This has been quite the week for Visitor Watch Co. If you recall, I took at look at their inaugural offering, the Duneshore back in November of 2014. Since then, things have been in a bit of radio silence. Sure, the watch was available, but there had not been any word on a new model. Well, that silence has been broken, and in a big way. Starting on Monday of this week, Visitor Watch Co revealed a new product each day this week. Since the last item was revealed, I thought it worthwhile to take a look at everything that is coming out.
First up, on Monday, Visitor Watch Co revealed the Calligraph Linden. For those who may not recall, the Duneshore was actually the start of the Calligraph collection, given it’s fountain pen-inspired design cues. Well, the Linden carries a lot of that forward. In fact, much of the dial, and the handset, look very similar to the Duneshore. The big difference here is with the case, in that we have gone to more of a standard, or traditional, look. The 39mm case is only 10.5mm thick, so while you are giving up some of the uniqueness of the look from the Duneshore, the Linden is providing a compact home on your wrist for the Miyota 9015. Also of note here is that there are new dial colors coming in (white, black, and a dusty pink to start with). Pricing has not been completely set yet, but it sounds like it will be affordable, with a targeted tag of $550 – another benefit of simplifying the case and crystal.
Next up, we had the reveal of the Duneshore Bracelet. Now, a “grains of rice” bracelet is not all that hard to come by these days, especially ones that are not trying to create a solid end-link for a watch. So, why might you consider popping down $100 for this one from Visitor Watch Co? Plain and simple, it’s the clasp on the bracelet. It’s an ambitious little puck, and shows off a the door knocker logo of the brand. For me, I am a little concerned about the bulk it might add, but if you are going to have a signed bracelet, this is one of the more unique ways I’ve seen it done.
Wednesday’s reveal showed us more reason for why that Duneshore Bracelet was coming along, as this was when the Visitor Watch Co Duneshore Shallows was announced. This is the brand stepping into the world of dive watches, along with the recognition that most people aren’t truly diving, so a modest 200m WR rating was what they achieved here. At first glance, the Shallows may seem almost identical to the original Duneshore, due to the case shape and dial. Closer inspection reveals a different handset and a solid caseback, and a rather nice-looking uni-direcitonal bezel. Digging through the technical details reveals other modifications were made to the infrastructure of the watch as well. The overall case dimensions have remained the same, other than thickness, which increased 1mm. The 9015-driven Shallows will be available at around $750, either on the bracelet (at an upcharge) or a rubber strap.
While the Wednesday offering was a completely new watch, Thursday brought us word of a modification to the (now two) Duneshore models – a black DLC finish called Blacksand. This makes for an attractive look on the watch, and should only lift the price about $30 from the base of the model. It looks right now that they are only coming on black leather straps, but one might hope for a DLC version of the bracelet at some point. Also of note, the Blacksand version of the Shallows actually has a dark grey dial, which should set off nicely from just a “regular” all-black version.
Finally, today, another new model was announced, the Visitor Watch Co Vale Park Officer. This is a departure from the other watches, as it really does not tie back to the Duneshore. Here, we have a sandwhich dial, with rather nice usage of lume (check out the lume shot in the gallery below). Also of note, what at first appears to be a solid case back actually turns out to be a sort of Hunter case. In that, after slightly unscrewing the crown, you can pop open the cover and see an exhibition caseback that shows off the customized bit of the rotor (the Visitor Watch Co logo, of course) along with the standard Miyota 9015 rotor; the movement itself also has some perlage applied, so it’s not a bad view. This is not what you would call a necessary or utilitarian addition to the watch; rather, I’d say it was done for style points, and the Vale Park Officer does have a style of it’s own. The handset may not be as visually interesting as the Duneshore line, but it’s well done and utilitarian, which sets off the non-standard cutouts for the hour indices. At around $800, it’s a stylistically interesting sort of tool watch. Speaking of style, the strap is reminiscent of a wingtip shoe – and as an avowed fan of longwings, this is something I am curious to see in person.
As you can see, Visitor Watch Co has quite an array of products coming out. While none of these products are quite ready for direct sale, there should be a waiting list popping up on the Visitor Watch Co site for those who are interested. It is a little unclear if that will lead to a pre-order or just a regular order, but those on the list will have a first come, first served chance at ordering what has caught their fancy. For us here at WWR, we’re cautiously optimistic. Visitor Watch Co smashed it out of the park with their initial watch, and these new models, bracelet, and finishes build on that success along with branching out a bit. And, of course, as the brand is relatively local to me, we’ll be working to bring you hands-on impressions once they’re available. For now, we’ll all have to settle for the photos. Be sure to let us know in the comments what you think about these new products, and what you would like us to pay special attention to once we see them in the steel. visitorwatchco.com
