We used to have favorable comments about International Watchman on this blog, but it was brought to our attention that owner Ron Sabo has been engaging since 2012 in activities that can only be described as IP trolling:
- Sep 2012 http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?54073-International-Watchman-Inc-NATO-G10
- Nov 2013 http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?61181-More-news-about-International-Watchman
- Oct 2014 http://www.dailyreportingsuite.com/ip/news/_nato_and_nato_g_10_marks_not_proven_generic_for_watches
Watchproject.com was created to promote the re-use and mixing of designs that have either been dropped by established brands or fallen into public domain. We do not condone counterfeiting, but we believe that any micro-brand entrepreneur should be allowed to tinker with designs or ideas as long as they don’t become parasites to the added value created by for-profit or non-profit structures.
In this case the polemic revolves around the terms NATO (accronym of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an intergovernmental military alliance funded by taxpayers money), and G10, which is the nickname of the G1098 form that NATO soldiers had to fill in to get their hand on a watch strap originally designed by the British Ministry of Defence, thus paid for by British taxpayers:
http://gearpatrol.com/2014/01/07/icon-nato-strap/
In a move that can only be described as greedy, Ron Sabo went on and registered the widespread terms NATO and NATO G10 as US trademarks, and since 2012 he has been asking eBay to remove sales that included either of the terms in the title of description.
“Wow!”, he said. Not about the watches, but the WEBSITE! Not only are the watches homages to classic pieces, but that website is an homage to 1993. I haven’t seen anything like that since geocities sites were all the rage. Blinking animated gifs, frames, it’s hypnotizing!
The watches look pretty good though. I particularly like the “Exploding Scroll Case Deco” on the leather strap- it’s one of the best looking tonneau executions I’ve seen in a while.
How can I purchase one of the fifty fathom homage watches?
Hi Steve.
It’s pretty simple: follow the link in the first line of my article.
It will take you to their Website.
From there, you can use the Contact form located at the bottom of their left menu.
Sadly, not only his his website out of style, but his service is also. I found him to be a rude person. I also find his watchstraps to be middling in quality level to very poor. I will avoid this “gentleman” at all cost in the future.