This review is a little different. All my other reviews are about watches that I've purchased, however this watch was not purchased, but was one that I received as when Watch Crunch contributor Ben aka benandwatch, set up a global tour of this wristwatch with About Vintage who created this watch specifically for this tour, including a special engraving on the caseback and a journal, which will include excerpts from those of us who participated in the tour. The watch will eventually be auctioned off for charity along with the journal. I also do not have all the information I normally include in my reviews, such as the movement, and will have to use the 1926 At Sea that sells on About Vintage's website. Having said all that About Vintage is an independent brand and I did have this watch for long enough to form an opinion so here's my review, where I'll go over the watch's specs, the positive and negative aspects of this watch for me.

Specifications

• Diameter 39mm

• Thickness 13mm

• Lug to lug

• Lug width 20mm

• Weight

• Water Resistance 200m

• Screw down crown

• Sapphire Crystal

• Unidirectional 120click bezel

• Stainless Steel case

• Movement unknown possibly the Miyota 8215 that is the chosen movement for the 1926 At Seas on About Vintages website

Brand

I have reviewed another watch from this brand, the 1982 GMT, so I'll just give a broad outline of the brand here. They're a Danish brand that formed in 2013 when childhood friends Thomas Gyvelgaard Andersen and Sebastian Skov Regeser created the brand. As their name suggests they create vintage inspired pieces named after famous watches that were made in the year each watch was named for. They're an affordable independent brand with a focus on the design and look of their pieces, this is not to say that the movement and quality control of their pieces suffer, indeed I have owned 2 of their pieces the 1982 mentioned previously and a 1934 Telechron that I currently own; I merely point out that the focus of the brand is the outward appearances of their watches, and I don't think that the brand suffers from this.

Positive Points

As I've said before, both in this review and my previous ones, About Vintage watches tend to be very attractive and this watch is not an exception to this rule, I'll be talking later on about the colour and dial finish (spoiler alert, not a huge fan) and I'll focus instead on the many fine details of this watch. The round indices are well applied circular indices (in the main) that line up very well with the minute marks, not always a given with watches in this price bracket, and the cut outs at the 12 and 6 break things up nicely and look great, as well as again lining up well. The hands look great, with both the minute and hour hands seeming to be well crafted with a pleasing shape, with the minute hand coming to a sharper point allowing for a more exact reading of the time, something that I really appreciate. The second hand also looks great and I like the look of the counter balance that forms a nice shape. A lot of people dislike text on a dial, I'm personally a fan and the text on this dial is well made out and executed from the subtle logo at the 12 and the attractive text at the 6.

The bezel has it's issues (stay tuned for that in the negative issues), but it's looks (a recurring theme with this watch) are attractive and the clicking action is pleasing and there is no backplay to the movement, and as I was not the first person to test this out this is no small thing. The case is also well made and I couldn't find any obvious gaps or flaws. The crown is easy to manipulate, screwing and time setting a breeze.

A quick word about the caseback; one of the ways that About Vintage markets itself is that the buyer can personalise their watch by having an engraving on the back. This is not something that appeals to me when I buy a watch for myself, as while I never buy a watch to then sell it on, something that I would like to point out is not a sensible option with most watches independent or otherwise, and instead buy to wear; there is always the feeling in the back of my mind when I buy a watch from a brand like About Vintage that I may want to sell the watch on after wearing it. This watch however has an engraving with a nice outline of a city (most likely Copenhagen) and the text Make Moments, Give it history, Let it be vintage. A nice message for a watch from this brand and one of the things that point to this watch being a one of one piece.

Negative Issues

I've already hinted at this but as we're on the negative part of this review I'll just come out and say it. I don't like the colour of this watch, this cream, pale yellow/beige, or whatever you want to call it to my mind just seems washed out and dull, and causes the rest of the dial to look dull as well. This is of course a personal opinion, but I can only call it as I see it. The 1926 Automatic for sale on their website has in my opinion a much more attractive dial, in part because of the colour and also in part because of the texture on the dial, all of which causes the other features in the dial to pop more.

Also while the bezel looks good and has no backplay the edge of the bezel is not the grippiest I've ever tried, and also the bezel is so loose that it moves a little too freely, and there have been times when the bezel seemed to move without me manipulating it, maybe not a huge issue but those of us who have a little OCD will almost definitely cause a bit of aggravation. Also while everything on the dial lines up perfectly the bezel never seems to quite line up perfectly. A last word on the aesthetics of this watch. The lume is one of the worst I've seen on a dive watch, not a big issue perhaps and it is possible that as this watch is a special made piece but that does not change the fact that it is poorer than I would expect.

Lastly a word on the movement. Now, I haven't been given any information in regards to exactly what movement has been installed in this watch, but the one in the 1926 Automatic is a Miyota 8215. I am a big fan of the Miyota 9000 series but I've found the 8000 series to be noisy, inaccurate and prone to issues. Now I can't confirm that this is the movement so I won't go into any more details on this topic.

Conclusion

This is a difficult watch for me to critique, I didn't buy this watch as I said earlier and this makes i a little difficult to critique as I don't know what to compare this watch to, as there is no monetary value I can attach to it, however, About VIntage do seem to fairly price their watches and as such I don't believe that this one would be an outlier there, and obviously this watch is one of a kind to be sold at auction so it'll sell for whatever folk are willing to pay for it.

The watch isn't for me, I like white and off white dials, and have three watches in that colour, which I love, but that isn't what this is. About Vintage are very smart with their designs, and I might well be in a minority here, but it's not for me.