Regular readers of this blog may recall that I put in an order for a Magrette Regattare Bronze when the latest limited edition was announced.
Well, I’m pleased to say that it’s now arrived!
I thought I’d share some quick initial pictures and give you my first impressions (images are from a cellphone, so bear with me :-) ).
For an ‘affordable’ ($350) watch I have to say, I am very impressed with what you get for the money, and how it’s all presented.
The external bubble wrap has a Magrette sticker on it: genuine NZ goods inside!
The watch and associated items come in a wooden ‘dominoes’ style box, which has the Magrette logo on the outside.
Once opened, you get:
- a cloth pouch, which contains ..
- the watch (of course)
- a business card
- a guarantee / info card
- an extra rubber strap and spare strap pin.
The latter surprised me, as I thought the watch just shipped with the leather strap it was wearing when I took it out of the box. To have an additional rubber alternate strap is definitely a bit of a bonus.
One nice touch on the information card is that Magrette lists things such as the size (44mm), movement (Miyota automatic) and crystal type (sapphire). Good for those of us who prefer the techie details!
The Regattare Bronze is limited to 1000 pieces: mine is #360, which is shown on the back of the watch and the info card.
To the watch itself ..
At 44mm, it is as you’d expect nice and chunky. The bronze case adds to the heft, but it’s not so heavy as to be a pain to wear.
I can see that bronze is already bronzing in parts so I’m looking forward to seeing how it will age – which of course is the idea of a watch like this. Every one will end up slightly different!
The sapphire crystal is domed which gives a slight magnifying effect to the already clear dial.
You get nothing beyond the time on this one, which so far it appears to be keeping very well (but only one day in ..).
The lume is good, with numbers and hands getting the treatment. The lume on the numbers fades fairly quickly, but the hands seem long lasting, so no dramas there.
On the back is an inset piece of New Zealand Kauri wood, behind another crystal.
Printed on that is the wood detail, model name, logo and reference number (# 360 for me, as mentioned above).
The black leather strap it ships with is also a chunky piece. I do like the red rear of the strap.
There’s a little Magrette logo on the clasp and on the back of the strap too.
All in all I’m loving this so far. For $350 you definitely get a great deal for your money – all presented very well.
Will wear this for a while and give you a longer term report down the track :-)
