Casquette 2.0 - Electric Boogaloo!

nos·tal·gia

/näˈstaljə,nəˈstaljə/

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noun

1. a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

   "I was overcome with acute nostalgia for my days in college"

   courtesy of Oxford Languages 

As a tow headed Northern Youth my grandfather, in his wisdom, gave me a Texas Instruments digital watch. It easily weighed a pound, and died three times in less than 4 months before being dutifully consigned to the dustbin the week after Halloween. My July birthday present did not live to see Christmas. 

Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux

I don't claim to know how good or bad sales are for GP. I can say that apart from some pieces finding their way onto the wrists of a few journalists, you don't tend to see them "in the wild" on an even remotely regular basis. There are a lot of reasons for this, but chief among them is a fairly significant identity crisis. In fairness to the former managers / new owners, this is not a new development. Without consistent and comprehensive communication, it is quite hard to understand just what GP is trying to do or to be.

 With that said, I had to scratch my head when I clapped eyes on the newly released Casquette 2.0...

Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux

Like pretty much everyone else who writes about watches, I am nostalgic. I sincerely appreciate whimsy, and those who try to do something different.  With that said, $4,700 is a bit further and deeper than I am willing to go to scratch that particular itch. More to the point, it is yet another odd choice made by GP in recent times. 

Should you be aching to put on your leisure suit and splash on some Hai Karate and take a deep dive back to that simpler time, here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

LIMITED EDITION OF 820 TIMEPIECES

CASQUETTE 2.0

39800-32-001-32A

• WATCH
  • CASE
    • Case material :
      black ceramic and titanium, titanium pushers
    • Diameter :
      42.40 x 33.60 mm
    • Thickness :
      14.64 mm
    • Case-back :
      titanium, secured by 4 screws
    • Dial :
      Tubular LED display
    • Water resistance :
      50 m
  • STRAP
    • Strap material :
      ceramic with rubber interior
    • Buckle :
      titanium folding buckle
• MOVEMENT
  • CALIBRE
    • Number :
      GP3980-1474
    • Mechanism :
      quartz
    • Total Diameter :
      26.24 x 25.65 mm (-)
    • Height :
      6.40 mm
    • Frequency :
      32'768 Hz
    • Number of Parts :
      50
    • Number of Jewels :
      0
    • Oscillating weight :
      -
    • Power Reserve :
      -

GP's neighbors up the hill floated a similar idea at a past BaselWorld when Corum came out with an LED Bubble. How well or poorly that particular anomaly sold is a question only Corum will ever be able to answer. 

Now in fairness, for all I know all 820 pieces of the Casquette 2.0 have been sold. I am clearly not part of that demographic ; )

Nostalgia is a beguiling force. But ultimately, I will leave it with that other great commentator on the watch business, Anwan Glover as Slim Charles in The Wire -

Courtesy of HBO / The Wire

Wrapping up the QLOCKTWO

Why we like a watch is often a very inexplicable, very visceral thing.  It is often something that can't be logically quantifiable.  It is emotional, sometimes bordering on the irrational.  And the watch companies that can harness that sort of subconscious desire and marry it with high quality manufacturing are onto something.  

Such was my experience with the QLOCKTWO.

Before I dive into the usual stuff you'd expect in a review, I have to delve back and share a personal story -

Way back when dinosaurs were roaming the earth, my grandfather decided that the one thing that every 10 year old needed was an LED watch.  So a very large, very chunky LED watch arrived and was given to me.  I LOVED that watch, hitting the buttons incessantly.  It worked for all of a week before malfunctioning.  We sent it back to the folks at Texas Instruments and were told to wait a month.  Only to receive a BRAND NEW identical model less than a week later, swiftly followed by the original "repaired" model a week after that.  Spoiler alert - both watches died within a week of arrival.  

So it was more than a stroll down memory lane for me to wear the QLOCKTWO this past week.

So as you've probably figured out, the QLOCKTWO is a battery powered watch.  But it is a far cry from the LED watches of my youth, the ones favored by Millennials attempting to be ironic.  No, this is something for the grownups.

As you can see in the picture above, the QLOCKTWO is square in shape with letters (and dots) engraved into the watch face.  And that is how it looks until you engage the button to read the time.  

You will note, no numbers, just words.  As you can see, the time is 4:40, or twenty to five.  The watch face is programmed to light up the time in words.  This is how we typically say the time, and in a world of cell phones makes this a somewhat kinder and gentler way to experience the passing of minutes.  

Want something more precise than time in 5 minute increments?  Not to worry, QLOCKTWO has you covered!  

You will note at the bottom of the watch face a single dot is illuminated.  You will also note that there are four dots at the bottom of the dial.  Each dot represents 1 minute.  Meaning that you simply add the number of illuminated dots to the time indicated above.  If it is a quarter to four - 3:45, add 1 minute to that?  3:46!

So if you engage the side button once, you get the time.  Engage it twice?

You get the date.

Three times?

Seconds!

The watch is even more intelligently designed as there are setting indicators for AM/PM, the month and the year.  This ensures that the QLOCKTWO will not need to be adjusted for pesky little things like months that vary by 1 or 3 days from the typical 31, and also account for leap year.

The construction of the watch is first rate.  Assembled in Germany, the finish and the overall quality was outstanding.  And it is important to keep in mind that this is a review of a used watch, not something brand new out of inventory.  This to me is even more valuable an assessment because it gives you an idea of just what this watch will look like and perform in a few years.  And the watch performed flawlessly.

So let's get to details per Biegert & Funk -

Details

1.38 x 1.38 inch (35 x 35 mm) case made entirely from brushed stainless steel
Innovative long lasting LED technology
Timepiece with 114 illuminating units
110 letters gently etched out of a thin valuable metal plate
Milanese bracelet with adjustable length
Display of seconds and calendar day

Water-resistant 5 ATM      

The QLOCKTWO has been wonderfully comfortable to wear. The size is suitable for pretty much any size wrist.

The Milanese bracelet was quite tactile and strong. The finish was smooth and balanced.  The clasp was not like the usual sharp and jagged, tinny ones used on other Milanese style bracelets.

And beyond everything else what was most telling was the amount of questions I got from friends and complete strangers about the QLOCKTWO.  I have worn and reviewed a LOT of watches over the last seven years.  This one, BY FAR, got the most attention and the most positive feedback.  And that feedback came from both watch and non-watch folks alike.

And I think that is a lot of the appeal of the QLOCKTWO - it is downright charming.  It took me back nearly forty years to that wonderful (albeit, malfunctioning) gift that my grandfather gave me.  And now I know what it would have been like if that watch had actually worked ; )


So before I close this, a few observations.  This is not a watch for everyone, you have to adapt a bit to the display, and also remind yourself that you have to engage the button to get the time.  But once you get past these two things, it is a joy to wear.  It is also quite a fun notion to have the watch on your wrist without anything indicated.  Not unlike having on a Reverso with the crystal side "reversed".

                                                     

Proximity from Citizen - George Jetson Would Love This!

This is sorta fun!  I remember back when dinosaurs roamed the earth (1977/1978) my grandfather gave me what was then a "cutting edge" LED watch from Texas Instruments.  It weighed (I'm exaggerating here) about 3 pounds and had very basic functionality.  Hit the button once for the time, twice for the date.  A red LED image would display.  And as we were effectively losing the quartz race to the Japanese - needless to say it was more of a show pony than a work horse.  To quote my grandfather explaining the situation to the nice people at Texas Instruments "the dang thing is less than 3 weeks old and it upped and died on the boy."  We promptly shipped it to the service address, received the repaired watch back after two weeks, and a brand new one back a week later.  Before the month was out, both had died.

Needless to say, this is the watch I suspect he would have wanted to give me - had it been available!

 

Courtesy of Citizen

 There is a reason why Citizen continues to be able to move forward and innovate - because they make good stuff that works! And I suspect that their new Eco Drive model the Proximity will be no exception to this.

Courtesy of Citizen

Yes, you've got the basics - time, date, etc., but for those of you ready for some George Jetson style features, here's the run down.  It is essentially a perpetual calendar chronograph, with Blue Tooth capability, and it is all powered by Citizen's indomitable Eco Drive technology.

Now, I know what you're thinking - why on earth would I want Blue Tooth in my watch?  And actually, the folks at Citizen suspected you might ask the same question:

Why Would You Want to Sync Your Proximity Watch to Your iPhone®?    

Time/Date Sync:
No need to manually set your watch again. This cutting edge timepiece will sync to the GSM time and date after your phone has adjusted for a new time zone or a time change – the ultimate in convenience. 

iPhone® Search:
Can’t find your phone? No problem. Easily locate your phone by simultaneously pushing the buttons on your watch. An audible alert will sound even when your phone is in silent mode. 

Call & Email Alert:
Expecting a call or email? With a subtle vibration and movement of the second hand, your watch will alert you to these notifications. 

Calendar Event Notification:
Sync with your iPhone® calendar to prompt your watch to vibrate and remind you of scheduled events. 

Bluetooth® Link Loss / 10-Meter Sync:
Get too far from your phone? Your watch will vibrate to let you know when you have moved out of range. Simply reconnect with the press of a button once you’re back in range. 

I for one love the iPhone search and the time/date sync.  These are two features that I would actually use and really appreciate.

And the good news for all of you traditionalists out there, it still has some pretty cool functions and features for the more everyday:

• Citizen Eco-Drive: Light-Powered Environmentally Clean Energy Source
• Perpetual Calendar
• 1-Second Chronograph,
  measures up to 60 Minutes
• Local Time (Second Time Zone)
• 12/24 Hour Time with AM/PM Indication
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Dual Power Reserve Indicator
• 100-Meter Water Resistant
• Perforated Leather Strap with Contrast Stitching
• 45mm Case
  
  
  Now I realize that generally speaking, this blog is usually more devoted to mechanical watches - but I have to say that Citizen has hit a nerve with this one - and in a positive way.  Disagree?  Call me next time you can't find your phone ; )
  
  
  www.citizenwatch.com