LATEST>>>>>LATEST>>>>>>LATEST_______________________________________Well it had to happen!       Didn’t it?

After about 2 weeks my lovely new watch developed a problem – suddenly! As I was winding it at 9am as I do every morning – the crown, winder and spindle assembly fell out of the watch and into my hand!

I was to put it mildly – mortified!
Immediately contacted the Dealer and arranged to send the watch back to them so they in turn could return it to J&T Windmills.
Then after about 6 weeks of what I have to say was pretty poor Dealer communication I was sent not the repaired watch but a brand new replacement watch.

Just one of those things?   Made-in-England ?……or maybe more accurately – a Monday morning poorly assembled watch “perhaps” in England – I really don’t know, but it has certainly shaken my confidence in this particular “Made in England” watch.
And time will tell if this new replacment model (an earlier one according to it’s number) is going to be as it is supposed to be.

So far so good and it DOES feel better on winding than the first one which was in retrospect a little rough – so perhaps this one will last.  It’s certainly much smoother and as reasonably accurate and I do like wearing it.

The J&T Windmills fortunately does have a 2 year Guarantee though I certainly hope not to have to use it yet again.

You may have noted that my next purchase was a German manufactured Swiss movment Quartz model, the Bruno Söhnle….I wonder if this was maybe a subliminal purchase  – because out of all my quartz movement watches over the years I have NEVER had a faulty one –

But as for the mechanicals – well every so often……

Apart from my vintage Patek Philippe of course – which just goes on and on…………….Oh Yes!!

Mind you when it was made there were NO imported parts – it was all Swiss……And you know – it shows!

Spotted this name whilst on a short holiday in Germany and I noted that many of these Bruno Söhnle models on display in this particular shop were rather good looking.  But time was of the essence (pardon the pun) and we had to move on – but not (of course) before jotting down the manufacturer’s name.

Bruno Söhnle Rondo Signore Quartz.
Once returned to the UK made a point of looking around for this make and found out very quickly that it was simply not available in the UK at all.
Available in mainland Europe at selected Dealers only.

Fortunately I found an excellent retailer with shop premises in Stuttgart who also trades online with a very good web site.

It was actually quite difficult to choose the model I wanted initially as there were quite a number of them I liked, but in the end I opted for the Rondo Signore Quartz in polished stainless steel – basically as I liked it’s clean design and the neat sizing.

The case is a trim 38mm without crown and with a depth of only 5.8mm makes for a very, very neat watch indeed.  The clear off-white dial is very clear and easy to read with Arabic and Roman numerals with contrasting black colored baton hour and minute hands.  The clarity is assisted greatly I would suggest with the Sapphire crystal which has an applied internal anti-reflect (de-reflect) coating.

The small seconds sub-dial is in silver @7 with extremely fine guilloche patterning background and features a short center mount black seconds hand.
Date is handled by a rather stylish 3 day indicator crescent window @2 with the current day indicated in the center by a short arrow head pointer in red which is actually very easy to read (some single date windows can be very small).
This triple date design also assists when trying to make out the date when the window is obscured by either the hour or the minute hand – in that the day before or after can be easily seen – a rather neat feature indeed.
The date has a rapid adjustment setting which is becoming a common feature of quartz watches today.

Engine wise it is powered by a Swiss made quartz calibre 1009 Ronda 9 jewel Slimtech movement which allows the watch it’s super-slim profile.  The Ronda quartz movements are well regarded and have an acceptable accuracy of around -10/+20 seconds/month and can be found in many of the mid to high range watches from a variety of good Manufacturers.

Bruno Söhnle however have modified this Swiss manufactured version 1009 in-house and re-orientated it with an elegant offset resulting in the winder/crown assembly @4 complete with the Brunu Söhnle logo.  The positioning of the date display is also good as it is very easy to read with your arms in front without cocking the wrist towards you.
This gives the watch a little different and unusual look which I find very elegant especially in conjunction with it’s ultra-slim profile.
In many ways it reminds me of the Botta Argos I have in my collection as Botta use quite a number of the Slimtech Ronda movements.  This movement has neat features and uses a standard Renata 1.5v battery No.315 * which has a life of around 2 +years.
If you’re not wearing the watch for longish periods it has a very useful power save function.  If you pull out the stem taking the date wheel out of gear it reduces the power used by approximately 70%.  The movement also is repairable unlike many cheaper quartz models.

The watch has a 3ATM or 30m Water Resistance and has a polished and engraved stainless steel solid back.  The model number and Bruno Söhnle Glashutte logo complete the back detail and the watch is complimented by a very high quality stitched black leather bracelet strap with stainless engraved logo clasp & steel pin fastening.
The overall weight of the watch is only 35gm including the strap so is a picture of understated elegance on the wrist.

Bruno Söhnle watches are manufactured in Germany in Glashutte/Saxony an area with a renowned history of quality watchmaking and if this first purchase is anything to go by, that is an entirely true statement.
The watch exudes quality from the high polished stainless steel case to the delicate but clear and precision of the dial detail is very impressive.

Especially nice for me is the size and weight of this watch – at 35gm inclusive of strap and a strap length that’s sensible for once and not too long – it is a joy to wear.

So any downsides?  Maybe just the crown being inset slightly to the case.  When pulled out to set the date for example it is only just far enough and quite small to grip – fortunately and unlike the Botta Argos it IS knurled, so “neat” is perhaps a better description – not a downside as such.

Out of 10 I would give this watch a very solid 9 – and even then I’m still tempted to give it 10…! It is a lovely watch.

In fact I’m looking forward perhaps to getting another Bruno Söhnle and I’ll be trawling that nice Stuttgart Dealer over the next few months.

Oh – I forgot to mention the Dealer’s name – it is Ralf Häffner of Stuttgart – click HERE to view his site and check out the Bruno Söhnle range.

* data corrected 25/11/2011

Every so often as a watch collector of the eclectic variety you get fed up with the same names and more accurately, “styles” of watches that are around. You find yourself looking for something new, something different. Something that when you see it, you say “Oh, I like that. I really like that!”.

Now I don’t mean silly like some of the so called new or “unusual” or indeed interesting watches that can be found. You know the sort of thing – a totally way out odd looking lump on your wrist that for the life of you, you simply can’t figure out how to actually read the time on the darned thing! Instead of hands, it maybe has dots, or bars or flashing lights or any other mad interpretation of time they think of to be different. Mostly in my opinion they manage “silly” at best and “unusually” silly at that.

Forget all that stuff – what I mean are stylish classic looking watches with that “something” about their design, an individuality perhaps that also looks good. But not the same old “that’s obviously a Rolex” or an Omega or a Breitling or Longines etc. because you can tell them a mile away and they are just……too familiar……. and dare I say….boring.
(note I don’t include the Pateks or Vache’s or Breguet’s as they are simply in a class of their own and are always interesting).

Anyway I started searching around for such watches and found myself looking at the smaller manufacturers. Ones that may have limited production runs specialising in a select range of classic looking or stylish watches for the discerning……“sounds like an advert! Ha Ha!”

BUT – there are pitfalls of which to be wary when considering some of these lesser known brands.  What is their quality, are they what they say they are and if the dial says Swiss Made or Made in Germany for example – are they?
Now because my search has highlighted a number of different aspects re’ what I call the lesser or Private Brand/Name market, I’ve split the blog into a number of parts.

Part 1 – Buyer take care.

This was the very first name I spotted that wasn’t familiar to me and this is one of the models that first caught my attention.  A Bossart multi-function stainless steel automatic mechanical date watch.  At 40mm diameter and 13mm depth it is a solid and good looking piece.  3ATM Water Resistant (lower than I thought) and a mineral crystal with a see-through back and the large crown protector adds a certain individuality to this watch.

This particular Bossart model I found on a retailer’s site though I note that currently is not listed on the Bossart web site.  It’s called the “London” and has Bossart on the dial and whilst there’s no “Made in Germany” on the dial, it does say on their web site that the watch brand Bossart is a German registered name. Quoting from their site it says –

“In the heart of Europe in the steeped in tradition watchmaking country Germany in one of the oldest and at the same time most beautiful cities – Monschau, was created the watch brand Bossart®”.

I hope you will forgive me for assuming that the German registered brand name Bossart, might actually be a German manufactured watch. But appearances can be deceiving and in my opinion with that advertising blurb is very misleading.

However the blank watch shown here is a model manufactured in China and is obtainable from Million Smart Enterprises of Kowloon. And why am I showing this?

How about – Does it look familiar?

Million Smart are (presently) a highly successful Company with a huge output of Chinese made watches from Standard to multi-function to Chronometers to Tourbillons. Apparently from their 18000sqm Kowloon factory they churn out around 600,000 watches a MONTH.  Now that’s what I call mass-production!

Many private watch brands use them and it’s quite easy. You simply check out their web site, choose the model/s you would like, check the minimum order quantity, agree the price, send a jpg of your logo and wait for the order coming in.
And that’s it basically – no overheads, no Quality Control, no after sales – no worries……….If a watch supplied to a customer is DOA you simply send another – problem solved. The profit margin should be enough to keep you well on the right side and any guarantee issues simply get the same treatment.

My concern here is not that a Company sets up to sell it’s own range of watches – that’s absolutely fine. Nor do I have anything against what may be a reasonable watch at an apparent bargain price of around €160.
My real concern is that you may well be completely and utterly mistaken in your assumption that you’re buying a German watch, with it’s associated traditions of quality watchmaking (remember all that hyped and frankly misleading web site blurb about German watchmaking tradition etc)……… and you’re NOT!

Instead you have got yourself a rather smart and “interesting” looking, but low quality mass produced Chinese watch with no vestige of European pedigree or tradition and which may be worth €50 at best.

So when looking for “interesting watches” – buyer take care!

Note – Part 2 – is called  “Buyer beware”  and for good reason – I hope to blog this soon – So look out for it.