Ingersoll Watches Richmond

Over the last days here (well, a week plus) we’ve been looking at a handful of models from the brands held by the Zeon group.  Today, we’ll have a look at the third Ingersoll model they sent over for review, the Richmond.

The specific model we were provided is the IN-1800WH, and it’s easy to see that this watch is intended for a more formal setting (can’t see blued hands being much use on a sport watch, now can you?) – and in that setting it works nicely.  Of course, I’m a sucker for dress watches it seems, and by adding an opening on the dial so you can see the balance wheel going – well, that’s just icing on the cake.

For a dress watch, it measures in at a surprising 42mm (though it seems like it wears more compactly).  The movement you see working away through the opening is Ingersoll’s 735 calibre, which featres 35 jewels, and drives the day, date, and month complications (along with telling time, of course).

The case is made from stainless steel, and it features (what I’m calling) a sandwhich cookie design.  You’ve got coin edge bezels on the top and bottom, and then in between you’ve got a slightly recessed layer (where an Ingersoll logo resides).  It’s a bit of an odd effect, especially on a dress piece – but it does differentiate it from the crowd.

As we also saw with the Bison model, this dial presents as a chronograph (as do the pushers), but it truly isn’t.  The subdial on the left reflects the day of the week, and the one on the right tells us the month.  Given that we already have the large date display up top (that nicely balances the balance wheel), I think these could be removed in a future iteration.

It would provide for a cleaner look to the dial, and allow for the pushers to be cleared out, leaving us with the nicely oversized crown for setting the date and time (and to wind the movement).  Then again, perhaps that just me.  Let me know in the comments below if the month/year subdials are something you’d like on a watch like this.

The dial issue aside, I did take a shine to this piece.  It’s a well thought out watch, and it feels more compact than the dimensions would suggest.  I also liked how the lugs are handled on this – visually they’re interesting, and they do seem more like an extension out of the case, rather than an afterthought.

And of course, any time you can see a mechanical movement at work (without having to flip the watch over), that’s another big plus in my book.  Frankly, that’s part of the appeal of a mechanical – hearing (and at times, seeing) that tiny little machine doing it’s work on your wrist.  Here, it’s nicely placed in the midst of a visually interesting texture.

While the model currently retails for $410, you can find it for under $300 over on everyone’s favorite river.  And, should you want something to co-ordinate with your brown and navy suit, you could opt for the brown variant, the IN1800CR.  Either which way, it’s a nice watch that shakes up the design a bit (and seems like a good deal at those Amazon prices).

Great texture on the dial

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Swiss Eagle Flight Deck

Today, we’ve come to the last 
Swiss Eagle model that we’ve currently got on hand for a review – the Flight Deck.
Not surprisingly (given the name), this is part of their Fly collection (our sample is ref. 9023).  While I tend to think of tachymeter scales / bezels being used more on land or water, I suppose they could be used just as well in the air.

And since it has those scales, you’re probably guessing that we’ve got a true chronograph on our hands, and that would be a very correct statement.  That, in turn, gives us the following dial layout:

• Main time seconds at 2 o’clock
• Chrono hours at 6 o’clock
• Chrono minutes at 10 o’clock
• Chrono seconds with the large second hand 

Along with that layout, we have a dial design that (if my eyes don’t deceive me), is actually carried over from the Landmaster that we took a look at last week – similar concentric circles and machined numerals and indices.  Here, though, the numerals are a bit “chopped”, as the various sub-dials cut into them. 

While I like the machined numerals themselves, when they only partially appear as they do here, I feel that the dial would be better served by small indices instead.  And, as long as we’re focusing on minor tweaks to the dial, of course I’d love to see a color-matched date wheel (black with white numerals) used. 

In terms of the chronograph functions, they worked as you would expect – the top pusher controls the start/stop, and the lower pusher engages the split time and reset functionality.  While you could ostensibly use the rotating (bi-directional) bezel for calculating speeds, you’ll want to be careful not to bump it, as it does not lock in place (ie, no clicks), which would throw things off. 

The stainless steel case measures in at a comfortable 44mm, with nicely curved lugs allowing it to snug up on your wrist.  The alternating matte/polished bracelet comes in at 22mm wide, and I had no issues with comfort.  As an additional nicety, the butterfly clasp has a push button release (as well as a flip lock), which makes it much easier to remove than a friction release would.

One note on the bracelet as it relates to sizing.  While I was able to size it in relatively close to what I like on my wrist (7.25″), it was still a touch looser than I would like.  I played with various link addition (and removal) along with setting the spring pin on the clasp, and either got it too tight or just a touch too loose.  If your wrist is more on the 0.5″ measurements, you shouldn’t have any issue.  For those of us on the quarters, though, it might be handy if some half-links were added to the bracelet in a future revision.

Rounding the remainder of the watch out, you’ve got a sapphire crystal up front, stainless steel screw-in case back, and a water resistance rating of 100m.  As with the other Swiss Eagle models we’ve reviewed, you’ve got some nicely applied lume (as well as the lumed logo applique, which I still think is a nice twist).

Minor design change wishes aside, this is a very solid quartz chronograph.  Should you not like the stainless and black model we reviewed, they do have three other iterations (stainless + white, IP black + black, and blue on black leather) available; pricing ranges from $310 up to $440, dependent on the specific model.

As to the pricing, yes, that is putting this one closer to the ranges you can get a nice automatic.  I think this particular model is again best suited for someone who wants the ease-of-use that a quartz model offers, and appreciates classic styling updated with some nice visual twists.

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