Brellum Watchmaking was featured on Haulogerie many moons ago and since then, we’ve grown rather fond of the micro-brand. Rather than trying to shake the game up, Brellum Watchmaking instead produce and release watches that capture the essence of what a quality Swiss made timepiece should have. And its latest release is no different: Introducing the Pandial Marina 2, a chronograph inspired by the allure of summer.
Sitting within a 43mm wide, 16.20mm thick stainless-steel case lies a beautifully crisp silver domed dial. Almost immediately the Pandial Marina 2 is inviting, appealing and refreshing. The terseness of the dial is offset by the smooth flow of the twist lugs, exposed mushroom chronograph pushers and riveted crown. The slim blue bezel acts as a point of colour differentiation, matching the rimmed sub-dials and the Alinghi blue strap.
This contrast continues with the orange stitching on the Alinghi blue strap matching the orange dial highlights really well. I’d especially like to take this moment to point out the energising look of those orange dial highlights. I think it adds just enough pop to the Pandial Marina 2 in that there’s plenty to keep things interesting, but not so much as to render it busy and over the top.
Stylistically, I’m finding it very difficult to fault the Pandial Marina 2. I tend to enjoy busier looking chronographs, and so the addition of a tachymeter scale on the bezel and a telemeter scale surrounding the dial are welcoming additions. The vertically orientated layout of the dial is of course due to the use of a base Valjoux 7750, but again this just seems to work in favour of the Pandial Marina 2’s aesthetic.
As we noted, the Pandial Marina 2 is powered by a base Valjoux automatic calibre. Getting a true in-house movement at this price point is nearly impossible, so Brellum Watchmaking have done the next best thing by heavily modifying the ébauche movement, filling it with various aesthetic finishing techniques like perlage, Geneva striping and by customising the skeletonised half-rotor. The reformed Valjoux 7750 calibre, aptly named the Brellum BR-750-1 COSC Chronometer certified movement, features a power reserve of 46-hours and incorporates the passing hours, minutes and seconds, along with a date indicator, a chronograph and the scales we noted before.
The Pandial Marina 2 is available with either a hand-made blue Alinghi strap with a stainless-steel deployment buckle for 2,305CHF, or on a stainless-steel Milanese bracelet with a butterfly deployment buckle for 2,360CHF.
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