It was just last month that I reviewed the BOLDR Venture Automatic titanium field watch. Now, the folks in Singapore have new model that takes its titanium field watch concept in a new direction, The Venture Field Medic, specifically designed for the medical professionals who have risen to the incredible challenge of treating the Conornavirus Pandemic. The watch is available for pre-order today, with a fixed amount of proceeds going towards multiple COVID-19 relief funds.
The watch is intended to be medic-friendly chronograph used to measure pulse rates and respiratory counts of patients. As you can tell from the pictures, it uses the same 38mm titanium case design I liked so much as the Venture Automatic. It is 44mm long and just 12.2mm thick. This time, it has been outfitted to suit the Seiko VK64 chronograph inside. These MechaQuartz movements are my favorite quartz units as they have a smooth 1/5th second sweep and crisp snap-back reset.
Danny Luís, a designer based in Portugal (ESCH Design) came up with a concept for a medic tool watch along with his friend Dr. Karan Madan, a physician based in India. Inspired by healthcare professionals who regularly count pulse rates and respiratory counts of patients, the watch would be a handy medical tool as well as a collectors item for watch-lovers in general.
After solidifying the idea with Karan, Danny reached out to long-time collaborator and founder of BOLDR Supply Company, Leon Leong, who immediately came on board. Having observed the sacrifices of the medical community first-hand, Leon was eager to help. As he explains, “I was quarantined as a suspected carrier in the National Center For Infectious Diseases (Singapore) for 2 days. The doctors and nurses were among the bravest souls I have seen, working tirelessly to manage the increasing number of suspected cases while nursing admitted patients back to health.” I’m pleased to report that Leon was released with a clear bill of health.
With little time to waste, the trio got to work. Leon provided base materials and watch manufacturing concepts while Danny designed the watch layout, and Karan provided the calculation scales for the pulse and respiratory rates. “Designing the watch was the biggest challenge, requiring many discussions and revisions until we got it absolutely right,” remarked Danny. “I felt like the ‘Medic Watch’ concept should not be merely a casual watch or dress watch, but one that is robust and optimised for superior performance.” The watch went from concept to production in a month.
An enthusiastic watch collector himself, Karan realized the appeal of having a watch with multiple handy functions safely strapped to one’s wrist for daily rounds. “Being a physician, the watch embodies the utility I require in my daily work,” he said. “Now I can quickly count off the heart and respiratory rate of patients within a few seconds by using precise graduated scales on the dial, without wasting valuable time counting the traditional way,” he said.
The dial is marvelously detailed and brimming with useful information. It features the usual small seconds and 24-hour registers, minute and hour markers, and also two indexes that will likely be new to those unfamiliar with traditional doctor’s watches: a pulsometer and a respiratory rate scale. To use them, simply activate the chronograph, count the specified number of beats or breaths, stop the chronograph, and the central second hand points to the required measurement. Even the date disk has a medical purpose as that is necessary when completing patient notes. You can choose from two different dials: dark gray with two-tone lume for the hours, minutes, all three primary hands, and both medial scales; or a full-time white dial with green-lumed hands and pulsations index.
Like the previous Venture Field Watch, the Field Medic is meant for serous use. It has a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, a screw-down crown, and is rated for 200m water resistance. It comes fitted with a 20mm nylon NATO strap and titanium hardware. You can knock it about all day and also disinfect the whole thing stem-stern whenever necessary.
“We’re confident this will be a great tool watch not only for healthcare workers, but regular watch-lovers alike. It was just an idea, one that we’re glad we brought to life in order to do a small but important part to help.” says Leon.
I think the watch is an amazing, practical tool as well as a heartfelt gesture for the healthcare workers on the front lines of this pandemic. You can pre-order the Venture Medic Field today on BOLDR’s website www.boldrsupply.co for $299 and they will donate $30 from every watch sale to Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross Singapore, and several other COVID-19 relief funds. ⬩
