Horological Meandering

RED8 : DESIGNED ON EARTH, MADE IN ASIA

 

Although the watches were launched on 1st September 2009,  I've taken a while to post because I did not want to just reproduce the press release, without any experience of the watch.

Red8 is the latest offering of 'luxury' watchmaker, Christian BÉDAT, a surprisingly young chap considering his past achievements with RAYMOND WEIL and BEDAT & C°.

 

 

Christian BÉDAT, Founder of RED8WORLD S.A
Headquatered in Geneva, RED8WORLD S.A launched RED8WORLD . COM as an exclusive online platform offering lifestyle products, with RED8 watches as its first product.

I caught up with Christian during his promotional tour through Asia. Although his previous exploits in designing watches are known, I've never met him before. A potted history of his experience seems in order.....

Christian is not a bench watchmaker; having graduated from the H.E.C. business school in Lausanne in 1987, he left for Hong Kong to work for 'Eco Swiss China Time', heading the production of 'Benetton' watches by Bulova. A few years later, in 1991, he returned to Geneva to join RAYMOND WEIL, the company founded by Mr. Raymond Weil and Christian's mother, Simone Bédat. He worked in the purchasing, production and sales departments and eventually charged with the design function as well. His last collection was the W1.

Together with his mother, they jointly founded BEDAT & C° in October 1996. At the 1997 Basel Show, just six months after the brand was created, Christian Bédat presented its global concept and the seminal two collections: N°3 and N°7, which were an immediate success. Christian was also the creative designer of BEDAT & C° watches, each imbued with his personal reflection, his knowledge of watchmaking history, his experience and his desires.  In 2000, the GUCCI Group took a 85% stake of BEDAT & C° and Christian Bédat continued as the brand CEO as well as Creative Director of all GUCCI GROUP WATCHES. He left the BEDAT & C° in October 2006 with a load of cash to try early retirement. Failing miserably as a retiree and bored with leisure, he founded RED8WORLD S.A. and launched the RED8 watches in 2009.

 

 

Christian did not want to go down the traditional 'Swiss watchmaking' route again. He wants to bring luxury to a new audience, with a new world perspective and re-interpretation of a new era in timekeeping. The keywords seem to be "value of simplicity", "accessible and personalised luxury" reinforcing their motto, “Designed on Earth, Made in Asia”. Each Red8 watch expresses their inter-racial philosophy, combining values and colours that, they belief, results in a contemporary timepiece with the iconic red crown.

 

This message has been edited by MTF on 2009-11-14 08:55:41

On-The-Wrist Review:  RED8

 

Although the watches were launched on 1st September 2009,  I've taken a while to post because I did not want to just reproduce the press release, without any experience of the watch.

The test watch was provided by RED8WORLD but the actual piece was selected at random from the trays below.

I quite liked the shocking pink one with the pink strap and bezel marked GIRL LOVE BOY PEACE. 

 

Luckily, sense prevailed and this grey piece seemed to go well with my matching grey fur.

Available in a variety of bezel and dial colours that can be outfitted with a choice of coloured straps, every RED8 watch features a sapphire crystal 3.8mm thick with non-reflective coating on the inside,  Superluminova treatment on index markers, and an eco-friendly I-MATIC quartz movement.

Although the original quartz movement has a date function, it has been purposely omitted from the RED8 watches for both aesthetic symmetry and philosophical reasons. I thought this may be a significant flaw........but more, anon.

 

Although, Christian BÉDAT proclaims the RED8: "DESIGNED ON EARTH BY REDWORLD  -  PRODUCED IN ASIA",  in actuality, it was designed near Geneva because that is where he lives with his wife and 5 children! The website was designed and maintained by Koreans. The quartz movement is designed by Japanese and the rest of the watch components are made in China.

Is it any wonder that his friends and relatives in the Geneva society scene have been spotted with RED8 on their wrists?  What can pique the interest of the jaded crowd than "affordable luxury"?  I must admit to a modicum of perverse cheekiness as I wore the RED8 into boutiques to inspect timepieces costing 1500 times more!   

I found myself turning the bezel to show the compass cardinal direction that I was travelling most for each day.

 

Yesterday, I travelled mainly WEST 

 

Today, I'm travelling EAST

The iconic and eponymous RED8 crown is made of ABS.

The watch diameter was difficult to determine because of the curvature of the case sides and the chunkiness of the knurled bezel, but I estimated 42mm as pretty close. Thus was confirmed later when photographed side-by-side with the 42mm diameter PuristSPro All-Black Rescue watch.

 

Easily interchangeable rubber strap system.  It takes about 4 seconds to change the strap!

The repeated RED8 logo forms the textured grip inner surface of the strap, against the wrist.

I found the rubber strap both pliable and quite comfortable to wear, even for extended periods travelling in trains, planes and automobiles from Geneva to Singapore vis Istanbul. The logo markings did not leave any imprint on my peach-like skin, unlike certain 'haute horlogerie' brands, I could not care to mention!

The rubber strap is shaped so that the two 'kinks' are seated at the lugs. The watch is always in the same position on the strap and wrist.

The caseback is machined stainless steel with both multi-level and multi-texture finishing. The motto, "DESIGNED ON EARTH BY REDWORLD  -  PRODUCED IN ASIA" is highlighted in red.  The Chinese characters for RED 8 are in high relief over a textured backgrouund. All this is hidden from view in normal use when the starp is in position. only the wearer needs to know.

The caseback is screwed-in onto the PVD-clad stainless steel case for a water resistance of 200m.  The watch has a solid feel and appears well constructed "in Asia"......actually in China.

The eco-friendly 'automatic winding' quartz movement is the Seiko Kinetic-based I-MATIC with AGS - Automatic Generating System that spins up to 100,000rpm to charge the built-in battery. Although no disposable batteries are used, the newer rechargeable Ti-Li-ion batteries may last 'only' 20 years. On full charge, without activation of the AGS, there is about 4 months reserve.

The double tang buckle was an interesting design quirk that provided no advantage nor disadvantage in use., except maybe it divided the tension load between two tangs. The PVD coating bore up well to all the usual knocks of life and also the PuristS on Tour 2009 visit to Geneva. Any white flakes seen in the macro photos are just magnified dust.   Hey! this was a real-world test......

Overall, the RED8 has performed well over the last 6 weeks, in tropical Singapore and cold Switzerland, not to mention airport lounges on 2 continents. Timekeeping has been as expected at +15 secs/month or half a second per day; that's more than 10 times better than a mechanical watch.  I did not miss the lack of date as much as I thought in the beginning.

 

Criticism

Maybe it's just me or a PuristS' trait but more than one PuristS has mentioned the seconds hand NOT coinciding with the markers as it ticks around the dial.

I mentioned this to another watchmaker and he told me that this is "common" for quartz watches.

At least I have not detected any of the infamous 'backlash phenomenon' that affected the Minute hand of early Seiko automatic quartz movements.

Finally, the RED8 automatic quartz with everyone's favourite PuristSPro ABR, as the reference 42mm diameter, automatic mechanical, black PVD watch.

The best of both worlds.

 

Regards,

The Grey Rat Watcher

This message has been edited by MTF on 2009-11-14 10:55:02

Having had a chance to view the RED8, I have to say, I thought this wristwatch was well finished and had the appearance of a watch that cost thrice its actual price.

The one thing I really liked about the watch was the strap of the watch and the versatility of the watch.

Thank you for the review MTF! Nice chair you've got there, your grey mouse is lucky to have such a nice chair.

I don't understand how the catch words on the bezel of certain models necessarily go together (White, Yellow, Red8, Black?), but I think the all-black with the cardinal points of North, South, East, West is pretty cool.  The red ABS crown is a nice touch and adds a splash of color.  Thanks for sharing something new and different with us, MTF!

Cheers,
Daos

Depending on your point of view, each set of words may have different meaning to each wearer e.g. Black, White, Yellow and Red can be a statement of racial equality like the song:  "all the children of the world....."

Regards,

MTF

Great to see more variations of Kinetic: rotor-generator-rechargeble battery watches around.

and the review of this interesting watch and concept...

however..will it sell to the "affordable luxury" (i.e. Coach purse) crowd?  or will it be lost in on the watch counter?...I tend to think the latter

and I find it interesting that Bedat decided to go in this direction after his Bedat and co. watches...

...Christian thought it a little too obvious - too 'naff', maybe? - to highlight the numeral or index at 8 :00 o'clock  in the eponymous red ?

 

Cheers,

pplater.

I expect an ordinary quartz movement even if it is kinetic.

I don't know if the Red8 watches have enough to make them stand out though.  Yes the red crown will be their distinguising mark, but is that enough?

My 2 cents,
Anthony

Anthony,

I thought that at first, which is why 1st impressions may not always be the final answer.

The watches are well constructed and every component seems to be well selected.  The sum of the parts is more than the parts.  Experienced Swiss watchmakers and industry people have inspected the test watch during my travels to Geneva and were surprised when their "estimate" of sales price were many times the actual price. 

The cynical may say that the Swiss have been "acclimatised" to high prices but from the other view point, one could say that the watch is not "cheaper than expected" but that it's quality exceeds price expectations! 

As RED8 themselves say, "What is affordable to someone may be too much to pay, for another person."  What is "affordable luxury"?

I would use this watch for travelling in airplanes as it is robust, water-resistant, practically scratchproof (and I don't care if it got scratched) and quick to change time zones as it has no date. My forearms perspire during my travels (only part of me that do that), so the soft rubber strap is more practical than alligator or metal bracelets. 

Build-wise, it exudes "quality", if not "luxury" and I like interacting with the bezel statements.  In future, you couild specify your own favourite "words" as personal statements.......

Regards,

MTF

 

Yet another watch catered so largely to the Asian population...with the emphasis on the number "8" and the color red...and also the value. 

I have to say though that I really like the red colored crown which does seem fun and unique.  I can't say the same for the kitschy catch words on the bezel unfortunately.  The effort made in the statement shall be applauded though.  I wonder what the reaction would be among the main target markets.   Traditionally, Asians aren't a group known to be outspoken.   I suppose that most may completely overlook the statement completely and buy the watch anyways for it's bold look and value. 

I'm curious about the rubber strap that is woven through the lugs.  How did this wear on the wrist in terms of comfort? 

Thanks again for sharing the review MTF.