Independents

My overall impressions:  

I am downright amazed by this piece.  I find the design all at once to be classic, modern, timeless, exciting, reserved, thoughtful, fun, and impressive, but not in any way gaudy or loud.  The watch just exudes, even gushes, quality.  It is balanced, yet anything but boring, and extremely versatile.  I’ll wear this with a hoodie, jeans and a t-shirt, or a suit and tie.  For an important meeting, or out to run errands.  I’ll wear this almost as much as my Explorer, I’m sure.  Other than the design and aesthetic, I believe the key to its high degree of wearability is the chosen case material - titanium.  It’s super light, but still has a subtle presence and, visually, a pleasant sort of strength, due to the case shape and lug proportions.  

Speaking of the the case…

The case, particularly its shape and finishing in combination together, is really something.  The inspiration of a stone or pebble rounded by the water of a running stream over eons, is truly brought to life successfully, and, it’s actually wearable.  It’s got just enough thickness, yet overall PERFECTLY appropriate feeling proportions, at least to my eye, despite how round it is in the third dimension (in addition to being round/circular) in its two dimensions most visible to the eye.  The mid-case band, which flows seamless into the gently downturned lugs, which project only so far from the case as to be reasonable and appear balanced (which I figure was chosen so as not to throw off the overall balanced proportions by attempting to make the lugs “a feature thing”), is narrow but not so narrow as to lack character.  It reminds me of the mid case band of the Speedmaster 60th Anniversary, but, like the rest of the case, is polished versus brushed on the Omega.  Lastly in regard to the case, the titanium.  I so appreciate the lightness, and the quality of the polish is beyond that I have seen on the polished titanium of any other watch which I have seen.  Would steel have been to heavy?  Of course not.  Would white gold or platinum be too heavy or too luxurious?  Of course not.  But the titanium is lighter and more scratch resistant than those, and just as attractive visually, and, as mentioned, makes the watch more wearable than either of those others. 

How about the dial?

It’s all about subtlety here, to my great pleasure.  The grain texture is as fine as could be, barely perceptible really, but of course makes a noticeable difference.  The red printed hours are subtle in size and choice of red hue, and more than anything somehow serve to balance the overall “weight” of the visual impact and arrangement of other dial elements, while adding the most subtle touch of sportiness I could imagine.  I am gushing here I know - but I am just trying to wrap my head around WHY, to the designers, this sort of an element remains - and the best I can come up with is that these people know what they are doing.  The white metal markers are so elegant, and complement the printed markers.  The print is ever so subtly raised, which is only noticeable under a loop, to my eye, an attribute which serves as nothing more than a reward for the curious.  To me this speaks to not only the deft judgment and world class skill of the designers, but the integrity of the brand and manufacturing as well.  The markers are tapered to a point at one end, toward the center of the dial, and have a flat facet at the outer / wider end, making them miniature sculptures that are of a shape that seems to be beyond modern - more like futuristic.  I am just amazed by these things alone. It’s just wow after wow, honestly.  Again keeping with the theme of subtlety, the seconds sub-dial is sunken just a fraction of a millimeter, somehow less than any other I have inspected, and the concentric circle texture therein is again ever so subtle.  Within, the seconds hand, … perhaps that is best addressed on a section about the hands, to attempt to do them justice.

The hands:

Frankly, the hands on this watch are beyond reproach.  All three of them.  Elegant, but not feminine - not gendered really.  A unique design so well executed and so well complementing the dial and case, I am flabbergasted.  Here are some observations which just cannot be noticed in pictures, and truly amaze.. The shape and dimensions of the mounting rings echos that of the watch case - they are tiny “galet” shapes, with mirror polished bevels, on which the shafts of the hands are mounted and protrude from a slightly wider base, to a narrower/tapered shaft, and then to an expanded and narrowed again flow which culminates in a needle point.  Perhaps the most amazing work is on the subseconds hand.  This part is amongst the smallest in the watch, yet, finished to a level of virtuoso that is basically impossible for me to comprehend. I am having trouble imagining how the beveled edged on this part could have been achieved, while protecting the integrity of the polish and metal shape/surfaces to the extent that there is not a single imperfection visible under my 10x Loupe System loupe.  

The crown - what a pleasant and classical shape and execution.  Much has been said about the winding feel - it’s as good as it gets - like, perhaps, the Rolex Submariner bezel feel of winding feels - that I need not say more.  

The strap is lovely, and what a color choice - this just goes to show that casual, refined, down to Earth luxury was truly the intent for this product.

The buckle is a unique geometrically interesting shape, of titanium of course, and finished to a level which matches the case - it is not lost on my the effort this requires.

Finally, the movement.  

The design speaks for itself.  It’s utilitarian but elevated and interesting at the same time.  IMO, not nearly enough has been said about the finishing of this movement.  The texture of the bridges is just so cool, in concept and in practice, under natural and artificial light.  The material and aesthetic choices perfectly complement the other elements of the watch, and complete the product for me - truly adding to the experience.  The black mirror polish of click spring has been noted - is noted in every review; however, the beveling is barely if ever mentioned.  This is clearly done by hand, and not just any hand.  The finishing of the bridges is matte, and sort of saps light rather than reflecting it, which, upon first glance makes it more difficult to notice the beveled edges; however, upon closer inspection, to the naked eye, it becomes apparent that this is wide, PERFECTLY mirror anglage.  Even the single interior angle included is perfectly executed, as if to suggest more could have been done, but, in keeping with the theme of the watch and the brand - subtlety, or understated luxury - just one is enough.  There is so much more which I could say about this movement, not only on the finishing, but I will leave that for another time.  

These photos likely won’t do this watch justice, but I will see what better I can do in time.  I only hope that these notes are of help in building the up the understanding and appreciation for this brand and this watch, again in the interest of enabling the makers to do more of what they love, which in turn will only benefit us.  

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