Independents

AndrewD
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A marvel to me too, Mo ...

I am very impressed with the Thalassa.

I had to separate myself a little from the pleasure of meeting Peter and talking about his watches, from a critical analysis of the timepieces. [And to be fair, perhaps I shouldn't do this completely, because working directly with the watchmaker is part of the charm and attraction of independents. And we often say "buy the seller" when purchasing second hand, but surely that applies so much more to independent watchmakers!]

Anyway, as I approach any new watch, I try and remove the brand name and just consider the design. And while I haven't found that the Piccadilly case suited my wrist in the past (it sits a bit high and the lugs do not wrap around my wrist enough), the thinner profile of the manual wind Thalassa is much better.

And the view of that movement with the sweeping gothic bridges is fantastic. While I love the finish on Lange watches, I haven't fully been able to embrace the 3/4 bridge. Even with the screwed chatons, there is not quite enough going on. But Peter has managed to achieve the robustness of that approach with a wonderfully interesting design. As I said, I would have put blued screws through the SM2m, but that's a minor point.

And the front of the watch is superb. I love the vivid blue and the topping tool inspired PSM signature second hand. A bit of whimsy in a dress watch. This is carried on with the large hands. The finish throughout the watch was much better than I expected. The sample Thalassa No.1 that Peter carried on this world tour unfortunately lacked anti-reflective coating. In comparison to the Marin 1 with the SM2a, the movement in the Thalassa didn't quite 'pop', but the expanse of this manual wind is going to blow you away. I promise.

This watch has stuck in my mind and I hope you get to handle it one day. Let me know what you think of it when you do.

Please.

Andrew