1st watch arrival of 2022: Laine V38 review

Jan 16, 2022,11:48 AM
 

Back in Sep 2021, Sham posted a review of his blue guilloche dial Laine V38.  At that time, my salmon dial V38 was in production, and I was quite excited to see Sham's, while eagerly anticipating mine.

Fast forward to 31 Dec 2021, and the Laine V38 arrived!  Since it arrived in the evening of 31 Dec, I decided to count it as my first watch of 2022 smile

I was quite pleased with how the dial turned out, with a frosted outer ring, and a guilloche inner ring.   The outer ring is somewhat more beige than salmon, but the centre and the subsecond are nicely salmon in shade, and the final effect is that of a two-tone dial which is perfect. There is an option to choose a triple guilloche option like Sham’s, but I decided to go with just the centre, as an all-salmon-guilloche dial would resemble my Gronefeld Remontoire too much.   As you can see, the Laine guilloche, done by Decors Guilloches, is quite nicely done, and you can also choose the pattern.

The other thing I requested was blued hands, and the V38 hands are definitely an upgrade from the prior hands of the Laine watches.  They’re slightly curvier and definitely sexier! And easy to read for old eyes like mine…   I’m glad that I kept the Breguet numerals in white metal though, there’s an option to blue them too, but I suspect that would be too much blue.  As it is, the size of the numerals is perfect.  Breguet numerals have been coming back into vogue of late, and some watches get the proportions off, but these ones work beautifully.  There are other little touches I enjoy, such as a 3 different sized "dots" for the minute markers, the 5 minute markers, and the 15 min markers - I love the attention to detail in the design.

The case, coming in at 38mm/9mm works really well, and is comfortably slim on the wrist, and the AR on the front and back crystals allows the dial, and the movement to be admired.  The movement, a Vaucher VMF 5401, has a lovely decorated micro-rotor, and I’ve also tried to show details of the angles of the movement using my (admittedly amateurish) macro skills. Any dust you see in the macro shots is on the crystal, not the movement. Apparently, Laine was only allowed to modify the rotor, not the rest of the movement, and that he has done nicely.

The watch is a joy to wear, especially on the soft Babele leather strap.  If there was any criticism, it is a minor one – that I wish the strap could be a dressier 20/16mm taper rather than the 20/18 taper that it is now, but this can easily be fixed with a 3rd party strap (and I rather suspect based on others’ IG accounts that this is a versatile watch that works with formal or casual straps).  

Overall, the 7 month wait was totally worth it, and Torsti Laine was indeed a pleasure to work with, being very responsive, giving updates, and generally willing to discuss options with clients in a friendly and collegial manner.  Excellent value for money, with a fantastic dial and hands, a slim 38mm case, and a lot of versatility.  This one’s a keeper!














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Comments: view entire thread

 

Looks spectacular! Huge congrats!

 
 By: Chronometer (aka yacomino) : January 16th, 2022-12:43

What’s not to like about this beautiful watch

 
 By: Watchonthewrists : January 16th, 2022-13:04
Huge congrats, Love it

Superb!

 
 By: destrodan : January 16th, 2022-14:02
What a beautiful watch - thanks for sharing!

What a lovely little watch…

 
 By: JoshTheCanadian : January 16th, 2022-14:14
And one which is seemingly worth more than the sum of its parts! Beautiful, micro rotor movement from an established producer, perfect size, guilloche dial with engraving and Breguet numbers, a shapely handset - all of the details add up, and this one, as... 

Thanks! I agree with you about the KV/UJ vibe especially for the dials, but without the typical lugs of a KV or UJ

 
 By: NT931 : January 17th, 2022-11:27
As for a hallmark of his style, hmm... well the dials would be a feature. The dials can be done with 3 types of guilloche, much like Sham's lovely blue one, or can be hand-engraved, like in the pic below from Time & Tide I guess the other feature would be...  

gorgeous! thank you ! I didn't know about this brand

 
 By: christianch : January 16th, 2022-14:15
but the watch is spectacular. Pricing is also fair given the work ans the movement (which, if I am not mistaken is the same of the Hermes thin and the Tonda).

Huge congrats and many thanks for this very nice review

 
 By: Mike H : January 16th, 2022-14:16
Superb pics of a very cool watch, thanks for sharing. Enjoy it and wear it in the best of health !

Wow, Congratulations!

 
 By: enjoythemusic : January 16th, 2022-14:31

This brand has been on my radar

 
 By: TeutonicCarFan : January 16th, 2022-15:25
I love guilloche dials and those applied numerals. Having no numerals on the sub seconds is spot on (unlike 5196p or vc 1921 - with those would adopt this) -kevin

Congratulations on taking delivery of this beautiful watch!

 
 By: sham1 : January 16th, 2022-16:20
You have taken some wonderful photos which is fully demonstrates the beauty of the dial and movement. Laine may outsource the dials and movement but he brings everything together in a sublime package. Enjoy your watch as I am mine!

Thanks Sham, I’m sure you’re loving yours as much as I am enjoying mine

 
 By: NT931 : January 17th, 2022-23:14
One of the unexpected pleasures is in winding the watch. Yes, it’s automatic, but winding the Vaucher movement is delightfully smooth and provides much tactile enjoyment !

I concur!

 
 By: sham1 : January 18th, 2022-00:25
I wind my watches daily and winding the Laine takes top spot - silky smooth - only my Patek 7200 can compare.

Congrats!

 
 By: stabilizer : January 16th, 2022-19:43
Lovely aesthetic, and such apparent quality - very very nice.

accurcy

 
 By: WatchLoverForever : January 17th, 2022-08:52
how is the accuracy of the watch

Very nice piece, never knew of that brand

 
 By: penfriend : January 17th, 2022-09:24
only thing which irritates me is that the dial is so close in design to the 5196p - wonder why they did that

got it, thxs!

 
 By: penfriend : January 17th, 2022-14:33

Congrats, enjoy in the best of health!

 
 By: NautNut : January 17th, 2022-14:59
I am a fan of the brand as well.