NFTs or non-fungible tokens are now considered a cultural phenomenon. Some say it’s more than just hype. This article says it could be the future as practically everything can be turned into a digital file. Including timepieces.
Enter Hong Kong-based New Old Stock (NOS). The company describes itself as a passionate group of cryptocurrency experts and vintage watch enthusiasts who are taking their passion for watch collecting to a whole new level—it is set to launch its own series of vintage timepiece NFTs. If the phrase “new old stock” is throwing you off a little, it has been coined by vintage collectors to refer to old pieces that are still in mint condition.
But the guys at NOS say they intend to appeal to avid watch collectors who want to bring classic watch designs into the metaverse. In return, they wish to provide them with their own niche in the crypto economy and to make up for the downsides of real-life watch collecting through NFT technology.
“With these tokens, NOS guarantees authenticity and value to ensure legitimate ownership of the digital timepiece, elevating the experience of buying and owning vintage watches,” the group said in a statement.
Come late February through early March, NOS is scheduled to drop its first NFT collection featuring a series of 3,888 unique designs. According to South China Morning Post, it includes timepieces made by premium brands like Rolex. NOS said the NFTs are “inspired by iconic, recognizable vintage watches and developed based on expert knowledge by a research team in collaboration with designers.”
Each design is based on common watch parts (e.g., case material, index, dial, hands, bezels and bracelet materials). But NOS will also add its own touch by incorporating special features such as scratched cases, tropical dials, and patinated indexes to give vintage watch lovers something unique to look forward to.
When asked by ANCX to explain why the designs echo those of existing watches, Angus Cheng, one of the founding members of NOS, said: “We wanted to recreate the familiar vintage features and watch designs for people who have always aspired to own a real one. However, as this is also generative, there will be new color and vintage inspired combos that has never been seen in real life. These are all vintage inspired as we call it and not copies, for example the new post we have on NOS Watch Instagram (@nos.watch) with the pop culture influenced stamps and fonts on an iconic watch design.” Cheng’s background is software development and was a senior developer at blockchain software company, Block.one.
The release of the initial NOS collection will be followed by a boxes and papers NFT release, as well as limited edition 3D models of selected watches by second quarter of 2022. NOS will also offer presale contests and real watch giveaways until the official release of the NFTs is announced.
After this month’s launch, NOS plans to create a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) composed of buyers and owners of the first NFT series. Cheng says they plan to use a percentage of their sales from the inaugural NFT drop to invest in and purchase genuine vintage watches from public auctions and private sales events, with the participation of the DAO.
The DAO will acquire these vintage watches, which are not normally available to the general public due to their high price and requirement of expertise to authenticate. This gives members the opportunity to have fractional ownership of highly sought after real world watches.
NOS will mint its Genesis NFT collection on Mar 5, 2022 on its official website: https://www.noswatch.io/. To learn more, follow @NOS_watch on Twitter or join the official Discord server of New Old Stock (https://discord.gg/noswatch/) for the latest updates.