Here is a Kobold watch that probably in the top 5 most rare and desirable Kobolds ever produced (after the Sopranos Soarway diver of course). The Kobold Polar Surveyor itself is among the ranks, but add to that an exclusive Land Rover collab and you’re looking at something you may never see again anywhere else – at least in this condition. Most Kobolds come scratched, not this one.

Presenting an unworn, unsized, virtually untouched Kobold Polar Surveyour Land Rover in titanium – making it the Polar Surveyor Avantgarde (a model they only made 50 of without the Land Rover attribute). This model comes from the peak of Kobold Watch Co’s adventures, and while it is beautiful in all of its high-polished glory, it’s a serious tool watch. In its day, it was one of the highest retailing non-precious metals microbrand watches available – and that’s way before “microbrand” was even a word used by the watch community.

Folks may say what they will about the brand, but it cannot be denied that KWC was laying groundwork that many of the startup and micro watch brands walk on today – even though so many of their founders never heard of them. Kobold was ahead of them all in almost all regards: crowdfunding, pre-orders, community building, online selling, influencer and brand collaborating, USA manufacturing and assembling, while being respected as a tried and tested luxury tool watch in function and design, not just in advertising campaigns.

This Land Rover Polar Surveyour embodies all of that – except for the crowdfunding and pre-order part. These pieces were only available to a select number of executives who met specific sales goals, which may have had something to do with the 20th Anniversary Edition Range Rover (with a retail price of $145,000 in 2007) that featured a mechanical Kobold clock in the dash! If you are a Kobold collector, Land Rover fan, or both, don’t pass this rare opportunity to have an unworn classic Kobold tool watch from the company’s heyday, a timepiece of the brand’s history – and it’s museum quality (so much so that we’ve discussed keeping it for the KTT watch museum).

On a technical note, what made the Polar Surveyor a special tool watch was it’s multi-functionality wrapped in a tool watch. Kobold described it best when the watch was released:

“The Polar Surveyor is the world’s first wristwatch to combine the functions of local time, a GMT/UTC-based second time zone, an AM/PM indicator for local time, date and a chronograph. It commanded the respect of the world’s great polar explorers long before it was ever for sale to the public and is worn by dozens of expedition teams all across the world. The Polar Surveyor is not only a peerless wrist instrument for explorers, but also the most functional Kobold watch ever built.”

Detailed Specs:

• Reference: KD-915452
• Movement: Automatic, Swiss made
• Caliber: K.715 (base caliber ETA 7750)
• Case: Titanium
• Diameter: 40.5mm (45.8mm including the crown)
• Thickness: 15.3mm
• Lug-to-Lug: 50.8mm
• Dial: Matte black with silver Arabic markers
• Bezel: Fixed bezel with matte black GMT insert (24 hr scale)
• Crystal: Scratch-resistant sapphire
• Band: High-polish titanium 5 piece bracelet
• Buckle: Locking folding clasp with diver’s wetsuit extension
• Lug-Width: 20mm
• Crown: Screw-down
• Water Resistant up to 200m / 660ft
• Retail Price: NA, discontinued

Includes: Special piano black Kobold for Land Rover wooden box with lock and key. No paperwork as these typically did not include papers.

Condition: Mint, collector’s condition, essentially NOS. In its original condition from 2007. This watch has never been used, it is unworn and unsized. It has spent a majority of the time in the original box, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t handled a few times over the years. It is high-polish titanium you may be able to spot some insignificant surface marks in the right lighting, but there is nothing that indicates this piece has ever been wrapped around a write other than for the photoshoot. While it has been fully tested for functionality, it is from 2007 and has never been serviced. The box has some signs of wear from storage (nothing major, but it isn’t perfect).