Even if you’re just a casual reader of this site, you know that there are a lot of smaller watch makers out there, and we try to bring as many of them to your attention as we can. That, of course, brings us to the subject of today’s post.
Egard itself is a father-son collaboration (also uniting LA and Toronto), established earlier this year. Being a new company, they currently have just a single model, The Shade, available in two color schemes. We were sent over the blue model (SHAV01BLU) for review, and the initial impression of the piece is a mashup of a dress watch and a sport watch.
By this, I mean that it presents first as a partially skeletonized dress watch. However, once you take into account it’s size (43mm diameter on a thick leather strap), you realize this isn’t your standard dress piece.
One of the first concerns you might have with a new brand is how reliable the piece is going to be. Thankfully, here, we’ve got a Miyota 8N24 Skeleton movement, so it’s a definite known quantity, so there shouldn’t be any concerns there. As I mentioned earlier, this is wrapped with a 43mm stainless steel case, with sapphire up front (AR coated) and back.
The watch itself is water resistant to 200 meters, courtesy of the construction which includes a screw-down crown. Of course, you may not want to do that much swimming with either of the included leather straps installed, but you do have a backup should one get soaked. The black leather strap comes with a deployant clasp; the brown has a thumbnail buckle.
Before I wrap up the first part of this review, I’ll also mention that this watch does come in an attractive, lacquered wood presentation box. The box itself complements the look and feel that the watch is going for, though it will take up more room on your shelf if you’re building a collection.
With that, I’ll bring today’s post to a close – tune in tomorrow for the conclusion to this review.
