Foundation’s Koala Habitat Atlas deliver a grim picture of the status of Koala populations in all regions studied so far. Available habitat was found to be fragmented and degraded, and in many areas of suitable habitats, no evidence of Koalas has been found. The AKF believes that the national wild Koala population could be less than 80,000, dramatically less than the millions which were believed to exist at the start of the 20th Century. The same koalas that lived through an environmental apocalypse, are struggling to survive in their diminished habitat – they are clinging to life in a world turned upside down.
Joining us in the mission to save the koalas are our two collaborators in creativity – Nivada Grenchen and seconde/seconde/. We are continuing the theme of the main release of the ChaosMaster Editions – which asked, how do you respond to a world turned upside down? Are you spun out? Are you fine? Are you fantastic? The base for this creative collision is the function-packed Nivada Grenchen Chronomaster Aviator Sea Diver. Originally released in 1963 with a form nearly identical to what we see from its re-release, though while the original sported a variety of movements, including Valjoux, Landeron and Venus, the modern interpretation is powered by the excellent, hand-wound Sellita SW500.
This final ChaosMaster model, called the Save Us Koala Edition makes the concept even more literal, by planting a Koala on the seconds / chronograph hand, and having them cling on for dear life when it is activated. In highlighted letters in the text on the dial, you can read ‘SAVE US’. This is not a limited edition, but a limited production model – we will be taking orders through until December 31, then we’ll be done. Delivery is expected March, 2023.
Price: US$2,195 (inc taxes), you can purchase the watch right here in the Time+Tide Shop.
10% of all ‘Save Us’ Koala Edition sales (exc taxes and freight costs) to the Australian Koala Foundation.
Note that Australian Dollars may show on the listing, but local currency will be displayed at the point of checkout.
Price is inclusive of all GST / VAT taxes and duties.
Delivery Date: Estimated March, 2023