Brew Retrograph "Tecnicolor" Review

its been a while since i post a long thread or review in this platform, recently i 've been busy with my wedding preparation and some other family stuff. but thx God finally its done well. now back to the wristwatch, so lately i bought two wristwatch a rotary (will review it later) and one very special watch also my first microbrand watch which is a brew "retrograph"

i choose brew watch as my first microbrand watch because of the originality of their design, affordability, and avaibility (most of my other choices are out of stock). quick story on the brew watch company, founded by jonathan ferrer in 2015. brew concept as far as i know is to made a unique wristwatch with the coffe as an inspiration (espresso machine shape, colour choice, unique indices which tell the wearer its the time for the extraction for the espresso shot, the company logo, etc). there are a few variant of a brew watch which is metric, method, retromatic, and the one that i bought retrograph "tecnicolor".

tecnicolor itself means series of color motion picture processes in filmaking dating back from 1916. not very sure how this definition apply to the dial but i guess the color choice are inspired by popular colour in this era.

case design

the retrograph case design are very unique in my opinion its a square 38 x 41,5mm case with slightly round shape on every edge inspired by espresso machine shape. case are made from 316 stainless steel, bezel finishing is brushed and polished on the side. its beautiful but definitely would be scratched easily. case thickness is 10,4mm which looks a little bit chunky comparing with my small wrist.

dial

now about the dial, by far the technicolor is my first choice comparing to the other retrograph variant. its matte blue colour with bicompax layout, all of the indices are printed with small applied blue dot on each hour. although brew is a modern watch the aesthetic looks like a racing retro chronograph, i could easily imagine pairing this watch with racing or rally strap. there are two subdial on this dial which is chronograph 60 minute counter and 24 hour subdial. date display is placed on the 6 o'clock which is good. overall the dial layout looks very balanced and well design.

there also special feature in this dial which is the yellow colour indices on the 30-35 seconds telling the extraction time for the espresso shot (could be useful if you work as a barista, unfortunately i always take instant coffe lol).

hands

there are 3 hands on the main dial. 2 blue sticks hands indicate hour and a minute, and the chronograph hand which is paint red. the subdial hands also painted red. unfortunately there is a slightly missaligned on the chronograph hand in my unit.

lume

to be honest lume on the watch are very poor. there arent any lume on the dial, the only lume applied to the watch is just on the hour and minute hands.

crystal

the retrograph using the flat sapphire crystal for their watch with ar coating, so i guess its a plus point for the retrograph.

crown

there are three crown on the watch. the main crown is equipped with beautiful brew logo, two other which is chronograph pusher are plain brushed stainless steel. it is easy to push, pull, and it has a nice feeling using these crown.

caseback

for the caseback it is a solid brushed caseback with some specs information about the watch. it is also secured by 4 screw with 5 atm water resistant.

strap and buckle

the retrograph use 22mm matt blue italian leather strap with brushed buckle. i cant find which grade are the leather but i can tell you it feels very nice and soft, most of my aftermarket leather strap feels hard at first time but this isnt the case with the brew strap. the buckle finished is brushed with an embossed brew logo in it. it is also equipped with quick release which is nice. from a few review on the youtube they also sell the beads of rice bracelet for the retrograph but i cant find it when this review is being made.

movement

for the movement brew use seiko vk64 mechaquartz. i think for the 375$ pricepoint its fair and very solid for everyday use.

conclusion

i think i am very impressed with the watch. the unique design, pricepoint, and quality is way above my expectation. the retrograph surely got their own unique design element not like any other watch which want to be "other" more expensive watch. as for the complain is just the missalign on the chronograph hand and the poor lume. so if you are looking for a unique microbrand watch with affordable price this watch might be for you. thx for reading, stay crunchy🍺

note:

i ve been using my wive camera for this review fujifilm xt3 with 56mm lens. i was blown away by the quality of the image, but its so hard to capture wrist shot and any other detail shot because of the 56mm lens lol.