Horological Meandering

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.

the 42mm case is identical to the rest of the 'round' collection and is excellent quality feeling robust and well finished.

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

of the new pieces that were on their way...!!

You do have very eclectic taste and I look forward to seeing this one in the flesh...quality looks good (except for the strap)

Is 99 a lucky No. ??  Nice that you got to choose....thought you would go for 64..LOL.

Enjoy and I look forward to more details after a week wearing...and the other new piece..!!

Yours my friend,

Andy.

i certainly hope it isnt anyway as there wont be enough to go around

as for #99 i've collected that ltd ed number where possible ever since i got my freak which is #99. it is a lucky number apparently and is good for luck and longevity.

best

Graham

Graham,

Hmm, since your #99 is not available, but this is a mirror image watch, it might be a good private joke to get #66...

-Tom

 

...I feel a bit like Homer Simpson, walking out of  "The Empire Strikes Back",  loudly proclaiming to the lines of people waiting to see the next show, "Wow, who ever would have thought that Darth Vader is actually Luke Skywalker's father!" 

Sorry to steal your thunder, Graham; I promise to act surprised when you debut your new watch. 

-Tom

 

.. to hear it has arrived this year !!!

I wouldn't bother with the small date window, but the lack of an anti-reflective coating would worry me .... .

Cheers,

Filip

in fact it may actually have a coating, but reflects spotlights very clearly so i just assumed it didnt have one.

best

Graham

The concept of this watch is very interesting to me especially as it comes in a one hand iteration as well.

I knew that it was a post from you !



Congrats my friend !

Fr.Xavier

i'm still very very surprised that one of the better funded Avantgarde companies didnt think of it first. to me its just a logical progression of clockwise motion.

best

Graham

Im still trying to work out how to read it though 

to start with you need to look at the hour then the 5 minute graduations between, but soon you get used to where the hours are. the human mind is very good at adapting to huge changes like this i think. i do wonder how the BIT3 will be to read. i'll find out soon i hope.

best

Graham

. . . after all, what would be more natural than a watch that runs counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere ;-) . . .

I'm very excited for you!  This running backwards complication is intriguing.  I do think it would be even more interesting with a second hand so we could experience more backwards motion.  I always like unusual motions like jumping, retrograde, or foudroyante seconds, for example.

Enjoy your new watch!  Thanks for sharing it with us!

Cheers,

Daos

and that built the anticipation to screaming point. Alvin joked in an email that he'd never known anyone so keen to give him money before   you wouldnt believe i've had the money for both watches in savings since july and not spent it on anything else!!

the BIT3 will have a sub second dial at 3 oclock so that will give a better feeling of motion. that was intended to be the first one released, but due to some production problems the BIT1 was finished first and they pretty much had to release it or risk losing the pre xmas sales and delivery (which they did anyway). logically it must be a lot harder to get 3 hands to go backwards than 1 which, i think, is why they have opted for a sub second rather than a central second. if you check out their website they have a pic of the BIT3 and it looks good to me.

best

Graham

 

The blued hand against the cream dial makes this a real looker. This would be a personal challenge to own because I would surely find myself staring at during meetings.

Congrats buddy!

i've worn this great new piece continuously 24 hours a day since i got it and here are my feelings about it now. not much has changed and only one thing has changed for the worst i think.

Comfort.  Excellent. the strap is far better than my initial impressions, its nice and soft so moulds to the wrist easily, but doesnt show any signs of getting a kink where it fits into the tang buckle. the watch although quite heavy sits on he wrist really well probably due to the straps compliance.

Build Quality.  Excellent. the case is very well made and has a good solid feel. its a tried and tested case that they've used in all their 'round' collection so they've had a while to get it right. the crown is very good. a nice large diameter, but reasonably thin(5-6mm) so it doesnt get in the way. the crystal feels very solid and i think you'd have a problem smashing or scratching it. the buckle is very solid, as good as any Panerai buckle i've seen. the movement is a tried and tested ETA so no problems there.

Legibility.   Pretty good. obviously, because it goes backwards its not going to be as easy to read as a standard watch, but a lot of retrograde and other unusual displays are harder to read than standard. the arabic hour numerals font is slightly too thin for my eyes, but once you look at the hours then at where the hand is it only takes a few seconds to read the time. its just a case of getting used to it and i'm sure it will improve the more i look at it. if the font were very slightly thicker then it would be just that much easier. the date is another issue. the date aperture, despite having a loupe built into it, is still too small and i can only read the date in daylight. once its dark and the lights are on forget it. the problem is more to do with the fact that the date ring is 2-3mm lower than the aperture so you get some shadow if the light isnt right.

Reliability and accuracy.  Excellent. the ETA movement has proven reliability and the modifications made by Azimuth shouldnt do anything to change that. as for accuracy. i set the watch to the hour when i put it on and it still appears to be perfectly accurate. i regularly look at it on the hour and its always dead on. there is no way of checking it to the second, but thats not the idea of this watch. if you want a chronometer you'd buy something else.

Overall Impressions.  Excellent. this is not a watch that will suit everyone. only those into unusual pieces will be interested, but if you are one of those people i urge you to consider one, either this one or the 3 hander. its very unusual, unique in fact as no one has done it before, its fun and a good talking point. it has been deliberately priced to appeal to the younger wider market and is a lot of watch for the money. it is a winner in my book, well done Azimuth.

 

a bit more news about the 3 hander. i heard yesterday that the BIT3 will have a sub second dial at 3 oclock, the seconds will rotate clockwise whilst the hour and minute hands will rotate anticlockwise. this is, i think, the reason for the delay in its release. it has turned out to be too technically difficult to get the seconds to rotate anticlockwise and keep the watch in this price band so Azimuth have taken the decision to leave them going clockwise rather than bump the price to take account of the huge amount of extra modifications needed. they will also be releasing a BIT2 without the sub seconds just for the Mexican market. after this release is sold they will, as i understand it, stop production of the BIT3 and make the BIT1 and BIT2 regular production pieces.

if you want something very very unusual at a very good price then one of these could be the watch for you.

best

Graham

Hello, I'm from Singapore and just like to share my Azimuth BIT3.

Jeffrey

This message has been edited by jeffgoh on 2010-01-20 19:21:22 This message has been edited by jeffgoh on 2010-01-20 19:24:18

they arent names that the company have adopted.

Graham

he just mirrored an image by 180 degree horizontally...

Respectfully submitted,
Magnus

I concur with you, Graham, as you and I have spoken often on this watch.  It will be interesting to read the responses! 

Hi Graham, first of all, I'm not trying to and never intend to make you took stupid or whatsoever. I just happened to stumbled upon this site and saw you folks talking about Azimuth BIT watch, so I just wanted to share mine.

This is definitely a REAL watch from Azimuth, a customized limited edition; this is why everything in the watch is reversed except second hand! Yes, the dial is black color

When you look at the watch in the mirror.... all will be back to normal.........

Well, I'm sure Alvin's can clarify this.

cheers

Jeff

i have just been informed by Kevin Tan, known by several of our members, that his watch was from a very limited edition of only 30 watches for a small forum in Singapore. i now feel really stupid, but thats life and i'll take it on the chin. i've been kept updated on the production of the watch, but obviously not the special pieces.

best in humiliation

Graham

This message has been edited by gmhutton on 2010-01-23 12:35:22