When we receive emails from brands we’ve never heard of, it’s always a bit of gamble when you open the email. Is it going to be something truly interesting? Or is it going to be another “white label” special slapped together from the parts bin? Fortunately, the latter really seems to have tapered off (or they’ve wisely stopped trying to reach us). In the former category, though, we’ve got the quite lovely Charlie Paris Concordia GMT that we spent some time with.
Charlie Paris Concordia GMT: Movement
With a GMT watch, well, now we have to talk more about the movement. Now that we’ve got relatively inexpensive traveller movements (like we saw here), a purchaser needs to think about how they’d use a GMT complication, and whether they’d like to be able to quickset the hour hand (aka a traveller) or the GMT hand (a caller-style movement). The caller works that way because the GMT module is generally built on top of the date complication, and that’s what seems to be done with the Soprod C125 used in the Charlie Paris Concordia GMT.
If that movement sounds familiar, it’s because it was also used in an Oak & Oscar watch, which we wrote about here. Past that, I can’t say as we’ve run across a watch using the movement. That said, Soprod movements (and modules) are used across the industry, so it wouldn’t give us pause to have a watch that leveraged one. And in our time with the review loaner, the movement maintained the time just fine, and we had no issues with the winding or setting.
Charlie Paris Concordia GMT Wrist Watch: Aesthetics
Whether or not you want to admit it, looks are a big part of what draw us to watches. Yes, there’s the functionality and engineering that we like, but none of that matters if it looks like it was drawn by a 4 year old with a broken crayon. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the Charlie Paris Concordia GMT.
True, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And given that my favorite color is blue, this watch was starting off from a good place. Here, you’ve got that deep, dark blue taking up residence on the dial, which is then carried forth onto the chapter ring, bezel insert, and even the strap that came in on our loaner. Offsetting all of that is crisp white, which helps maintain the legibility and keeps things nice and crisp.
With the date disc, I’m a bit torn. While I would not have minded to see a color-matched one used, it does fit into the other white indices going around the dial. And, frankly, white text on a dark background – particularly in the real estate a date window provides – can be harder to pick out than I’d like. So, I’ve talked myself around to being good with it.
While I do like the monochrome pattern, I was a little surprised that we didn’t have another color on the GMT hand. Sure, it’s a different shade of blue, but we’re used to seeing those in a brighter orange or yellow to help them pop out on the dial. Or, for that matter, they could have used a red, and then leaned into the fact that France is indeed the home of Charlie Paris.
Sizing
For me, the 40mm case (at just 12.5mm thick) of the Charlie Paris Concordia GMT was perfect. It’s large enough to keep things legible, but not so big it would overwhelm the wrist. They’ve also hit the proportions correctly, which means from the front, all you see of the case is the lugs – and I like the all dial/bezel look. From the side profile, things are fairly clean and sharp, though you do get things a bit more exciting when it comes to the signed crown.
The lugs themselves, at 20mm, will hold a wide variety of straps. The lugs are shorter, and do have a slight angle down. In this way, the lug-to-lug is kept as tight as it can, while allowing the watch to fit onto your wrist fairly well.
Daily Wear Impressions
For me, a GMT watch like the Charlie Paris Concordia GMT is a perfect choice for daily wear. No, I’m not jet-setting all around the place. Instead, I’ve got things going on in the day job with servers that record things in terms of UTC, as well as co-workers all around the globe. So, with a GMT complication, I can see where things are, and remind myself of the UTC offset.
Around home, or even going into the office, the Charlie Paris was perfect. It’s colorful, but not so garish that it attracts undue attention. The weave of the textile strap is nice and tight, so it sort of straddles the line between business and casual. If you were headed out to a more formal event, you’d probably want to swap in a nice leather strap (or opt for the stock bracelet), but otherwise, you’re good to go. For me, and how my day-to-day life is these days, it was a solid watch choice.
Would we recommend it?
All things being equal, we believe there’s a lot going for the Charlie Paris Concordia GMT. If the aesthetics and sizing work for you, we think it’s worth checking out. For those looking for some variety in their collection, you’ve got two things working in your favor – an uncommon movement, and the fact that it hails from France (which there aren’t too many options that we’ve run across). And with a price tag of €1,249.55 (about $1,375; going for the bracelet adds $50), it’s par for the course for a Swiss movement GMT, along with the timing bezel. Check out the options (it’s also available with a black dial) directly over at charlieparis.com
Tech Specs from Charlie Paris
- Case
- Case: 316L steel, diameter 40 mm, length 47.5mm, thickness 12.5mm, polished and brushed.
- Bezel: Unidirectional rotating bezel, eloxed aluminum insert, hour scale and special symbol at 12 o’clock with Super-LumiNova®
- Back: Screw-down with transparent back revealing the movement, the weight of which is signed Charlie.
- Glass quality: Domed sapphire, anti-reflective, 3mm thick
- Crown: Screwed (30ATM) with eloxed aluminum insert. Red insert on stem to indicate if crown is properly screwed in.
- Water resistance: 30ATM, 300 meters
- Dial & Hands
- Lightly sandblasted blue dial
- 24h day/night second time zone display on the outside of the dial in white and sky blue
- Luminescent hour markers and hands with
Super-LumiNova®. - Date display at 6 o’clock
- Movement
- Swiss automatic mechanical movement, Soprod C125 caliber
- Hour, minute, second, date display at 6 o’clock and GMT
- 25 rubies
- 28,800 vibrations per hour
- 40 hours power reserve
- Tolerance -0/+14 sec per day
- Incabloc® shock absorber for the balance wheel
- Bracelet
- Leather or nylon bracelet
- Interchangeable without any tools
- 20mm width
- 110 / 80mm length
- Charlie Paris branded buckle
Author Expertise / Author Experience
Patrick Kansa
A big data developer and leader with a penchant for gadgets, books, watches and beverages. You can find my work on WristWatchReview. If you’re on Twitter and/or Instagram, you’ll find me there as @PatrickWatches.
