Many historic watch manufacturers have been resurrected in recent times, though not all revival manufacturers needs to be thought-about equal. Whereas Buser Frères has a historical past that dates again to 1892, the model was lately revived in 2023 beneath the German firm Dekla. Fairly than simply being one other new model working beneath an previous identify, Buser Frères advantages from its father or mother firm’s complete in-house manufacturing capabilities. Consequently, the revived Buser Frères model now represents fairly a compelling worth proposition, and fashions just like the Buser Frères Marine function Swiss-made actions paired with circumstances, dials, and arms manufactured in-house by its German father or mother firm’s services.
For probably the most half, Buser Frères produces vintage-inspired field watches, though its Marine assortment stands out as a noticeably extra dressy providing that pays tribute to the marine chronometers that revolutionized navigation through the 1700s. From an aesthetic perspective, the Buser Frères Marine occupies the function of the model’s costume watch, though its basic design pre-dates the idea of dress watches and harkens again to an period when all timepieces have been purposeful instruments. Similar to the early marine chronometer “deck watches” that have been designed to help with navigation and survive life aboard a crusing vessel, the Buser Frères Marine encompasses a extremely legible dial paired with sturdy waterproof housing. Nevertheless, the Marine’s general styling is kind of refined and stylish (particularly by immediately’s requirements), and it may well simply combine into extra formal settings to make the transition from on a regular basis timepiece to decorate watch.
Crafted from chrome steel with brushed sides and high-polished higher surfaces, the case of the Buser Frères Marine encompasses a conventional spherical profile, and it’s fitted with a skinny stepped bezel that has a brightly polished end to match the higher surfaces of its lugs. Set inside the bezel is a gently domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective therapy on each its internal and outer surfaces, whereas the reverse aspect of the watch receives a strong caseback that’s secured by six small screws and adorned with a reduction engraving of John Harrison, the British carpenter and clockmaker who’s broadly thought-about to be the godfather of the marine chronometer. Moreover, whereas the big fluted winding crown on the 3 o’clock location operates with a typical push/pull-style motion, the Buser Frères Marine nonetheless affords a strong 100 meters of water resistance, which is greater than sufficient to outlive on a regular basis put on, as it’s twice what is obtainable by traditional fan-favorites such because the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical and the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch.
By way of its dimensions, the Buser Frères Marine measures 38mm in diameter by 9.15mm thick (or 10.55mm if you happen to embrace the extra top of its domed crystal), whereas its lugs are set a typical 18mm aside and prolonged to create an general lug-to-lug profile of 45.4mm. As for its weight, the Marine is available in at 55 grams for simply the watch head itself, or roughly 66 grams if you consider its included leather-based strap, and because the caseback affords a really flat general profile, the Marine maintains a low middle of gravity that sits flush in opposition to the highest of the wrist. Moreover, whereas the Buser Frères Marine encompasses a extremely versatile case dimension that may comfortably match on a variety of wrists, its comparatively giant dial-to-case ratio offers it with a good quantity of visible presence that forestalls it from trying too small or dainty, even on people with bigger arms.
Together with making its personal circumstances, Buser Frères additionally produces all of its dials and arms in-house because of having direct entry to Dekla’s German manufacturing services. Whereas the precise building of those elements isn’t particularly intricate or elaborate, they do profit from a somewhat excessive stage of consideration to element, and that is precisely what you need from a sublime and classically styled watch just like the Marine. On the time of writing, Buser Frères affords the Marine with the choice of three completely different dial colours (white, gold, and blue), and every colorway is on the market with both Arabic or Roman numeral hour markers. With that in thoughts, no matter shade or index type, all the Marine dials function the identical time-only format with a pair of centrally mounted arms, a vivid crimson 12 o’clock marker, and a recessed register on the decrease half of the show that tracks the operating seconds.
All six variations of the Buser Frères Marine obtain a poire-shaped handset, and on the white-dial mannequin featured right here, the arms are given a heat-blued end, whereas the dial showcases a delicate grain texture throughout its floor with a slight silvery undertone that lightly sparkles in direct mild. Whereas the Marine doesn’t function any luminous parts, its blued metal arms provide robust distinction in opposition to the pale floor of its dial, and the proportions of its elements are extremely balanced and well-considered, with the tip of its minute hand extending all the best way to achieve the outer perimeter of its railroad-style minute observe. Whereas the general look of the Buser Frères Marine is somewhat dressy and definitively refined, it additionally advantages from ample ranges of legibility, and it exists in considerably of an identical aesthetic area as watches just like the IWC Portugieser Automatic 40 or one of many easy time-only fashions from the Breguet Classique assortment.
Fitted to the lugs of the Buser Frères Marine is a black leather-based two-piece strap that tapers from 18mm on the case right down to 16mm on the underside of the wrist, and finishing the strap is a stainless-steel tang-style buckle that’s engraved with the Buser Frères emblem. The strap encompasses a first rate quantity of padding inside its construction, which implies that you will want to put on it a number of occasions earlier than it totally conforms to the form of your wrist, and the brushed metal buckle strikes a pleasant stability of being thick sufficient to really feel substantial with out detracting from the Marine’s pure magnificence. Devoid of any distinction stitching or embossed textures, the minimalist look of the Marine’s strap permits the visible emphasis of the watch to stay on its dial; nevertheless, with normal 18mm lugs, a nearly limitless choices of third-party choices will even be appropriate with its case.
Powering the Buser Frères Marine is an elabore-grade model of the Swiss-made Sellita Caliber SW216-1M, which is a manual-wind motion with a hacking seconds mechanism that’s anti-magnetic in line with DIN 8309 requirements. The 24-jewel Sellita SW216-1M runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with an influence reserve of roughly 42 hours, and Buser Frères regulates its actions in-house to an accuracy ranking of -/+7 seconds per day. With that in thoughts, the motion is definitely the supply of considered one of my solely nitpicks, and because the Sellita SW216-1M is of course a time-and-date caliber, the Marine reveals the horologically irritating “ghost place” that usually characterizes time-only watches that run on normal third-party actions. Whereas a no-date motion would have actually been most well-liked, it’s laborious to be dissatisfied by an elabore-grade Sellita, particularly when you think about the value of the Buser Frères Marine.
Nowadays, watches seldom price lower than my expectations, and on condition that Buser Frères makes use of Swiss actions with its different main elements manufactured in-house by its German father or mother firm, I genuinely anticipated the Marine to price not less than 50% greater than what the model at present costs for the mannequin. The Buser Frères Marine has an official retail worth of €882.35 EUR (roughly $925 USD, on the time of writing), which finally appears fairly cheap contemplating you’re getting a German-made watch with an elabore-grade Swiss motion for roughly the identical worth that many microbrands cost for timepieces solely manufactured in Asia. Except for eliminating the motion’s ghost place and including a small emblem to the open area inside the tip of the crown, I wrestle to search out a lot else that I might change in regards to the Buser Frères Marine, and it finally represents a really compelling providing for anybody who needs a well-made watch with a timeless and traditional design. For extra data on the Buser Frères Marine assortment, please go to the brand’s website
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