Haute Horlogerie comes with a certain price tag, however, there are also timepieces that are a bit more mellow on the wallet and still can accompany you for a long long time. The Movado Bold is one of these watches, a unique timepiece with a nice history (based on the original Movado Museum Watch) and a friendly price tag. Especially in time of recession or crisis, this particular timepiece is worth considering!
The Movado Bold was introduced just recently, on the 27th of November 2009 (Black Friday). Movado created an affordable timepiece that is based on the famous Movado design (Museum Watch was introduced in 1947) but has the looks and appeal of a modern wristwatch. As ‘all black’ watches are the hit momentarily, Movado jumped right in with this 43.5mm wristwatch, using high-tech materials for its casing (composite material). With a price tag of 350 USD for the normal version and just under 500 USD for the chronograph version, this makes a perfect gift for your special someone or for yourself of course!
Movado was founded in 1881 by watchmaker Achille Ditisheim. In a small atelier in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Achille created timepieces with his team of six employees, all assembled by hand. It wasn’t until 1905 that the name ‘Movado’, meaning ‘always in motion’ in Esperanto, became known to the public after winning a number of prizes for their timepieces. As I wrote before, the Museum Watch was introduced in 1947, designed by Nathan Georhe Horwitt. It featured an uncluttered dial, with a simple gold dot marker at 12 o’clock. He likened the design to that of a sun-dial, like recognizing the sun at its zenith at high noon. Movado later teamed up with designers and artists such as Andy Warhol to create one-of-a-kind limited edition watches, which reside in museums, galleries, and collections today.
The Movado Bold Chronograph in black clearly deserves our preference here at Motoring Exposure. The watch comes on a black leather strap and a black ion-plated steel buckle to keep it tightly in place. Just like the original Museum Watch, the black dial features the sun-dial design, with an insert on 12 o’clock, which makes the watch to be recognized as a Movado very easily. The tr90 composite material case is completed with a black crown and black chronograph pushers. The date window blends nicely with the dial and 3 sub-dials for the chronograph functionality, the dial is therefore very clean looking and readable.
Inside the watch, a Swiss made quartz chronograph movement is ticking away the most precious gift in life. And if the black hands are giving you a hard time reading this gift in life, you can always choose from various combinations of colors.
Next time, we will write about a few other wrist watches that have a price tag below 1000 USD. We might need to get back to haute horlogerie (with very serious price tags) as soon as there will be more news from the SIHH and BaselWorld 2010 shows in Switzerland.
All pictures courtesy of the Movado Group. Please note that the last picture is not of the Movado Bold, it is the Movado Museum Watch.
Movado Bold Gallery
