Merkur 1855118 Retro Dress Watch Review

Years ago the only watches that you could buy you kept in your pocket. Then women and soldiers put them on their wrists and the wristwatch was born. There were as yet no categories or distinctions. A watch was just a watch. Bright manufacturers decided to combine the functionality of a stop watch with the readability of the fine print of a contract and the chronograph was born. War (which gets a bad rap in the innovation department) led to the field, diver, and pilot watch. Yet, until living memory, a watch for most consumers, was just a watch.

Now a watch that doesn't profess a specialized purpose is a "dress" watch. That is sort of like calling every firm dessert a cake. The category fits only because it is too broad not to include so many examples. Dress watches have fallen in popularity as the other categories of watch have risen. Men (still the primary watch consumer) wear fewer suits for fewer occasions. The distinction between dress casual, casual, and whatever is clean has become blurred. (See "The Decline of Civilization, Part 1278.") For many, jeans and a t-shirt is work apparel. In such a culture a "fancy" watch gains less purchase.

I still wear a tie to work on most days.  I have a costume (the "Monkey Suit") that I must wear to court appearances. Appearance is part of the package.  You are more likely to hire a professional who looks like a professional. I am not flying airplanes, taking long hikes, or diving into water in my normal day. My watch needs to tell time and sometimes tell me the date. Because my time is measured in the tenth of an hour I need to be able to cut off a conversation with a surreptitious glance at my watch.

I have never done an unboxing video. I will never say never, but I don't plan on starting.  The Merkur travel box is a nice add-on. It comes with a cloth, warranty card, manual, and spring bar tool. The box on their website is black, but mine is green, white, and red, as though I were traveling to a St. Joseph's Day parade.

I have the perfect sized wrist:  not like a table leg and not like an 18th Century waif.  The sweet spot for most watches is 36-40mm. This comes in at 38mm. The lug to lug is 45mm. It lays nicely. The band is "genuine leather". I would ignore that description.  It is genuine something.

The buckle is signed.  The band is a quick release (20mm). I can change it out if I want to but I will leave it for a while. It is comfortable.

The crown is also signed if you care about that sort of thing:

The case back is engraved. It is not as ornate as some vintage Chinese watches:

All of that is good and fine, but what makes this watch is the dial. It is a conscious call back to vintage Chinese styles from the first twenty years of Chinese watch making.  Merkur makes plenty of homage watches that mimic other more famous watches. This is an homage to a culture and a style more than a copy of any one watch. 

(Low light with medium rare burger, fried green tomato, pimento cheese, bacon and a side of potato salad. This is at my city's premier dive bar, so the lighting is always like this.)

China got a late start in the watch making business.  From 1958 until the early 1970's they concentrated on their domestic market. Many vintage Chinese watches show an influence of Seiko and Citizen watches of that era. Like these Japanese watches, the visibility was created by polished surfaces and texture. There is no lume. There is no color. Tilt your wrist, and even in low light, you can get the time. I find that this watch is readable in high and low light. The K1 crystal gives a vintage acrylic feel with additional hardness. I am not a "sapphire or nothing" kind of watch owner. If you get a reflection in bright light, turn your wrist just a hair. The "nail" second markers are a nice touch.

The movement is a Merkur variation of the standard Chinese mechanical movement.  I hope that it is years before I ever have to look at it.  Apparently, it has a wave pattern to it.  It winds more smoothly than other Chinese watches that I have encountered, but it is not butter smooth. In the time that I have had it it seems to have a good reserve and has been accurate (as accurate as I can measure).

But do you need one? Do you ever wear a collared shirt and lace up non athletic shoes?  Are you ever not a slob? Then leave the diver or ahistorical flieger in the watch box and put something nice on your wrist. Did I mention the price? Less than $100.00 USD. You can't buy a quartz Stauer for that price (and you shouldn't buy a Stauer for that price.) It took about six weeks from order to office.  You have been on microbrand waiting lists longer than that.  It also comes in salmon.  I would have bought the salmon, but it was out of stock in February (it is back).  I am glad that I have the silver because it is more flexible than the salmon would have been.

I don't know why they choose to call themselves Merkur.  It is German for mercury.  It is also the name of a terrible car from the 1980's. But, it is a brand worth watching.

Finally, a word about craftmanship taken from their website:

"Polished by hand, carefully crafted by craftsmen, and crafted by layers of craftsmanship."  I couldn't have said it better if I tried.