We launched our Kickstarter campaign in June of 2015 and funding was raised in just 90 minutes. That set up the second part of the campaign, releasing our Barrel collection that used reclaimed wood to offer an environmentally sustainable fashion option, not seen in the watch industry. This also included our very popular design in the Whiskey Barrel, a watch made from refurbished American Oak whiskey barrels, which provided the brothers (Ryan and Andrew) the idea of the Barrel design. In just 30 days the campaign exploded with over 2,400 backers and successfully raised $430,000, becoming the third most popular fashion Kickstarter in their history.
The Barrel collection included watches made from reclaimed wood of Whiskey (American Oak), Rosewood, Sapele, Maple, Mahogany, and Zebrawood. Ryan and Andrew drew inspiration from growing up in the Pacific Northwest and being surrounded by nature, with vast forests of trees sparking their interest in reclaimed wood.
The Barrel watch was a big success and was even included in the Kickstarter cheat sheet list on Thrillist. They are one of the leaders in men's digital lifestyle, so having a shoutout from them was huge. We were also featured on the Awesomer, which features cool gadgets and products for men, who spotlighted the Barrel watch while the campaign was running.
With the release of our Duo-clasp during the campaign, a new band that allowed you to attach your apple watch to the Barrel watch band, caught of the attention of Tech Crunch. Tech Crunch is one of the leading technology media sources for news on startups, new products, and technology news. They were impressed with the idea and had never seen the combination of classy wrist watch with the tech aspects of the Apple watch.
The Duo-claps was also reviewed by our friends at 9to5 Mac, a news and review site for all things Mac. They loved their Apple watch but felt they had been neglecting their normal, everyday watch, and voila! "After a few weeks, however, and with the novelty of the Apple Watch almost gone, It’s getting harder to keep ignoring my other watches, and that’s the reason Original Grain’s new DUO product is something I wanted to get my hands on."
As we embark on 2016, Original Grain is gearing up for an even bigger year and we couldn't have done it without the support and love that we received during our Kickstarter campaigns and continue to receive on a daily basis. Thank you for the support!