Interview with Jason Wai, Founder and CEO of Infantry Watch

Fashion - Interview

by Mehmet Kaplan

Every brand needs the inspiration to make itself unique. When Jason decided to create his own watch brand, he aimed to combine traditional watch-making technique and advanced technology with military style. And after the design, research and development work he did, a watch that offers 'Style' for simple daily life and 'Performance' for challenging outdoor adventure, INFANTRY Watch appeared. In order to learn more about this military style watches, I asked Jason Wai, Founder and CEO of Infantry Watch.

Infantry Watch Design Process

Jason, how did you come up with Infantry Watch idea?

Infantry Co. was founded in 2011 by a group of people who are passionate about adventure, style and most importantly watches. We love coming up with new products that you will love and that is always exciting and new. Our passion drives us towards perfection, putting in hours and hours of work to get a truly amazing and unique end product.

Experimentation is key to coming up with incredible designs, and we are never afraid of pushing the boundaries. We take inspiration from the military and the way they are always developing new ideas and trying the new technology out to get the best results. We are proud to be adventurous in our approach towards designing our products and love experimenting with new designs and features.

The Alibaba Hong Kong Ecommerce Competition 2016 First Place

Could you tell us about Infantry Watch?

At Infantry Co. we are proud of how unique and original our designs are. We believe that originality can only come from the paths that were never taken. We also love trying out these new and exciting ideas. Trying something that no one else has done before is a great way of learning new things. We might try something and if it doesn’t work out, oh well! We’ll just move on and learn from that mistake. But, if it works, we might just have found something incredible. Efficient ways of doing things only come from trial and error, and learning from your mistakes. We believe in pushing the boundaries and taking that leap into the unknown.

Wherever you are, it is nice to have a reliable timepiece with you. Our military-inspired watches are designed to be with you every step of the way, wherever you are. Designed with precision and made from high-quality materials using tried and tested manufacturing processes, our watches are perfect for the adventurer or the everyday man who is looking for a stylish timepiece to match his outfit.

Our mission, which we chose to accept, is to make stylish watches that are available to everyone. We are dedicated to this mission and work tirelessly to reach new heights of design and function, breaking boundaries and conquering new frontiers.

Infantry REVOLUTION

You have three different collections. Could you tell us about your collections? What are their features and inspirations?

REVOLUTION

An important milestone that completely revolutionized INFANTRY’s workmanship, named The Infantry Revolution Series. The watch movement INR-X1-SK was in-house developed to be used as the heart of this precise timepiece. Aside from this, it also consists of unique watch movement for each of its 3 models, bringing personalized watch solution for every life explorer.

AVIATEUR

Inspired by the theme of a pilot and ¬fighter jet dashboard with 6 hands 3 sub-dials equipped with Citizen Japan chronograph quartz movement, sapphire crystal, 100M water resistance, ultra large 50mm watch dial with Japanese-made luminous coated dial indices and watch hands-on super tough stainless-steel watch case. In addition, Aviateur Pilot series is not only practical and durable but also forge a unique military fashion trend.

ELITE

Inspired by military element, in practice of the multi-functional wrist watches series composed of Japanese quartz movement and dual time zone display. Digital chronograph with the precision of 1/100 second, that includes date, day, 30m depth waterproof and backlight display.

Infantry AVIATEUR

What are the common features of Infantry watches?

The INFANTRY designs concept demonstrated innovative ideas that are projected into the timepieces, from its appearance to the materials and functions detail which were 100% original with its in-house development team.

Infantry SKELETON

Which materials and movement do you use on Infantry watches?

SKELETON

The skeletonized movement, Infantry in-house modi¬fied automatic INR-X1-SK caliber consist of Swiss-made components, including 21 jewels. The INR-X1-SK beats at a frequency of 21,600 VPH and boasts of 42-hour power reserve. The making of INR-X1-SK had reached a higher stability and Performance incomparable with most Asia-assembled automatic movements brands.

CHRONO¬MASTER

In addition to the basic timekeeping, it also consists of chronograph function and date display. The three small dials do not only add the complexity on the watch surface with fighter jet cockpit layout but also to be operated with 1/10 second chronograph for up to 59 minutes and 59 seconds. A watch with fighter jet dash-board layout.

DUAL TIMER

Dual timer consists of both analog and digital time display, including alarm, date of the month, the day of the week and stopwatch function. It also consists of digital backlight display, which enables users to operate various functions even in an all dark environment.

A single watch consists of both analog and digital display with various functions.

Infantry DUAL TIMER

How often do you change up your collections? Do you have any new designs on the drawing table?

New collections are usually being brought to Infantry once every quarter, we have just launched the revolution series and its available on Kickstarter for another few days! Catch the chance for the discount offer while last! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1124151948/the-1st-full-black-pvd-auto-movt-skeleton-aviation?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=aviator

Infantry AVIATEUR

Now you have an active Kickstarter project and you achieved your goal and fully funded before 20 days from the end of the campaign. How did you prepare for the project? What is the key point of your success?

The challenges in developing this new premium series our of product line were to build up a new supply chain from the draft in order to pursue the highest quality as possible.

We have spent over two years from design to prototype, went through so many testings such as movement stability and water resisting qualities.

After three revisions of prototypes, we finally have our newest revolutions series passed all testes and set up to standard.

Infantry Watch Design Process

What do you think about the importance of social media in the watch industry? How could our readers follow Infantry Watch?

Social media marketing helps to validate a watch brand. A company’s social media presence, when done correctly, tells consumers that their brand is active and focused on thriving communication with consumers.

You may follow us on our social media channel: Facebook: Infantry Co. Instagram: infantryco_official

Where can our readers buy Infantry watches? Do you offer the international delivery option to your abroad customers?

Readers can purchase infantry watches from our website: www.infantryco.com and we offer free shipping to global!

What is next for you and Infantry watches?

Our next step will be developing an offline retail market and distributions business worldwide! Readers will be able to see us in different retail shops globally soon!

Thank you Jason.

For more information, please visit website of Infantry Watch

This interview was conducted in a Question-and-Answer format. The answers were checked for grammar and punctuation and published without any additional editing. Wednesday, August 29, 2018. All photos are the property of their respective owners.