Horological Meandering

G99
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After 7 months of anticipation it has finally arrived, the Azimuth BIT.

in a minute i will give you my first impressions, but as ever there is a story behind every watch i buy.

firstly a declaration of openness. i really like Azimuth as a brand, or to be more precise, i like some of their avantgarde designs with double retrogrades, jump hours etc. over the last 12 months i have had regular email correspondence with Alvin Lye, joint CEO of the company to the point where, although we have never met in person, i would consider him a friend. he has sent me CAD images of yet to be released pieces just for an opinion from the man in the street. i cant tell you anymore about these designs, all will be revealed at a later date. despite our regular correspondence the only concession i have received in the purchase of both these pieces are my own choice of ltd edition numbers and probably one of the first pieces to be sold anywhere other than the far east. no discount, no freebies, nothing. i didnt actually see this particular watch in any form until it arrived today. who'd buy a watch sight unseen? well me of course

ok, now thats clear, lets get on with the story.

in may 2009 i wrote a short post about a new watch to be released in the autumn by Azimuth. it would be called the BIT (Backwards in Time) and would be the first ever automatic mechanical watch to work anticlockwise. this is very much a groundbreaking turn of direction (pun intended) although it has received virtually no other publicity. there have been watches that run backwards in the past. in the late 50's Helbros made a handwind 'goofy' watch for the Walt Disney corporation where his hands rotated anticlockwise to tell the time. Lorus later made a quartz one for Walt Disney and as far as i know they are the only ones. no one has ever made an automatic one.

during dinner at the London GTG in June 2009 i mentioned the watch to Andrew (219) and Roger Smith. i believe it was Roger who said 'why?'. my only reply was 'Why not?'. so many other things are being done to stretch the boundaries of horology so why not a watch that goes backwards? there's no reason not to that i can see and it makes as much sense as double tourbillons etc whilst having the advantage of being a lot cheaper.

the original BIT was intended to be a time and date with sub second and here is the pic i posted of the designs as they stood at the time. 

now you've seen the pic you can pretty much forget what you've seen as the design has changed a fair bit and there are only 2 colours available, chocolate brown and cream/beige. this watch, that i will refer too as the BIT3 due to its 3 hands, hasnt actually been released yet. like most new designs it has been delayed due to production issues. it was supposed to be released in November, but mid/late january is more likely.

so now i bet your asking yourself what i'm reviewing and this is the interesting bit. what i dont think i ever posted anywhere was that they were also producing a single handed model which i will call the BIT1. the BIT1 is available only in the Azimuth boutiques and is limited to 100 pieces. i have been lucky enough to get #99/100. these are my initial impressions and pics to accompany them.

a decent quality box which is actually black not blue. the note was a very nice touch and much appreciated as i will remember the story behind the watch everytime i look at the box.

i chose the cream/beige dial for the BIT1 and chocolate for the BIT3. the colour could better be described as 'creme brulee' or very pale egg nog.

a very nice and legible dial with a nice blued hand. the date aperture is too small, but thats is only a minor point.

the dial colour is virtually impossible to photograph correctly, it has a slightly more yellowy hue to it.

this is a very macro shot and the finish of the dial and hand still look pretty good.

the caseback has a nice porthole so you can see the ETA 2836 workhorse inside it. only 30m WR, but its not made for divers.

a decent sized crown sits nicely on the brushed steel sides. the crystal is very slightly domes and not AR coated.

as you can see, the dial is well finished and the numerals are clear.

the dark brown 22/20mm strap is calf leather and very comfortable. it has a nice touch with the dial colour on the edge. its not the highest quality strap i've ever owned and i will perhaps consider a replacement, but it is fully functional. the tang buckle is, however, very well made and good quality.

this wristshot is the nearest i could get to the true colour of the dial, but the hand is a lot darker unless the light is on it.

telling the time is pretty easy if you have owned a single hander before. it has 5 minute dividers and reading it backwards is pretty intuative after a short while.

my overall impression is extremely good. its not perfect. as i've said the date aperture is too small and for the singlehander i think the date could have been left off. the strap could also have been a bit better, but that is pretty much all i can find that i dont like. its price point is pretty much in line with the ABR Ppro so quite cheap. i love what i consider to be a groundbreaking 'complication' of the anticlockwise action and am very surprised that this hasnt been reviewed elsewhere or on this forum before.

the BIT3 is going to be a limited release of 200. 120 in cream and 80 in chocolate. on that basis i cant have #99 (although i did ask for 99/80). the number i get will be revealed when i get the watch.

i'll be very interested to see what the BIT3 is like when it finally arrives and i highly recommend you take a look at one if you can.

i will add more to this post after a week or so of daily wear.

enjoy

Graham