Good intentions. We all start out with good intentions.
This was meant to be a brief 3 day review, but I've now spent the last week and some change with a prototype of Manufaktur Waldhoff's Regent. It has been that great to wear. The Regent was one of the models featured in their recent successful Kickstarter campaign.
The stainless steel case measures 42 mm in diameter, with the front crystal being described as "sapphire coated". The dial is clear and well laid out, with four roman numerals at the quarter hour marks and single indices making up the 8 remaining hour markers. The focal point is the aperture exposing the beating mechanism, allowing the wearer to have a somewhat closer look at their watch at work.
The dial itself is made of two pieces, with a pinstripe pattern in the central portion.
The hour and minute hands have applied lume, and the central second hand offers a fun flourish with the Manufaktur Waldhoff badge displayed at the top.
More and more it seems that 40 mm is the new 44 mm, so 42 does not seem so outlandish.
And for most of us that is a reasonable size. The trick is always down to the case finish.
The finish of the Regent is what you'd expect from a German case design. It sits well on the wrist, and with the downward curving lugs it wraps itself around nicely.
Per Manufaktur Waldhoff, the Regent uses the Seiko NH38.
And I think we are in the midst of a paradigm shift in terms of mechanical and automatic movements. More and more brands are opting to move towards Japanese movements. While ETA is quite good and Sellita is also a strong performer, the other Swiss options available in the main stream have failed to deliver so far. Add to that the inability of some of the other potential suppliers to even deliver a few movements? Well your choices begin to dwindle. But beyond the accessibility, the Japanese movements simply work. Ultimately, isn't that the most important measure?
The time keeping was very, very good with a +17 second deviation over the first 3 days that settled down to +10 for the remaining week.
The crown itself is well finished and provides very smooth winding.
The strap is a fairly basic leather. It is soft and comfortable with no break-in time required.
It is secured with a subtly engraved buckle -
Now again, this is a prototype so it is not the final version that Kickstarter customers will receive, but it is very, very promising.
There is no shortage for new brands mushrooming up on Kickstarter, so time will tell how Manufaktur Waldhoff will do. But if the Regent is anything to go on, the future looks pretty good!
Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -
And the price? A very reasonable $368 according to the Manufaktur Waldhoff site.
This was meant to be a brief 3 day review, but I've now spent the last week and some change with a prototype of Manufaktur Waldhoff's Regent. It has been that great to wear. The Regent was one of the models featured in their recent successful Kickstarter campaign.
The stainless steel case measures 42 mm in diameter, with the front crystal being described as "sapphire coated". The dial is clear and well laid out, with four roman numerals at the quarter hour marks and single indices making up the 8 remaining hour markers. The focal point is the aperture exposing the beating mechanism, allowing the wearer to have a somewhat closer look at their watch at work.
The dial itself is made of two pieces, with a pinstripe pattern in the central portion.
The hour and minute hands have applied lume, and the central second hand offers a fun flourish with the Manufaktur Waldhoff badge displayed at the top.
More and more it seems that 40 mm is the new 44 mm, so 42 does not seem so outlandish.
And for most of us that is a reasonable size. The trick is always down to the case finish.
The finish of the Regent is what you'd expect from a German case design. It sits well on the wrist, and with the downward curving lugs it wraps itself around nicely.
Per Manufaktur Waldhoff, the Regent uses the Seiko NH38.
And I think we are in the midst of a paradigm shift in terms of mechanical and automatic movements. More and more brands are opting to move towards Japanese movements. While ETA is quite good and Sellita is also a strong performer, the other Swiss options available in the main stream have failed to deliver so far. Add to that the inability of some of the other potential suppliers to even deliver a few movements? Well your choices begin to dwindle. But beyond the accessibility, the Japanese movements simply work. Ultimately, isn't that the most important measure?
The time keeping was very, very good with a +17 second deviation over the first 3 days that settled down to +10 for the remaining week.
The crown itself is well finished and provides very smooth winding.
The strap is a fairly basic leather. It is soft and comfortable with no break-in time required.
It is secured with a subtly engraved buckle -
Now again, this is a prototype so it is not the final version that Kickstarter customers will receive, but it is very, very promising.
There is no shortage for new brands mushrooming up on Kickstarter, so time will tell how Manufaktur Waldhoff will do. But if the Regent is anything to go on, the future looks pretty good!
Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -
And the price? A very reasonable $368 according to the Manufaktur Waldhoff site.
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