Melbourne Watch Co. Boutique Stylish Melb Watches
The World Loves Melbourne has been introduced to a new local watch brand - Melbourne Watch Company - which launched late last year, and which we believe successfully captures the elegance and style of Melbourne.
We think a boutique Melbourne mechanical watch brand is particularly cool. The watches fit between a mass brand solid kind of watch and the expensive Rolex. Many of the features of ultra high end watches are found in the Melbourne Watch Company watches, and at an affordable price. Celebrating Melbourne and paying tribute to the culture, lifestyle and beauty of our city, the brand is designed locally and is the project of watch enthusiast (former IT consultant) and local Melbourne guy Sujain Krishnan.
Originally funded by Kickstarter, Sujain has garnered support for this watch and style dream and has made it personal when it comes to Melbourne. (Check out my interview with Sujain later in the article).
The 'Flinders' is the first style from the collection, named after our very own Flinders Street Station, with the 'Hawthorn' style to roll out over the coming weeks. Other watches in the pipeline are again all named after iconic Melbourne suburbs and locations.
We were given a Flinders watch to review, and we are excited by the style and flexibility of the watch. Being a man with a burgeoning watch collection, I'm looking for a watch for every occasion. The Flinders looks the part around the office as a stylish business watch. As such I don't want a watch that screams and is outlandish. I want a watch that is classy without being over the top, and the Flinders watch delivers.
The Flinders watch comes in attractive packaging, including a generous leather case.
For me the packaging is important. It speaks of the care and effort put in to the watch and a sign of its value.
Open the case to find a card with your specific watch number and warranty. The first thing you do is pick up the watch and feel it - the Flinders was surprisingly heavier than I thought - and impressed me with its substance. This is no cheap light watch.
The Flinders is a watch for the discerning gentleman. Not only for the office but the versatility extends to casual wear. Joyfully the black tones of my Flinders watch match much of my wardrobe, and the Flinders is great to wear with jeans and jacket.
The dial of the Flinders watch indicates a higher price point with various layers and textures in fine detail. The batons are understated but elegant, and are adjoined with small spheres, making for an accent of class.
I love the detailing and overall quality of the Flinders with the matt black finish of the dial, the vertical line texture in the middle sphere, and a sapphire chrystal (not cheap mineral chrystal) enhancing the hues and tones of light (along with the anti reflective coating). The seconds hand displays a discreet "M" for Melbourne, and the name "Flinders" in cursive across the face is attractive, along with a cool "M" engraved on the watchband strap. I also love the transparent back of the Flinders, giving an interesting clear view of the working of your watch...
The style reaches further heights in that the lugs are polished while the side of the watch is brushed steel; look at the watch long enough and you will be taken in by the detailing throughout. Even the date display is framed!
The engraving on the stainless steel back of the watch is also impressive, with 6 small screws giving easy access to the movement piece.
The Flinders also has a Miyota 9015, an impressive caliber with beat rate 28,000 bph, 24 jewels and automatic winding.
The crown is also stylish with its grooves, and once again an "M" engraved on the end. I found it slightly tricky to pull out the crown at first, but no big deal.
On the wrist, the Flinders watch is exactly the size I'm looking for. It's in the vogue of the larger watch without feeling like you're doing dumbell curls at the gym. The Flinders sits perfectly on the wrist, and will slip under a cuff. The watchband is also a great fit, and of genuine leather with quality stitching.
Specs -
Case: Steel
Movement: Miyota 9015
Dial: Silver
Lume: No
Lens: Sapphire
Strap: Leather
Water Res.: 50m
Dimensions: 40 x 47 mm
Thickness: 10.5 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Crown: 5 x 3.2mm
Warranty: 1 year
Price: $525
Or check out the Flinders - white dial...
Sujain's dream to create a range of quality mechanical timepieces (at an affordable price) has become a reality thanks to his success in clever crowd funding initiatives, showing the immense support from fellow Melbournians and watch enthusiasts to get the brand off the ground. His current Kickstarter campaign for the 'Hawthorn' style has just days left and has already well exceeded his original goal.
The World Loves Melbourne interviewed Sujain and asked him about Melbourne Watch Co.:
TWLM: Why leave IT to make watches?
Sujain: To be honest, it was a combination of waning interest in IT consulting and the right combination of opportunities presenting themselves. I was lucky enough to have a break from IT with a month in Europe in September last year and came back with a strong desire to give pursuing my dream of starting my own business a solid go.
TWLM: Have you always been into watches?
Sujain: My interest in watches only really began a few years ago when I was given a vintage Omega hand wind dress watch as a birthday gift. I then spent a lot of time learning about the world of mechanical timepieces and started my own small collection. From this I decided to learn how to assemble mechanical watches myself and I started a small business called ‘Melbourne Custom Watches’ through which I built ‘homage’ style pilot/military watches for the online enthusiast community. After running this small business for around a year I decided to take things to the next level and launch Melbourne Watch Company with my own original design timepieces.
TWLM: What is watch scene like in Melbourne and what are you bringing to the table?
Sujain: There aren’t a lot of places to buy boutique mechanical watches in Melbourne, most watch shops carry a standard range of “fashion” brands (Fossil and Skagen spring to mind) as well as the odd mechanical Seiko and Citizen. The exception to this are the higher end Swiss boutiques which stock expensive brands such as Omega, Brietling and Rolex. What I wanted to do was offer a “real” watch with a price point between the fashion and high end Swiss brands. We’re still a purely online business but we are currently working on getting our watches stocked in several retail stores across the city.
TWLM: With many people using smartphones for time is there still a market for stylish watch as an accessory?
Sujain: The reality is that no-one actually needs a watch these days in order to tell the time given that most of us are carrying around phones which will always be more accurate. To many, watches are about making a style statement and there is still a huge following for classic mechanical timepieces. Given the strong sales we have seen for our automatic mechanical models so far I would say that there is certainly a strong market for watches of all types.
At present Melbourne Watch Co. is purely an online retailer. All watches come with a 12 months retailers warranty.
For those looking for a high quality stylish watch for the office, casual wear and for everyday, the Flinders watch delivers. The more I got immersed in the watch in its finery and detail, the more I felt it wonderfully captures Melbourne. Understated elegance and a superbly finished watch for around $500.