Steinhart is a brand that gets a lot of mention when one is looking for a value brand in Swiss watches. Most of their offerings are well made and attractive, and come at price points that are reachable for the average beginning collector, or someone looking to step up from a quartz watch. A new watch from the firm, the Marine Chronograh, fits nicely in that mold.
OK, maybe not a car or plane per se, but the Dashboard Series of watches from the Italian brand CT Scuderia it is bit of mash up between the ground transport styling that defines the brand and the iconic styling of the Flieger B-style, all in an attractive and very masculine watch. CT Scuderia was nice enough to loan me one of their watches for a bit, and I really did not want to send it back to them. I opted for what I thought was a bolder look, the black IP case with the black and white dial.
Well, not exactly. Fans of Leica cameras now have another object to drool over, this one from a collaboration with a small boutique Swiss watchmaker, Valbray, the EL1. Valbray has been making their Oculus Chronograph which uses a unique iris diaphragm to hide the chronograph functions from view when not in use. There are several variations on the watch already in production, all in limited numbers, and all with variations on colors and materials.
Both Patrick and I are fans of Christopher Ward. And we both like dive watches. But as a diver, I see the days of needing a dive watch as long gone. But the ruggedness of a dive watch, that is something which should stick around. And if you take that ruggedness, and tone it down so it works as a true business man’s watch, ten you have a nice product for the real world. Which brings me to the Christopher Ward C65 Trident Classic, available as a pre-order right now.
One of the nice things about writing for a widely read site is that companies will send us notices of upcoming designs and products in advance of the public release. This was the case with the Can Watch, who sent us a notice a while back. I will be honest, my reaction at the time was not positive. But in reflection, the watch project on Kickstarter is definitely unique and will give anyone who gets one of these watches a story behind the product, and the project does hope to do good on a couple of levels.
No, literally, I am not qualified to own the Bremont MBI Pilot Watch. It is not that I can’t afford it, or did not order it before it was sold out, it is due to the fact that I have never been ejected from a jet using a Martin Baker ejection seat. Of course, I am not all that sure I want to be qualified to own the watch, with that as the bar for entry. Luckily, there are two other versions of the watch (minus the “Martin-Baker Red” barrel) that I could own, should I want to lay down the cash.
Today I want to point you two watch offerings from Momentum Watch Company, the Torpedo and the Steelix, that are what you might consider budget buys. Momentum makes a number of watches, including some diver offerings, which is where the Torpedo sits, which the Steelix is more of a Field watch. Both watches have a 44mm diameter brushed stainless steel case with the crown at 4:00. The watches contain a Japanese quartz movement, have anti-glare coated mineral crystals and are depth rated to 200 feet.
I know it is Spring for everyone else, but I live in Southern California, and it is pretty nice year round, so I don’t really get the winter blues (but I did love seeing your weather troubles Patrick). So with great weather around, my mind automatically turns to hockey, with the LA Kings playing the Anaheim Ducks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No matter who wins, So. Cal. is headed to the next round. So when I saw the Noble Watch project, the Pursuit, on Kickstarter, my immediate association was ‘hockey puck.’
Christopher Ward C5 Slimline 03
Christopher Ward is a name that is well known to the site. My favorite watch that I own is a C11, I am pretty sure Patrick has at least one CW, and a friend of mine recently picked up a dress quartz from the company. With direct sales, quality products, and a broad design appeal, they are a company that I can easy recommend to anyone looking for a watch. Right now, they are accepting pre-orders for the C5 Malvern Slimline, due to ship at the end of June.
I really don’t like it when I make my mind up about something, only to slowly have to evolve my opinion based on addition information. I do it, but only begrudgingly. Such is the case with the latest watch project to come up on Kickstarter, the 1776 from Washington Mount Vernon. I was set to be really blase about the project, only to come around and like it.
