Yesterday, we had our first look at a watch from EL, the Naples. Today, we’ll have a look at the second review sample that Doc C Clothiers sent over.
The watch in question is the Rivoli, so named for the colors in the sunset-tinged sky of the small Italian town. This is rather a departure from what you’d expect for a dial color in a men’s watch, that (to my surprise) worked quite well along with the brown strap (and, as an aside, my daughter just loved it).
While the Naples was a sport watch through and through, this one I think is what I’m calling a “classic” watch – this is the sort of style and shape that many people will picture (or even sketch out) when they are thinking about a watch. This means that simplicity is a bonus here (where for the Naples I found it a detriment), and allows the watch to be a chameleon, working just as well at the office as it does with a suit or on the weekends.
As with the Naples, the automatic movement here is the EL-18 (based on Claro 888-2) with some additional decoration added for visual interest through the sapphire caseback. This is housed in a 38mm stainless steel case which looks (and wears) a few mil smaller than that measurement might suggest – meaning if you’ve got smaller wrists, you’ll want to give this one a look.
The dial has some interest (aside from the unique color we saw). You’ve got a subtle sunburst pattern hiding in there, which catches the light and breaks up the surface, courtesy of guilloche which is done by hand – much nice than a flat dial in this sort of presentation. Sitting on top of that you have simple (and lumed) stick indices, as well as the 12 up at the top.
As a whole this works very well with the simple hands, and that’s what I truly like about this watch – the simplicity. Yes, there are some “snazzier” touches with the guilloche and croc-grain calfskin strap, but they don’t overwhelm the classic styling. It just a nice, solid all-around watch, working for any manner of situations – the date display just makes it that much more versatile.
You can pick up this watch (or one of the other dial colors, which actually changes the model name) from Doc C here, for the price of $1150. Given the Swiss automatic movement, hand-guilloche details, and versatility of the watch, the pricing doesn’t seem to be wildly out of line.
Our thanks to Doc C Custom Clothiers for sending over the two EL models for us to review. If there is anything else from their lineup you’d like us to review, let me know in the comments (or an email), and I’ll work with them to see if we can’t make that happen.
