Ventura v-tec kappa

[rewolf]

Ventura has gone bust nine months ago, Ventura designer Hannes Wettstein has dies 4 weeks ago, but the Ventura Europe Service Center (VES) in Würzburg, Germany is still operational.

Even better, you still have a last chance to order an original Ventura timepiece
I noticed this only 2 weeks ago, called there, and had them put a v-tec Kappa aside for me.
I wanted to see it BEFORE I pay, so I drove to Würzburg ("only" 300km away, 230km of which are Autobahn without speed limit ).

To cut it short: despite the quite annoying scroll wheel (unchanged since my first encounter with a v-tec Alpha almost 5 years ago), and a forum member's bad luck with Ventura repair, I am now a very happy owner of a v-tec Kappa W23.01 T
Why? Look and decide for yourself (I don't expect everybody to share my enthusiasm...)





Doesn't the shape look somehow familiar? See why:



Edit 2014-09-19: images re-upped

[ronaldheld]

Unless they are at bargain prices. i will pass. I have a Delta, and the scroll is a good design idea but not that good functionally.

[LEDluvr]

(I don't expect everybody to share my enthusiasm...)

Sorry to behave contrary to your expectations Rewolf ....
But I think it looks awesome! VERY GOOOOOD CATCH!

From an aesthetic POV it's quite impressive - IMHO>
And I'm shocked to see how similar the silhouette is to your beloved GP.
Looking at the Ventura head on I would have never guessed.
And I bet it's light as a feather being made of titanium, no?

Too bad that scroll wheel seems to be so probematic.
I know Seiko used a scroll wheel design in a few of it's watches too.
The H557 and H357 (which I'll be talking about in a later post )
among others. These, of course, are vintage watches but I haven't heard about their scroll wheels going bad very often.
Maybe I'm just out of the loop but it seems quality was not an issue here??

[rewolf]

Unless they are at bargain prices. i will pass. I have a Delta, and the scroll is a good design idea but not that good functionally.

Oh, it WAS a bargain: 25% below intended RRP
And I agree 100% about the "Easy"skroll - however I don't need the functions cantrolled by it, so it doesn't matter... BTW the Delta is a very nice design too

And I'm shocked to see how similar the silhouette is to your beloved GP.
Looking at the Ventura head on I would have never guessed.
And I bet it's light as a feather being made of titanium, no?

The similiarity with the GP stroke me only when I held the Kappa in my hands (especially the curved back), but not from the photos I had seen here before.
But there is still a major difference in construction: The GP has the band attached to its bottom lid, not to the case like most other watches, including the Kappa.

Weight: 100g, not exactly "light as a feather". The bracelet is rather massive.
But the Titanox® does feel great on the wrist, especially on hot days: somehow it doesn't stick to the skin like steel, and: it does not attract fingerprints at all - that's really fascinating!

The v-tec Kappa is made of hightech materials; the cases -in some versions also the bracelets- are forged out of pure titanium and then submitted under vacuum to high pressures and heat, before being cooled by liquid nitrogen. Then, an ultra thin layer of liquid glass coating is applied to the surface to prevent smudging, fingerprints etc.

I really wonder how it's possible to submit something to high pressure under vacuum - but the result of this treatment is good :)

BTW: "Introduced 2007, v-tec Kappa and Zeta were never delivered to the market! Only a few pieces manufactured, these numbered models are for the collectors."
Somewhere I read only 17 were made. If that's true, it'd be rarer than a Pulsar P1

[rewolf]

I almost forgot to tell:
See what happened on the third day:

I don't know how or where, but I lost one pusher of the clasp. I had to use the tool provided for shortening the bracelet to get the watch off (yes, it IS comfortable to wear, but I don't want to wear it in bed ).
Anyway, I wrote an email to the service centre, and after a few hours I was informed that a replacement clasp was already on its way to me.

Edit 2008-08-04: New clasp has arrived. So the service works

[AlmightyTallest]

Man that's a great watch rewolf, I really like how it's so close the GP in shape and size, but what ever happened to the V-tec Sigma watch? At least I think it's the Sigma, it had the clear window that allowed you to see the generator that powers the watch. For me that was the neatest piece of kit. I could never afford one though.

[rewolf]

The v-tec Sigma actually existed, but it is simply an alpha/delta/kappa in a different case. It has no generator like the d_sparc models.

I guess you mean the v-tec MGS (Micro Generating System). It was supposed to have a case similar to the sigma, but a generator like the d_sparc.
I don't think it ever existed. The only pictures I've ever seen of it show a sigma with an IMHO photoshopped generator. Nice idea, but I wonder what would have happend if you pushed the light button (quite probably draining the power reserve within seconds)...


Ventura v-tec MGS (press photo by Ventura)

[AlmightyTallest]

Thanks for the clarification rewolf, the MGS is the one I was thinking of. I still think it's Neato

[rewolf]

There is hope the MGS will come to existence: http://dwf.nu/viewtopic.php?t=3677