"10 Jahre Defakto Uhren Manufaktur"

Yes, 10 years of Defakto goodness!

Courtesy of Defakto

Had an interesting conversation about watches, writing about them and what attracts us to them.  I have been a fan of Defakto since Jump Street.  Another generation of the Ickler family continuing in the family business, but in his own way, with his own vision.  And he's also a pretty nice guy!

This is the 10th anniversary edition of the Eins.  The Eins was one of the very first watches that I reviewed when I began this horological writing adventure back in 2010, so it seems sort of fitting to be writing about it again now.  

This piece is available in stainless (above), and three other versions with different PVD finishes -

Courtesy of Defakto

A gold and black finish (above)

Courtesy of Defakto

 A black PVD and steel (Above)

Courtesy of Defakto

And an all black version (Above)

Priced quite reasonably, the entry point is the all stainless which weighs in at:

720,00 EUR (incl. VAT)
605,04 EUR (excl. VAT)

Here are the pertinents -

Limited Edition "10 Years Defakto" 

one-hand watch

Special Engraving: 

"10 Jahre Defakto Uhren Manufaktur", 

running number

Special Edition handmade packaging - 10 Years Defakto Watch Manufactory

Three-piece 42 mm stainless steel case (316L), brushed 42 mm x 51 mm x 9,8 mm, weight 67 g

Also available in three different PVD finishes.

Automatic movement ETA 2824-2, made in Switzerland

Engraved see-through case back, (316L), brushed, sapphire crystal

Matte black dial, fluorescent indexes

Matte skeletonized hand, fluorescent

Ergonomic clasp with engraved Defakto Logo

Sapphire crystal, anti reflective

German-made Defakto cowhide Strap

Water resistant to 5 atm

Made in Pforzheim, Germany

The Antea back to bauhaus 355 Limited Silver

From Stowa -

Courtesy of Stowa

This is a limited edition (if I understand correctly, limited to 100 pieces) and here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

Case

Diameter:

35,50mm

Height:

6,90mm

Strap width:

18,00mm

Lug-to-Lug size:

44,60mm

Waterproof:

up to 3ATM 

Weight:

41 gr. (leather strap), about 85 gr. (metal bracelet)

Materiality

Case:

Stainless steel, polished

Dial:

Solid silver

Hands:

Temperature-blued steel

Movement

Caliber:

Peseux 7001

Mechanism:

mechanical, manual wind

Specific features:

screwed caseback. Limited Edition 100 watches. Engraving limited edition on gear wheel.

Mido on Monday - The Multifort

This is a bit of a blast from the "early days" of Tempus Fugit.  At the time I had not yet cottoned on to the notion that better pictures might make for a better reader experience.

Now, owing to the less-than-amazing images you will come to understand that longtime Tempus Fugit followers (unlike readers of Playboy) actually DO read it for the articles ; )

I have scoured the world-wide info web for better images of this model, which was (if memory serves) from 2005 or so (again, I could be way off on this, so apologies for the less-than stellar memory on my part).

Now a few easy things that can be discerned through this shaky image:

Nice basic round case (which I believe was 40, but again am ready to be corrected), display back.  Non-COSC, ETA 2824.  The curious part (and again, apologies as there are no other blurry photos from me to document this, but the rotor was labeled "Seastar".  Now none of that is the end of the world, but it was a little "janky" to see at the time.

The dial was a nice "aged" cream color, black, white and just a touch of blue (in the outer scale ring).  The strap was a nice, basic brown leather, simple and tasteful, without undue flourish or faux croc/gator embossing.  Mido had put out an all black dial version of this model, as well as a chronograph version.

In the end?  For whatever reason, I wasn't quite at the right point in my life to fully appreciate it.  I had it and wore it somewhat sparingly.  And as was often the case back then, I got the itch and sold it on to the next owner.

Mido has come out with some pieces that are somewhat reminiscent of this version of the Multifort -

Courtesy of Mido

And I am of two minds.  Do I appreciate the aesthetics?  For sure.  Again, it's back to the little, nit-picky things.  The date is a bit jarring, and a bit out of place with the format.  I also realize that is the spacial needs driven by the size of the movement in relation to the size of the case.  This is the tricky reality of the world that we now live in.  Many of us watch hounds love vintage inspired design in a modern watch.  Perhaps the same reason many people have love/hate relationships with vintage cars, motorcycles and bicycles - you not only have a relationship with the object, but also the person you must now employ to maintain it ; )

But the Multifort along with the Commander was often referred to as the "Watchmakers Watch".  It wasn't expensive, you could hammer the hell out of it, and it would still run, and run well.  And it is reassuring to see the folks at Mido putting in the time and effort to offer something that stirs nostalgia, while offering a robust and reliable modern time keeper.