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Chronograph

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When it comes to chronographs there are two schools of thought. One school focuses on the platonic ideal, the watch the catapults you to the moon, dark-faced and simple. The other school loves the idea of the chronograph as robot, full of odd dials, weird movements, and four more buttons than needed. The Mercer Brigadier Chrono sits firmly and handsomely in the first camp.

There was a period when I was intrigued by the possibilities of a wooden watch case. They were a little unique looking, they were not very common, and they were different. Then, in a flash, they were everywhere and generic, and the limitations of the material really came into focus. The Pacific Standard Time Wood Watches hopes to at least limit one of the material’s obvious flaws, a lack of water resistance. It also looks pretty good, though I would have preferred an auto over a quartz chronograph.

The diver’s chronograph is an interesting combination of features, and the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Chronograph Pro 600 is the latest entry, and the brand’s first, into that category. Now, I own a diving chrono (not from CW, another brand), and I like the look, but the complication is certainly not going to be useful for diving. With the screw down protectors for the pushers, it can’t be operated underwater, so it is a stylistic choice here. You want a diver as you swim deep into the paperwork at your desk, and you like the features of a chronograph. The usefulness of the complication aside, I do think it is a very attractive watch.

Sometimes, a brand will want to branch out into new designs – this happens quite a bit, across many industries. If there is some concern that the new direction might dilute or otherwise confuse what had already been built, a new brand will be created, allowing some other avenues to be explored. Of course, all the expertise and history travel along from the sister brand, which makes what we have with the Belmoto Timepieces an interesting proposition.

I don’t know when blue dials went from being a relative rarity to being very popular, but I am not complaining. Maybe we should be wondering why blue dials were never as well represented as they are now. Regardless, the Steinhart Marine Officer Blue is another watch option if you like the blue dial, and it represents a pretty decent bargain to boot.