If you’ve been reading along the last few days, you know that we had the (exclusive to date, as far as I know) opportunity to interview Ted Brown of Berkbinder & Brown, and of course discuss his Tool Watch. After the interview, I was loaned a bronze version of the Tool Watch, and will be reviewing it here for you today.
Of the course of the week after the interview, I got to experience the watch in a variety of settings, and it worked well for just about everything. Before we get too far into my impressions, let’s just have a quick rundown of the pertinent specs:
- Case: 46mm x 13mm two piece (954 bronze or steel)
- Movement: Automatic ETA 2824-2
- Strap: internal “lugs” hold a 20mm strap (leather, stingray, or silicone)
- 100m water resistance
- 3mm thick sapphire glass up front; 2mm mineral glass exhibition caseback
You can tell just by looking at the watch that it’s a beefy piece, and should stand up to just about anything you throw at it (for instance, the stainless steel screws on the front of the case help protect the crystal, while simultaneously providing an interesting design feature).
From my experience, this watch works well for a daily wearer. At 3.9 oz, it’s actually lighter than some stainless steel watches I have – so its weight wasn’t an issue for me. And initially, I thought that the strap (at 20mm) was too narrow in comparison to the watch, but it really was a non-issue.
It was very comfortable and held the watch in place well. I think the main reason the smaller width wasn’t a visual issue is due to the integrated lugs. Had they been standard lugs, I think it would have been more problematic. With the strap, I did have two minor “quibbles” with it.
First was the buckle on the strap. I would have preferred to see if in bronze. Or, if not bronze in and of itself, at least bronze colored. I think that would finish things off nicely. Second, the leather strap, while nice, almost seemed too polished with the watch. Perhaps an option that’s a more rugged or worked over style would serve the watch well. Of course, these are both minor issues, and could easily be addressed in further iterations of the watch.
As for the rest of my thoughts on this watch, you’ll just have to hold tight until tomorrow!
