OK, Rossling & Co. never thought that thin was out, they were just out of stock of their quartz watches. The company was nice enough to send me a pair of the watches a while back, and now that you can actually purchase them again, I thought I would give you my impressions. *Spoiler Alert* – The Rossling & Co. Quartz watch is an attractive minimalist dress option.
Patrick covered the watch when it was still a Kickstarter project, and I was able to review the new, and similar, Automatic, but the quartz watch is different enough from the Automatic, and a fair bit less expensive, that it is worth bringing it to your attention. The 40mm Rossling & Co. Quartz comes in at an anorexic 7mm thick, 2mm thinner than the automatic. On the wrist, it really feels like nothing is there.
There are 6 variations of the watch, 2 color options with three strap options, though the tan strap is currently unavailable, knocking your current choices to four. The watch comes with a white dial and silver indexes, with your choice of either solver or blued hands. With the tan strap sold, out, you can pick from either the grey or dark grey tweed options. I have not seen the dark grey, but the light grey is attractive, and my preference is clearly for the blue hand version of the watch.
With the Kickstarter campaign, the blue hands were a stretch goal that was added when they got to about 6 times the funding threshold (they ended up with $170,00 in pledges against a goal of $19,000). I do not know how popular they were as an option with the first bunch, but they were clearly popular enough to make them part of the brands DNA moving forward.
The watch is driven by the Swiss Ronda 1069 quartz movement, with a small seconds hand at 3:00. The sub dial is legible and works nicely into the expansive negative space of the dial, and offset the branding text at 12:00. Beyond that, you only have the silver applied hour index bars, with a double bar at 12:00, and silk printed minute indexes. The watch does not have a date window, which is just fine by me. The case is stainless steel and there is a sapphire crystal up front. The watch is water resistant only to 3 ATM, but this is a dress watch after all.
As a dress watch, it works well. As thin as it is, it fits easily under the most tailored of cuffs. The tweed strap, a fairly novel material for watch straps, is a nice alternative to the more ubiquitous leather. It also helps the watch transition to a more casual weekend watch, where it would pair nicely with jeans or preppier summer wear. I wouldn’t wear it paired with something more rugged, nor would it be my choice for my more adventurous outings, but I have other options for those occasions.
There really isn’t anything I dislike about the watch. I think the crown is a tad small (something that they corrected with the automatic), but unless you are doing a lot of traveling, you only adjust a quartz watch a couple times a year. The expansive dial with the thin bezel makes the watch look a little bigger than the actual 40mm. The flat sapphire crystal has a small bevel to it, where it sits just a hair above the bezel.
The Bauhaus inspired design is clean and attractive, and the tweed strap adds a bit of novelty. I actually prefer this dial arrangement, with the small seconds and no date window, over the standard 3 hand automatic, but the sweeping second hand of the more expensive little brother ($439 on pre-order) levels the playing field a bit.
The Rossling & Co. quartz watch watch is selling right now for $179, a mark-down from $199. At that price, I think it would make a good option for a group of groomsmen, especially if the group tended toward more sporting wristwatches in daily wear. It would also make for a good purchase for a new graduate looking to head out into the market to find a job, or someone looking to fit into a suit and tie office environment. It is shipped in an attractive lacquer box, a nice alternative to the traditional watch box. rosslingco.com
Review Summary
- Brand & Model: Rossling & Co. Quartz Watch
- Price: $179
- Who’s it for?: Everyone needs a dress watch.
- Would I wear it?: Most definitely.
- What I’d change: Make the crown a touch larger.
- The best thing about it: Blue hands against a white dial.
