A white face in the sun

#danhenry #1962 #quartz #chronograph #photography
Catskinner

The meteo weather forecast didn't lie to me this time and this morning is both warm and sunny, which made it perfect to indulge outside with a cup of hot coffee, a book and the watch I'll be wearing today.

The Dan Henry 1962 Racing Chronograph isn't really from 1962 and I doubt if it was ever used to time a race. Furthermore, the Maserati engraved on its back is a prototype that, according to Wikipedia, never participated in a race during 1962. It's also kind of faking being a classic three registers chrono because it's powered by a VK63 meca-quartz movement and therefore the rightmost sub-dial is featuring the useless 24Hr indicator instead of something that might be useful for a chronograph. 

And so, the conclusion at this point is that the Dan Henry 1962 is a fake. But it's not really a fake because it does exactly what it was supposed to do: Be an affordable alternative for someone like me who wanted a vintage inspired 3 register chronograph, without the headaches usually associated with owning an actual vintage chrono.

And I like it's mostly white dial that is covered by a boxed glass crystal which manage to emulate the distortions from vintage acrylic. At this angle the photo even managed to convince me that I'm dealing with a domed acrylic crystal instead of a flat topped glass hat.

And yes, it is true that the UG inspired hands are not great for legibility and the 24hr register is still annoying as f*ck, but right now I'm sitting outside and I'm enjoying the pleasure of drinking a good cup of coffee while the sun is warming me and a good looking watch is strapped to my wrist. All things considered, it's a great way to start the day.