One of the most important parts of the mechanical watchmaking industry is history. Whether or not everyone agrees with that individually, the fact is, watch brands with the right names tend to get the most attention, making it hard for lesser known brands to get their due. That’s why I can understand when opportunistic folks buy up a name with a rich history in order to get a head start with their business. It’s what they do with it once they have it that counts.
Stowa and Breitling are two well known examples of brands that were all but dead, only to be revived and brought back to their roots (more or less). Stowa’s designs are almost exactly as they were back in the early to mid 1900s. Breitling, although it gets a lot of flack from the haters, stays close to its roots with a number of references. I could go on about other brands with similar situations, but I digress. I’m totally fine with using an old brand to carry on its previous traditions and designs, if that’s what it takes for it to exist.
What really gets my goat, however, is when an old name with a great history gets revived into nothing more than a shell of its former self. It’s certainly happened in the past, and this time, the Waltham name is in the spotlight. One of the most storied American watchmakers, Waltham all but disappeared from the US in 1957. Up until a few months ago, you could only find new Waltham watches in Japan, but they weren’t exactly the same Waltham.
Back in June, a new lineup of Waltham watches was revealed in NYC. Apparently, a fellow named Antonio DeBenedetto purchased a majority share of Waltham SA a few years back, with plans for a US re-launch. How exciting, right? Like a favored horse that pulls a hammy out of the gates, Waltham has come up lame – kind of harsh, sorry. The concept behind the new lineup is to take inspiration from two old Waltham aircraft instruments, one used during WWII, and the other by Charles Lindbergh during his NY to Paris flight. Despite the cool sounding concept, the result was rather disappointing.
Side by side of original XA37 used by Lindbergh and the new Waltham XA
Waltham did well to pull some elements from the original instruments, like the big 3-6-9 markers and 12:00-positioned running seconds dial on the XA reference. On the CDI, I actually like how a lot of the coloration was maintained, as well as the functionality of a GMT hand and 24-hour rotating bezel. Each watch is housed in titanium with ceramic bezels – definitely worth noting. However, that’s where it ends.
Side by side of original Central Date Indicator and the new Waltham CDI
The case for each reference is a nearly unwearable 47-millimeters. Big watches had a nice run, but the trend seems to be aiming back towards more modestly sized watches. The overall design of each is a bit like the love child of a Bell & Ross BR01 and a Hublot Big Bang. It’s like they used the instrument concept simply to make big, obnoxious watches. In the 40-millimeter to 43-millimeter range, they might do pretty well. I don’t think I’d be so against this lineup if they hadn’t used the Waltham name and come so close to doing something awesome. They use strong Dubois-Dépraz movements, and combined with the quality materials mentioned above, there’s a ton of potential. Unfortunately, they’ve effectively smeared an historic American brand with oversized and overpriced ($5,500 – $8,200) watches.
Waltham, in its new form, isn’t the first, and assuredly won’t be the last brand to hijack a history for its own benefit. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare in the market. They’re playing in a tough price range, and may need more than Waltham’s history to help them. I have no idea how they’ll do with sales, but if they make any money, maybe they’ll re-think future designs. Leading up to a global rollout, I believe they might only be available at Cellini Jewelers in NYC, which means they’re alongside some ridiculously nice watches. If you go check them out, good luck averting your eyes from the likes of De Bethune, Greubel Forsey, Urwerk, and others.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Foggyflute
I actually may wear one if they made the watch with exact dial of those old aircraft instruments. The new one? Don’t think so.
The essentials of those cockpit clocks are readability and informatively, the new one have none, but I will give the the benefit of doubt since those are render images, may look better IRL.
Shane Griffin
Totally agree on the legibility of the dials. The CDI looks busy as all get out in the renderings, but not quite as bad as in the flesh: http://professionalwatches.com/2014/07/hands-on-with-the-waltham-aeronaval-xa-cdi.html
Either way, there’s no way my wrist could handle these watches.
RSG
In that case, try RGM–a real life, American watchmaker:
http://rgmwatches.com/collections/American%20Made/801A.php
Shane Griffin
Yes, we’re well aware of RGM. Roland does excellent work.
Mike
The original central date is incredible looking! The combo of black gold and green sings to me. If they would have done a modern (or heck, just a direct redo of that design) I would be in. Though,…neither for thousands of $$, nor at such an unreasonable size.
Shane Griffin
Agreed on the CDI — very cool looking instrument. Thanks for reading.