The Verk Watch – A simple, minimally designed quartz ticker from Sweden. Sold online, this straightforward piece is fairly affordable, offers a two handed, simple face, and a wealth of finish, strap, and size options on the website. I’ve been wearing the VERK Gunmetal, Mesh, 40mm for the past week – here are my thoughts.
Initial Impressions
When I first saw this watch online, I was a bit underwhelmed – it’s simple, minimalist, and basic design – a clean face, two hands, and a few bands. But looking into it more, I began to get into that clean and minimal design, and figured that if it was executed perfectly, with solid materials and perfect construction, it just might work well. And for €249, it’s not a huge gamble.
The watch was delivered in a nice feeling and slim long/flat/narrow slider box, presented with the watch lying flat in the box secured with rubber bands. Compared to big pillow cushion boxes most watches come in, I loved this slim box – just enough to get the job done, and easy to ship and store.
The watch came with a bit of blue protective film on it, and after peeling the film, the watch was delivered in perfect condition, including an individualized serial number/warranty registration card. Simple and straightforward.
Fit and Finish
For its slim size, the watch certainly feels substantial. The steel case has a good weight to it. I got mine with the fine mesh strap – which ads another good bit of weight. The way the case and strap feel on the wrist lets you know you’re wearing it, without getting in the way. I was fearful a simple watch like this would be light and flimsy – but this is just the opposite – weighty with quality, but slim and sleek for every day wear.
The crystal lies perfectly flush with the bezel, and is flat- this works well for the watch, although I’m not sure if it will pick up scratches from being placed face down on the table. There are 6 screws holding the caseback on – all in raw stainless steel silver, which doesn’t match the case color – it would have been a nice finishing touch to match the screw color to the case color, or give some other contrast color like black. The crown is small with flattened edges, and is effective and easy to turn. There’s a small detail cutout on the case side under the crown, to allow for easy pulling of the crown – a nice touch for sure. Additionally, there are small cutouts on the back top/bottom of the case to give the strap a bit of room to pivot – love that detail.
The strap is another story – It’s gunmetal grey as well, and is fairly easily adjustable once you figure it out. The weight is good, and once it warms up, it feels really nice. However, looking at the whole setup under bright sunlight, it’s easy to see that the strap color isn’t *exactly* the same as the case color. I know these straps are 3rd party, made by STAIB – so the colors come from two separate factories – but it’s still a little detail that gets to me.
Also on the strap, if you look carefully, you can see on the mesh edges indentations where the mesh has been compressed to bind it together – surely a necessary manufacturing artifact – but it results in little stripes of slightly shinier metal on the edges.
Feel On The Wrist
Perfectly heavy, almost perfectly sized, and once it warms up, the metal feels really nice. This one is easy to wear all day, including when out and about, as well as sitting typing at the desk – like I’m doing right now.
That Dial
It’s deceptively simple. An hour hand, a minute hand, and that’s it. The hands are black, the indexes and markers are black, on a white dial. It’s perfectly readable at a glance, looks modern and understated, and works well. I initially thought I’d get bored with such a simple dial – but the truth is I’m beginning to love the simplicity. The printing seems to be perfect, as far as I can tell – precise registration, even ink, well made.
Next Steps
Wear it for a while, test its ultimate durability, reliability, and accuracy. It’s a quartz Ronda 7 Series Swiss Movement, so I’m expecting solid accuracy and reliability.
Final Thoughts
Looking for an affordable, minimalist every day wear for trips around town and to the office and back? The VERK Watch could be a great option.
Specifications
- 316L Stainless Steel Case
- Ronda 7 Series Swiss Movement
- Sapphire Crystal Glass
- Unisex Design
- Water Resistant to 3 ATM
- 40 mm wide (1.57 inch)
- 7.9 mm thick (0.31 inch)
