Watch brand collaboration: 47Ronin x Phantoms Lab (HK)

Phantoms Lab is a brand that produces authentic tourbillon watches that fuses both traditional craftsmanship and modern technological engineering. Founded in 2014 and based in Hong Kong, the first prototype Phantoms tourbillon watch arrived in the market in the first quarter of 2016, after 2 years of research and development. Every watch produced is handcrafted and uniquely assembled in its own unique way. Phantoms Lab believes that while the design can be the same, each timepiece has its own soul.

So what exactly is a tourbillon watch? To understand what they are, we must first understand the difference between a mechanical watch and a quartz watch. A mechanical watch uses a clockwork mechanism to measure the passage of time while quartz watches function electronically by utilizing a small battery. A tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement, the main part of a mechanic watch that advances the clock’s hands. In tourbillon watches, the escapement and balance wheel are mounted in a rotating cage that revolves at a slow rate. This is to improve time accuracy by preventing watch positional errors that occur as a result of gravity.

While time accuracy is no longer a problem in modern quartz watches, tourbillons are still manufactured in some watches as a novelty and to show watchmaking craftsmanship. Although modern tourbillon watches are known to be very expensive, Phantoms Lab manages to keep it at a reasonable price point.

https://phantomslab.com/product/cyber-blade-limited-edition-copy/

 47Ronins has received the Cyber Blade tourbillon watch from Phantoms Lab, which is also part of their mechanical flagship Blade series. The Cyber Blade fuses metallic elements with futuristic design to create a cyborg-inspired, high-end exterior.

The first thing you will notice is the watch is time-coffin shaped instead of the usual round design you see in most mainstream watches. The watch is technically complex, featuring see-through movements with matte black coating, a multi-layered structural dial, a 316L stainless steel case, and scratch resistant anti-reflective coated sapphire glass.

At an affordable price point of USD$540.00, the ground-breaking yet sophisticated style of this watch is sure to keep both its user and passerbys who set their eyes on it enthralled for years to come. 

Phantoms Lab watches come in silicon straps shaped perfectly to fit the lug of the watch. However, some customers have requested for leather straps, which Phantoms Lab does not produce. This is the trigger behind the collaboration between Phantoms Lab and 47Ronin. 47Ronin founder Tong met Phantoms Lab co-founder Felix in his Hong Kong office to discuss about producing some leather straps for the watches.

The watch has a 24mm lug, while the strap has a wide of 34mm right after the lug. The strap then tapers to fit a 24mm buckle. 

After taking care of the shape of the strap, we have selected a piece of bronze brown leather as the base, and flowery Kimono textile fabric with some golden shine for the in-lay as the main design. 

A golden yellow thread is chosen, and is hand-sewn along the edge of the straps to secure the two layers together. Extra stitches are added to wrap up the corners to strengthen the protruding corners.

A golden stainless steel butterfly clasp buckle is then attached to compliment the overall bronze and golden colour theme. 

When attached to the Cyber Blade tourbillon watch from Phantoms Lab, the dark, and mysterious mood is instantly transformed into a bright, shinny, playful, yet elegant style with a great deal of handcraftedness.  

The lug and width of the strap just fits perfectly to the watch, despite the very narrow space between the spring-bar and the bezel.

Thank you Phantoms Lab for the collaboration!

47Ronin 浪人 Watch Straps are designed & handcrafted piece by piece with exotic materials from various part of Japan, such as leather, Kimono fabric, Japanese print, and interesting materials.

Interested in our watch straps? 

Feel free to contact us for any enquiry at: hi@47ronin.co 

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Visit our website for more information and regular updates on new releases