Meeting with Vincent, one of the founders of the Amsterdam brand, to discover Calgari's new Dimora Panda and Pierre Morlet meca-quartz chronographs. A combination of elegant design and affordable price.
A meeting with the founders of Calgari
It's always exciting to discover a new watch brand, especially when it was founded in your own city. As neighbors, I had lunch with Vincent Bakker, one of the three founders of Calgari, to learn more about this Amsterdam-based brand and its watches. The adventure began by selling ready-made watches, but quickly the founders wanted to develop their own designs. This is how their first collection of meca-quartz chronographs was born. I was able to try two of them โ the Dimora Panda and the Pierre Morlet.
A project between friends
Vincent told me that it all started as a fun project between three friends. He and his friends Tim and Thijs always wanted to start a business. They were also all watch enthusiasts with a strong connection to fashion and design. The three friends felt a gap between the very affordable market and the more luxurious market. Therefore, in 2019, they decided to launch a watch brand to fill this void. The ultimate goal is to develop attractive watches with the look of more expensive models, at a price accessible to a wide audience. Let's see what such a watch looks like in person.
Love of Amsterdam's urban culture
Vincent presented two of the three models currently available on their website. The watches come in elegant green boxes with a smaller leather box inside. The lining of the leather box has โlove for city cultureโ written on it, similar to the way Furlan Marri says the words โattractive wristwatchesโ on its boxes. Each watch comes with a fully Amsterdam-style user manual, featuring photos of the city taken by Dutch photographer Tim Buiting. I first opened the box of the Dimora Panda version, with, as the name already suggests, a black and white panda dial. According to Vincent, the pure white dial reminds them of the clouds that hover over the city most days.
The Calgari dimora panda meca-quartz chronograph
The Calgari Dimora Panda is a 40mm meca-quartz chronograph with a brushed and polished stainless steel case. Including the slightly protruding sapphire crystal, it is 11.6 mm thick. Its full dimensions include a width of 47mm from lug to lug. The brushed lugs feature a sleek polished chamfer and slope quickly toward the wrist. The convex bezel is fully polished, while the case sides are horizontally brushed. On the left side of the case there is a plaque indicating the unique number of the watch (out of 100 pieces), and on the right side there is the screw-down crown and chronograph pushers. Turning the watch over reveals a beautiful engraving inspired by the countless bridges of Amsterdam's idyllic canals.
The Dimora's glossy white dial features two recessed, concentrically grained black subdials at 3 and 9 o'clock. One serves as a 24-hour indicator (linked to the main hands), while the other is a 60-minute counter for the chronograph. The thin, applied stick indexes are polished and beveled. They also appear to have received some type of coating making them darker. The diamond-cut hour and minute hands are brushed and feature fine polished chamfers. The central chronograph hand appears to have been sandblasted. Around the edge of the dial, we find the tachometer and the timer. Finally, in the center, there is the name of the brand and model.
The Calgari Pierre Morlet meca-quartz chronograph
In addition to the more conventional Dimora Panda, I also had the opportunity to try the more distinguished Pierre Morlet edition. In essence, it's the same watch. However, this version has a shiny green dial and pink tone indexes and hands. Additionally, the subdials are now white, reinforcing the reverse panda look. The inspiration for this design came from a collaboration with champagne maker Pierre Morlet, hence the model's name. The color recalls the green hues of family vineyards. There is also an artistic representation of these vineyards engraved on the case back. In addition to the two models I handled, there is also a version with a black reverse panda dial, aptly dubbed Nero Inv. Panda.
Quartz with a smooth chrono hand
Beneath the decorated case back sits Seiko's reliable VK64 meca-quartz chronograph movement. This caliber powers many other affordable chronographs. It helps keep the price of these watches low, and the smooth chronograph hand feels like you're handling a mechanical movement. This is also exactly why Vincent and his friends chose to integrate this movement into their watches. In terms of accuracy, it works with a margin of ยฑ20 seconds per month, and you need to change your battery approximately every three years.
In addition to its affordability, it's also a fairly easy move to live with. It's also nice to know that it's quite resistant to magnetic fields. Combined with the watch's 50m water resistance, this makes it a good choice for everyday use for most people. Letโs talk about โwearโ, how do these watches actually feel on the wrist?
On the wrist
Well, when I saw these watches in their boxes, I found them to be a little thicker than expected. However, this is not a feeling you get when wearing them. This is mainly due to the relatively short horn-to-horn distance and the way the horns curve quickly toward the wrist. The brushing and polishing is well done for a watch at this price, and I feel the same way about the dial design layout. The hands, subdials, indexes and prints are all well proportioned and in harmony with each other. That said, I think Thomas might be a little irritated by the use of several different fonts.
I had to get used to the fact that there was no working seconds hand. Combined with the fact that it's difficult to hear the movement ticking very clearly (other than when the chronograph hand moves), it's sometimes difficult to tell whether the watch is working or not. Oh good ; I guess it's something you get used to if you wear a watch with a meca-quartz movement more regularly.
These watches both come with matching sailcloth straps with soft black leather lining and quick-release spring bars. They are a little stiff at first, but I suspect they will soften over time. Or you could just preform them a bit by putting the watch on a stiffer cushion when you're not wearing it. This is exactly what I do with my Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso on the Casa Fagliano bracelet. By the way, this is a bracelet that sells for almost as much as each of these Calgari watches.
Final Thoughts
This is exactly why I'm so excited about the Calgari Dimora Panda and Pierre Morlet. For โฌ469.95 each I think you get a very decent watch with an attractive vintage inspired design. Yes, the case could be a little sleeker, and the dial could have a little more personality. But these are elements that can be incorporated into future models of the brand. Calgari's current offerings are a great foundation to build on, and I can't wait to see what these three Dutch friends from Amsterdam have in store for us in the future.
The three models currently offered by Calgari are available on the brand's official website and at the About Lifestyle store in Amsterdam. THE
three versions are limited to 100 pieces. For more information, visit the official Calgari website.
What do you think of the Calgari Dimora Panda and Pierre Morlet, and what is your experience with watches with meca-quartz movements? Let me know in the comments below.
Technical characteristics
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