Hands-on with Kickstarter Jubileon’s SUPERELLIPSE

Last summer, I told you all about Jubileon, a Singaporean brand working to make an interesting automatic watch with a Swiss movement. That watch was too good to live, and never went into production. Now, they’re back and bigger than ever with the new Superellipse.

This year’s Jubileon Superellipse is larger than last year’s model. It clocks in at 41mm, which isn’t too big, but the height of the watch does make it feel more imposing than it might otherwise, at 11.9mm. Rather than using the Swiss movement discussed last year, this year’s model uses the robust Seiko NH35A engine. It’s a solid workhorse, and one we’ve trusted in several watches.

The Superellipse is a cushion shaped watch, and is named this because the term Superellipse is a mathematical term that describes the curve that forms the cushion shape. The case construction is interesting. There’s a caseback, midcase, and bezel. The bezel is held down with four screws with polished heads. Unlike a more expensive watch like, say a Royal Oak, the screws aren’t indexed to line up the same way around the periphery, but the interplay between brushed and polished surfaces really shows the amount of attention given to the watch by Jubileon.

The screw heads are polished. The bezel top surface is brushed. Its beveled sides and rehaut are polished. The top and sides of the midcase are brushed, excepting a beveled edge where the bezel meets the sides. This mixed surface treatment carries over to the caseback, which is brushed, held on with polished screws, and has polished beveled edges.

The bracelet is a Hadley+Roma one, and it shows. It’s a very tightly woven, coarse Milanese link mesh. I tend to prefer the tighter, more fine Milanese mesh bracelets, but this one is perfect for making the watch feel a little less jewelry-like and a little more masculine. Hadley+Roma make good stuff, and have been doing it for 100 years. Straps come in leather, carbon, and link mesh.

The dial is another area that received a lot of attention. The Superellipse ships with four dials as options: Matte Black, Silver, Cool Gray, and Pearl. I was fortunate receive the Pearl prototype. The dial is a mother of pearl slice with metal indices applied, and registered printing – the minute track is in black with tiny Roman numerals printed within the minute track. Getting those lined up is an exercise in trying to maintain perfectly aligned (registered) printing. It’s one of the touches that wasn’t necessary from a functional standpoint but shows the strict attention to detail and care that Jubileon gave to the Superellipse. The hands perfectly meet the hour indices and minute track, and the second hand is a daring stroke of color in bright red. The date window has an applied metal frame. The only text or branding on the dial is the Jubileon shield with it’s stylized J and SG letters in it. This is subtlety executed well.

Should you buy the Jubileon Superellipse? Are you a person of good taste and refinement? Do you want a watch that’s both well-made and doesn’t look like every other homage piece out there? The Jubileon Superellipse is nice, and while the bezel screws and heavy link mesh make it a little big for me, it’s an easy one to recommend if you like heavy watches. This will wear equally well in an office with shirt-sleeves, with jeans, or on the boat.

It’s important to highlight the value that’s on display here. You get a unique watch, with a solid movement, and for 20 USD, you may upgrade to the top of the line, best-on-offer, Hadley+Roma bracelet and Pearl dial. That’s it: 20 dollars for both upgrades. Maybe you’re not yet open to the wonders of Pearl dials, and need to stay with black, cool grey, or silver. Great: adding the Hadley+Roma bracelet costs just an additional 10 USD. How much should you pay for for this combination of materials, construction, finishing, and care, all illuminated with SuperLuminova C1? Just $219 USD is being asked for this watch. Check out their Kickstarter, now in the last days of fundraising, or their own site at https://www.jubileon.com

Watch Overview

• Brand & Model: Jubileon Superellipse
• Price: Earlybird pricing starts at $219
• Who we think it might be for: You want a stylish watch that’s unlike what anyone else has, without being outlandish. Tasteful, well-made.
• If I could make one suggestion: I’m not as much a fan of screws as Jubileon are. I would make the bezel without the screw heads, instead tapping threads into it from the underside to secure it with screws from underneath, so that it looks cleaner from above.
• What spoke to me the most about this watch: This is sturdy, reliable, and done with care.

Tech Specs from Jubileon

• Case size: 41mm (50mm lug-to-lug),
• Height: 11.9mm
• Case material: 316L steel
• Crystal: flat, sapphire
• Strap: leather, carbon, metal mesh by Hadley+Roma
• Movement: Seiko NH35A