Kickstarter is full of dive watches, but not so many pilot watches. The Alcadus Opus intends to put that right when it launches on 28th June 2019.

Alcadus Opus Review

The Alcadus Opus eschews the recent Kickstarter trend of chunky diver’s watches by putting a Flieger dial in a 39mm case. It’s an odd choice, as pilot’s watches are normally 42mmm+, but it does kind of work. The watch brings to mind the Rolex Explorer, with a similar case design and its Oyster-style bracelet. The Opus improves upon traditional aviation watches by adding a big box sapphire crystal and the superb ETA 2892 movement.

Case

The case of the Alcadus Opus looks familiar – there are no unexpected lines, shapes or curves, and this helps to draw the eye to its dial. The brushing on the case is nicely done, and when you flip it over you can see the gorgeous custom rotor and that ETA 2892 movement. Arguably this watch looks just as good upside down!

The crown is a half-onion which makes it easy to grip and adjust the time. The winding is buttery smooth as you’d expect from the premium movement. The downside for me was that the watch is quite thick with its tall crystal, and the small diameter emphasizes the thickness somewhat. A similar criticism to the Seagull 1963 which also suffers due to its diameter to thickness ratio.

Dial

The Alcadus Opus dial is made of enamel, and  comes in white (as reviewed) or black, with a full-lume grey dial option also available. The applied markers are outlined in blue, as are the hands, which brought to mind the Omega Aqua Terra. It’s an unusual combination of colours that is very legible. I was surprised not to see matching blue stitching on the leather strap, but that’s an option for buyers to dress it up in the future. The date at 6 O’Clock balances the dial well, and I liked the stylish triangle pointer at 12.

I was a little disappointed that dial, markers, date wheel and hands are all slightly different shades of white. I hope this can be addressed in the final production.

Bracelet and Strap

The Alcadus Opus review model was sent to me with several straps, which I’ll cover in the video review. My favourites were the vintage leather and the rubber – with the others offering a variety of choice of colours and finishes. They’ve all got quick release pins, which is great. For your money you get a bracelet plus a leather strap with the watch.

I must admit to being disappointed by the bracelet, which is similar to that of many other microbrands and has push pins instead of screws in the bracelet and a thin clasp like that of the Hamtun Kraken.

Alcadus Opus – Video Review

https://youtu.be/zKPz2waoruM

What I Liked

  • At 39mm, the Alcadus Opus is a good, versatile size
  • The dial design and blue colouring is very attractive
  • The movement is superlative

What I Didn’t Like

  • The bracelet is adequate, but I expected better for the asking price
  • The mismatched whites on the dial distracted me from enjoying the watch as much as I would have liked
  • At $840, with this design, I think the watch is too expensive to do well on Kickstarter

Alcadus Opus – The WRUK Verdict

Full marks to Alcadus for trying something new, but at $840 I think this watch is going to struggle to attract $40,000 work of investment on Kickstarter. I just don’t think the design is unique enough to justify spending that much, although the ETA 2892 is undoubtedly worth the price of admission.

The creator has pointed out that the bracelet will be improved in the final production (with 20mm – 16mm tapering, screw-type removable links, and a solid clasp with perlage finish). The mismatch color of the hand and index lume will be address in the production.

Buy an Alcadus Opus

You can head over to Kickstarter to back the Alcadus Opus from 2PM GMT on 28th June 2019. For your money, you get a watch, a leather strap, a steel bracelet, a 3-slot leather watch roll, an NFC warranty card and a 2 year warranty, which goes up to 3 if you register with the NFC card. Alcadus aims to keep spares for this watch for at least 10 years if future-proofing is important to you. Find out more at https://www.alcadus.com/

Update 4th September 2019: it appears there have been some changes in the watch. The movement is now ETA 2824 (elaboré) with customized skeletonized rotor, the rubber strap has been dropped and the dial on the white model is no longer enamel. Price is currently $597 for preorders.

By Mike Richmond

Mike spends what little spare time he has writing for WRUK; and what little money he makes building up his collection of timepieces.

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