Introducing: Brew Watch Co. Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary With The Metric Manual Wind Limited Editions
What We Know
Happy 10th birthday to the Brew Watch Co. team! Founded by industrial designer Jonathan Ferrer, the caffeine-powered brand, with its Metric and Retrograph designs, has become a mainstay in the microbrand scene. And to celebrate this milestone anniversary, the folks over at Brew have just revealed the highest-end — read: most expensive — timepiece the brand has ever produced. It would make sense that an anniversary edition would be something a little different and a little nicer, and with the new manually-wound Metric, Brew ditches mechaquartz to offer a watch for the mechanically inclined.
For this limited run, 125 units are being produced for each of the two dial colors — blue and grey. The colors of the blue version are quite familiar. In fact, it’s very similar to the dial color and accents of the Brew Automatic, with a dark blue dial base contrasting with red and yellow accents. The yellow of the minute track between 25 seconds and 35 seconds highlights the optimal range for pulling an espresso shot, reminding the wearer just why the logo on the dial is a coffee bean. A flat outer minutes ring, with numerals at every ten minutes, replaces the typical sloped rehaut seen on many of the designs. The center dial, housing an extension of the minute marks as well as the applied indices, is slightly sunken in for a stepped effect. Speaking of applied indices, these new indices are certainly the most interesting new visual element on the two watches. Brew calls them “mountain-top index markers,” while to me, they remind me of crinkle-cut fries. Maybe I’m just hungry. The indices are slotted in the middle, making room for some lume.
On the grey dial version, all the funky color is removed for a more stoic design. The outer minutes track is a light grey while the center is slightly darker, and the hands go for white accents instead of anything more saturated. On this version, a beige shade of lume adds a minuscule bit of color back into the design.
The case remains consistent with the rest of the Metric line, with an integrated-style bracelet and a rounded square case in stainless steel sitting compactly at 36mm in diameter with a 41.5mm lug-to-lug. This is the thinnest Brew Watch yet, with a very impressive 8.5mm in case height. Most of the Metrics, with their mecaquartz movements, were never really chunky to begin with, but it’s still cool to see this design get a little more elegance nonetheless. A new design of the screw-down crown, with very pronounced knurling, gives a bit more texture to the metal. While the bracelet design remains the same, the coffee bean on the clasp is no longer simply engraved in, but rather raised and fully polished for a more premium feel.
Seen through the sapphire caseback is the Sellita SW210-1B caliber. It’s a manually-winding movement with a power reserve of 42 hours. The finishing of the caliber is of a higher tier that Sellita offers, with blued screws, striping on some bridges, snailing on several of the gears as well as a custom-engraved gear train bridge, with Brew’s logo and coffee bean infilled with gold.
The Brew Watch Co. Metric Manual Wind limited editions in blue and grey are available now on Brew’s website and are priced at $875 a piece.
What We Think
Good watch design is often reliant on the designer’s ability to successfully iterate on the past while still keeping the design fresh and timely. I think that these manually-wound Metrics very much fit that bill. Wear one of these at a watch meetup, and most people could spot it from across the bar as a Brew watch. Only if you look closer would you realize that there are quite a few unique elements for this model. The new indices look wonderful, especially with that even more prominent crown. These two elements, while small changes on paper, give what is otherwise a very clean dial design an extra layer of texture, and that goes a long way in helping the design move to a slightly higher end portion of the spectrum.
It’s especially helpful on the monochromatic grey dial, as the light catching on the indices turns what could have been a very plain dial into something more dynamic. I guess time will tell whether we’ll see these elements roll out onto the lower-priced models. But when you’re designing the most expensive Brew watches to date, little touches like these are crucial.
With only 250 units made across the two dial colors, it’s clear that the Metric Manual isn’t a product designed to replace the brand’s more accessible mecaquartz designs. However, in terms of pricing for a Sellita SW210 movement, steel bracelet, and a complex dial, this Metric seems priced very fairly within the spectrum of microbrand designs featuring the same caliber. For those who love Brew’s funky designs and want something a bit more tactile – and with no batteries in the case – this one will be a no-brainer to pick up.
The Basics
Brand: Brew Watch Co.
Model: Metric Manual Wind
Diameter: 36mm
Thickness: 8.5mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Color: Blue or grey
Indexes: Applied
Lume: Yes
Water Resistance: 50m
Strap/Bracelet: Steel bracelet with raised and polished coffee bean logo
The Movement
Caliber: Sellita SW210-1B
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 28,800 VpH
Jewels: 18
Pricing & Availability
Price: $875
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: Yes, 125 pieces of each color
For more, click here.
Hodinkee
