The Email Jour/Nuit Antoine Tavan 1805 - Full Review

Okay, now that the annual odometer has officially "flipped", it's time to wrap-up my time with the  Email Jour/Nuit Antoine Tavan 1805.

Now as mentioned in the "warm-up", this little bijoux was available on a Kickstarter crowd funder for less than $1,000 US.  Well, as The Bard once mused - 
"If you snooze, you lose." And in this case, if you snossed you lost!  The Jour/Nuit has moved from Kickstarter to reality, and with it a far more realistic (but still unbelievably reasonable) price -
CHF 1,890.

So let's get right to it.  Visually, the Jour/Nuit is a stunner.  There is no point in me trying to be anything but brutally honest, this is the shit that killed Elvis!  

 The case is of stainless steel, and measures 40 mm in diameter and 12 mm thick.

The big attraction is, of course, the dial.  So let's talk about that.   The dial is of copper, which is then enameled using traditional (read NOT MASS Production) techniques.  Long story short?  The dial was made by Roger Zarzosa and his team.  It was not ordered from a bulk production house.  

Set atop the enameled dial is a set of arcs displaying the time scale for the 24 hours.  

The hands, like the dial, are an "in-house" affair -

Courtesy of Antoine Tavan

The top hand in the above image is the hour hand. You will note that there is a "Sun" on one end and a "Moon" on the other end.  You will further notice that the Sun (daytime hours) half is longer than the Moon (evening hours).  All of the time is indicated in the upper portion of the dial, and the hours are indicated by the two aforementioned arcs -

Courtesy of Antoine Tavan

You will note the upper arc ranges from 6 (6:00 AM) - 18 (6:00 PM).  The lower arc starting at 18 (6:00 PM) - 6 (6:00 AM).  Telling the time couldn't be simpler - as you can see the sun is just about at 16 (4:00 PM) and the minute hand is just about at 56 on the minute scale. Meaning that it is 

just about 3:56.  Or more precisely?  3:55 and 35 seconds ; )

A quick note on the strap - it is not standard to the watch.  As the watch is a prototype, it was sent with something pretty basic, so I reached out to Xavier Thomas of LIC straps (Belgium), and sent him a picture of the watch asking him to come up with something special to go with it.  The strap is ostrich foot, and really goes with the watch.

Now much has been mentioned of the soon to be shortage of ETA 2824s (among other ETA products), but luckily Antoine Tavan laid hands to sufficient stock. These are not your standard 2824s, they have been modified to be 24 hour as opposed to the traditional 12 hour version.  And like the dial and the hands?  Courtesy of?  You guessed it, Roger Zarzoso and Antoine Tavan.  And unlike the big boys who would simply slap a movement in the case, Antoine Tavan put some effort in -

And in case you missed it, the dial is guaranteed for life.  My understanding is that the watch itself is guaranteed for 3 years.

So what was it like to wear?

Well, let's be 100% honest, it is a very different dial set-up than most of us will use every day.  It did take me a day or two to get used to it. Having said that, once I did it was easy and natural.  

The size is more and more the "ideal" lately, 40 mm.  The finishing of the case is smooth and well executed.  The winding of the crown is smooth and the setting precise.

All in all?  Extremely impressed!  Now, if you can find a watch with an enamel dial with this level of finish, executed by hand by the brand owner himself at twice the price, you would think it was fair.  Add in-house hands, a rotor that can be customized, and the knowledge that you are one of a handful of people to get one?  Suddenly $1,890 is a screaming bargain.  

Now just imagine you bought one during the Kickstarter?

Here are the pertinents -

Best in Show 2019 - The Email Jour/Nuit Antoine Tavan 1805 - Part 1

Now despite my aversion to "buying guides" and "My Top Picks" articles, I do think that from time to time there are some pieces that hit a nerve, in the best possible way.

I was fortunate to be get an "advance-screening" of the Email Jour/Nuit. I explained carefully to the brand's owner and creative "Guardo Camino" Roger Zarzoso that once the watch was on Kickstarter, I could not write any sort of review until after the Kickstarter phase was concluded.  

Well, after a successful Kickstarter campaign, I can now pull back the curtains and give you my thoughts.  I am off to the center now - the students won't teach themselves ; ).   But I will be back this afternoon to give you the straight skinny.

Stay tuned!

Something Very Special

Now on the surface, you might look at this watch and think that you've seen it, or at least something like it before -

Courtesy of Roger Zarzoso / Antoine Tavan 

Well, you maybe you think you have, but in this particular case? Not really!

This watch was designed by Roger Zarzoso. For those unfamiliar, Mr. Zarzoso has worked behind the scenes for some of the most famous Swiss brands over a career spanning more than 30 years. He is the owner of Antoine Tavan, and this is his latest creation.

Now again, there have certainly been day/night, 24 hour watches out there before. But many of these were crafted either from base Unitas movements (hand-winding), or one-off manufacture creations. In both cases, let's just say the prices were prohibitive.

Courtesy of Roger Zarzoso / Antoine Tavan 

Well, get ready to be surprised. 

It is entirely designed and manufactured in Mr. Zarzoso's workshop in Le Locle. This watch is something of a first, as it utilizes an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement that he has modified to display a 24 hour indication. As I said, there have been plenty of these complications done with a hand-wound movement, or much more expensive manufacture concoctions. And I could be wrong, but I believe this is one of, if not the first effort at such a modification in this type of dial layout. As ever, I am anxious to know if other examples exist, so please let me know!

Another distinction is the quality of enamel work. The dial is of copper, with enamel finishing using traditional techniques. The dial contains two scales in relief, each representing a unique half of the 24 hour day.

Now the other "stop the press" aspect of this watch? Well, the rumor is that this watch is going to be offered at a very, very attractive price. How attractive? Let's just say I am ready to order RIGHT now, and I am a poor English Teacher/Social Worker, so that is saying something.

That's all for now, but stay tuned!