Independent Watch Brand Addict

Specs

• Diameter 39.5mm
• Lug to lug 45mm
• Thickness 11mm
• Lug Width 20mm
• Water Resistance 100m
• Push Pull Crown
• Stainless Steel Case
• Sellita SW330-1 Movement

Brand

Farer is a young British brand that was formed in 2015 by Stuart Finlayson, Jono Holt, Ben Lewin and Paul Sweetenham. In the time since it was founded the brand has become one of the more respected British watch brands within the watch enthusiast community. Known primarily for their interesting and original designs, many talk about their beautiful dials and interesting case shapes.

Their watches are designed in the UK and built in Switzerland, and the company keeps the price of these watches reasonable by selling their watches directly to the end consumer, in much the same way Christopher Ward do, and while Farer is noticeably smaller than Christopher Ward they do have their similarities, such as their sales methods, the fact that they both boast using British design with Swiss manufacturing and that they both have a wide range of watches that can appeal to a large swath of the watch enthusiast community, though their designs are very different.

Positive Points

There is a reason that Farer are so well liked, and this watch is a good example of why that is. The dial is truly beautiful with the white, blue and orange colours working really well together. The case is very well proportioned and actually feels even smaller than the 39.5mm diameter might lead you to believe and feels really comfortable on, the steel bracelet also sits very comfortably on, with a decent taper and a nice butterfly clasp.

The case also looks fantastic with it’s great proportions, boxed sapphire crystal and standard bronze crown all the elements come together with the beautiful dial to make a truly stunning watch. Also this is not a dive watch but the lume isn’t too bad either.

Negative Issues

While I enjoy how slim the watch is it does make the watch feel a little fragile. There is something to be said about watches having a little heft and therefore feeling more robust. Of course there are plenty of people who enjoy a watch you can barely feel but there are others who might find the feeling of fragility a little off putting. Another issue that may be linked to the case size is how audible the rotor is. I found that I could hear the rotor whenever I moved my left arm, now I did buy this watch second hand, but I don’t think that was an issue as I bought it through a regular second hand dealer who checks and services the watches he sells.

My main issue was the crown, which looks great and is a good size from a looks perspective, but I found it really hard to operate. Winding the watch was almost painfull because of how tough it was to manipulate and it didn’t click into place, making setting the date, gmt or time a hastle.

Movement

This watch uses the well regarded Sellita SW330-1 gmt movement that has 25 jewels, and comes with a 42hr power reserve and a frequency of 28800vph. When I checked the accuracy of the watch I got an average of -3.9s/d, which I consider perfectly acceptable for a non COSC certified watch. In fact other than the issue with the rotor (which is probably more an issue with the case than the movement) I don’t have too much more to say about the movement. It works well and looks great through the display caseback.

Conclusion

As with all Farer watches, this is a gorgeous piece, and if you’re in the market for a slim, light mechanical gmt this is definitely one I’d recommend though as Farer seem to have discontinued this model you’ll have to get it second hand. My only real issue with this watch is the crown, but for me it is such a large issue that this wasn’t a keeper. I change out my watches daily and as I have over 20 watches by the time I get back to this I need to wind and re-set the date and time and the hastle that was caused by this watch’s crown annoyed me so I stopped wearing it. If that’s not a problem for you though I do think that this is a very attractive watch.