New watch! The vario 1918 trench, based on the wrist watches used by men in the first World War.

[SilverEye1508]

Would you go bund strap or no bund strap?

It has an enamel dial and lume that looks like aged radium lume. The watch case is brass so it will develop some nice patina. Because of the automatic movement, the seconds dial has a nice sweep instead of the ticking of a quartz watch.

Some background info:

Men used to wear only pocket watches (wrist watches were jewelry for women), in trench warfare these were not handy. This is why early mens wristwatches resemble pocket watches in looks.
It is a false assumption however that men converted their pocket watches to wrist watches as is often said, because there were no mens wristwatches. It was because supplies couldn't meet demands during the trench warfare. There were already wristwatches designed for the military before WW1, although civilians did not wear these. Arabic numerals were used instead of Roman because of legibility.

 

[andreasnorden]

Nice watch. Bund strap .

 

[Oil Tanned]

Nice watch. Bund strap .

2nd !

 

[Edward]

Interesting to see one of these in the wild; I've admired their look on the website. Looks best in the top photo to me, though perhaps the second photo without is a look that could be made to appear 'dressier'.

 

[SilverEye1508]

Interesting to see one of these in the wild; I've admired their look on the website. Looks best in the top photo to me, though perhaps the second photo without is a look that could be made to appear 'dressier'.

Yes I think it loses some of its charm, but it does make it a bit more versatile across your wardrobe.

 

[Edward]

Yes I think it loses some of its charm, but it does make it a bit more versatile across your wardrobe.

Thinking about it, the first photo has a strong visual link to the design's military origins, while the second very much reminds me of a watch I now have, which my late paternal grandfather wore in the 30s (certainly - it's possible he had it in the late 20s as well). For a 30s civilian look, the without photo is perfect.

Keen to explore these myself in due course. They seem a great option - more 'wearable' day to day than a precious original piece, and it's a big bonus they have a clockwork mechanism. I've seen a lot of nice looking, vintage-style watches that look great, but are Quartz, which is a no for me. I'm not dismissive of Quartz entirely - it's a great option for a lot of folks and arguably more accurate than any mechanical watch will ever be for most people, but mechanical is just my preference. I like knowing I have a small machine on y arm that works with moving parts, and that if anything ever went wrong with it, I could find someone who could repair it rather than it just being a 'black box' that has to be thrown out and replaced.

 

[SilverEye1508]

Thinking about it, the first photo has a strong visual link to the design's military origins, while the second very much reminds me of a watch I now have, which my late paternal grandfather wore in the 30s (certainly - it's possible he had it in the late 20s as well). For a 30s civilian look, the without photo is perfect.

Keen to explore these myself in due course. They seem a great option - more 'wearable' day to day than a precious original piece, and it's a big bonus they have a clockwork mechanism. I've seen a lot of nice looking, vintage-style watches that look great, but are Quartz, which is a no for me. I'm not dismissive of Quartz entirely - it's a great option for a lot of folks and arguably more accurate than any mechanical watch will ever be for most people, but mechanical is just my preference. I like knowing I have a small machine on y arm that works with moving parts, and that if anything ever went wrong with it, I could find someone who could repair it rather than it just being a 'black box' that has to be thrown out and replaced.

Yes that's exactly what I like about it! It's not the best movement out there, but for the price you can't go wrong.

I have lots of 30's inspired pieces, so I think it will look right at home.