Horological Meandering

Moderator Patrick_y reviews the Massena Labs Archetype 0.0 timepiece. A small production timepiece from a new independent brand that features a strikingly beautiful gilt dial. Read on and find out what Patrick_y's verdict is about the watch! Introduction ...  

I'm a fan of William's. He's insightful, and that makes his outspoken ways worth paying attention to. His lecture at HSNY in 2018 was excellent, for instance. I haven't paid too much attention to his watchmaking project, but I do appreciate that he is inv...  

difficult and expensive process to do correctly. Great DH, I have the 1937 with the silver sector dial.

I have to admit this Dan Henry timepiece didn't come up during my research phase for writing this article. Thank you for introducing it to me! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments about Massena. I haven't attended one of those HSNY events in a... 

Of course I did not mean to detract from your review of the Massena LAB watch. My apologies if it came across like that to you or to anyone else reading. I enjoyed reading it for its balance, and the comparison with the DH both instinctive and interesting... 

Definitely a great looking watch . Love the gilt dial and overall design

I admittedly hardly wear a watch since I'm at home all the time. But I still take it out of the box every now and then to just stare at it. What a nice piece!

This is one of the few massena designs I did not purchase Julian

They were unfortunately sold out in a few days from what I'm told. It certainly didn't leave a lot of people much time to think about it. I was a bit concerned about the size since I don't have a large wrist. I don't like buying watches sight unseen. But ... 

creations shows his deep knowledge of watchmaking. His watches have that vintage flair with a modern twist and the Archetype 0 gives you quite a lot of watch at its price point

It's always a pleasure to read you again! You've been missed! And I agree with your comments!

I like vintage watches, but I don't like certain things about vintage watches. Drilled lugs for spring bars are not my favorite. Vintage Rolex watches with sagging bracelets don't appeal to me. Furthermore, vintage watches can be difficult to service, hav... 

But, this watch is not on their website. It must be sold out or was never published, which would explain why I never knew about it.

Dear Patrick, Thank you for this review. Much appreciated! Best William

It's a nice watch with nice details, but a bit thick. William was a bit of a bitter and unkind/punitive moderator not too long ago and it's hard to root for him. On the other hand, it's easy to love and appreciate all that he appreciates and loves in watc... 

I see you are describing the dial as 'gilt. Hmmm. Ok. Then my critique of 'fake lume' should be retracted.

If you recommend it, I look twice my friend!

Over the years... I've seen unkind people do amazingly good things. And I realize that while it's easy to judge someone for something we interpret they did as "unkind" at the time. None of us are perfect. I may be a shrewd person in one aspect of business... 

As the Daniel in the Bible suggests, we all tend to have heads of gold and feet of clay Cazalea

William--who really was VERY unforgiving-- is getting a lot of forgiveness here--under the umbrella of something much larger--fair enough. Perhaps he has earned it in unseen ways... Happy to move on in this spirit.

Thank you. We really have to meet

I can't wait to meet as I've enjoyed your posts so much over the past decade. We are hoping to do a WatchProSite GTG meeting in Europe once it is safe and reasonable to do so. But with the pandemic still raging on, we haven't really started any official p... 

Pls PM/DM me. In CA USA is also possible!

I agree, worth it just for the dial...

That dial is just exquisite! I still admire the watch just to look at the wonderful reflection in the dial!