Yesterday, we started taking a look at the Elan Moonphase watch from Kristian Kiel. This is a squared off watch with serious wrist presence, and features a moonphase complication as one of it’s distinguishing features. Today, we’ll cover a few more items I really liked, as well as a few I wasn’t as fond of.
Of course, this is a break from tradition in that segment. With the day and date subdials, it gives a feel of a chronograph (if not actually being one). And, of course, the case itself breaks away from the circular style we’re used to seeing in a dress watch.
Before I get into a couple of items I feel could be improved, there is on other nicety on the watch that I want to draw your attention to on the balanced dial. If you look in closely, you’ll actually see a concentric pattern hiding in plain sight under the curved mineral crystal. Now, a subtle pattern like that certainly can go unnoticed, but it does give some nice character to the dial.
I found a lot to like about this piece. There were a few items, though, that I think didn’t quite line up with the rest of the piece. First off, I’ll bring your attention to the main hands – specifically, the hour hand. The minute hand I think is as long as it can be, given the dimensions of the case. In comparison, though, the hour hand feels just a tad too short, which throws it off a little bit.
The second item is with the case. On the crown side, you’ve got what almost look to be buttons, but are merely decorative elements on the stainless steel case. On the other side, however, you’ve got one smooth surface – this makes an otherwise balanced watch feel unbalanced. I’m not suggesting a crown should be added, but perhaps perfectly smooth sides to the case would better serve the design.
Those two items are minor, in the bigger picture of what this watch is. At $554 (at current conversion rates), you might feel the pricing is on the high side for a Swiss Quartz-powered (Ronda) watch. And with many pieces, I’d agree with you. But, once you consider the complications in the movement, as well as the very polished styling, I think it just might be worth the extra price – especially if you want a moonphase watch to pair with your suit that won’t look like every other watch out there.
