NWA!! Farer Resolute

I recently joined a tech giant in October after 12 years at a small engineering consulting firm. Did I do the normal thing and celebrate the new job by taking the fam to Hawaii during my period of funemployment? NOPE. It watch time.

I was initially thinking I'd get a Nomos, but in the end decided to spend 3.8x less on a more affordable microbrand. I've been really interested in Farer's Resolute since first laying eyes on it because of that enamel lacquer polar white dial with hints of ice blue and pop of orange.

The watch, while beautiful, does have some sizing quirks and I had some reservations about the fit. The Resolute comes in both 36mm and 39.5mm, and while I already have both a 36.5 and a 40 in my collection, Farer's lugs are VERY short. My 36mm Seiko has a similar L2L as the 39.5 Resolute!

I suspected that the 36 might fit my flat 6.5" wrist better, but was still nervous about the 41mm L2L. In the end I decided to pick up both the 36 and 39.5 variants to try before making the final decision. Luckily Farer has a 30 day return policy as long as the watch remains unworn.

So, if you are slight of wrist, interested in Farer, and curious about the fit, I've now tried both. AMA.

Some thoughts after comparing the 36 and 39.5:

• The size / thickness ratio on the 39.5 is a little nicer proportionally as both are the same 10.8mm thickness. Neither are chonky though.

• IMO the 39.5 has too much empty white space - the dial on the 36 seems more balanced.

• Everything is scaled up on the 39.5 so the printing on the markers looks a little cleaner if looking under a loupe. Both look very clean under the naked eye though.

• Both sizes use 20mm straps and in person I prefer the proportionally wider looking lugs on the 36. YMMV

• The bezel on both watches is very narrow and thus the dial is much more prominent than other watches in my collection. The crystal of the 36mm is 32mm in diameter, while the crystal on my much larger 40mm IWC Mark XX is only 2mm larger in diameter at 34mm!

• Because of that narrow bezel and large white dial, the 39.5 looked a little big, even if the watch was actually smaller than my GADA IWC.

On my flat wrist (6.5" in diameter, 55mm wide), the 36mm was easily the better fit even if the 41mm L2L did make it just a smidge smaller than preferred. A 37 or 38 would probably have been perfect.

They look very different next to each other but the size difference from a distance is fairly subtle. For wrist shots I like to shoot from a distance (50mm focal length or more) to avoid lens compression because the closer you shoot, the bigger the watch will look on your wrist.

36

39.5

The Resolute features a white enameled polish lacquer dial with applied solid lume markers with printed numerals on the surface so that the lume creates an ice blue halo around the numbers. This a brilliant idea and in person it does not disappoint.

Unfortunately the image above is taken hand-held at high ISO and could be better. You get the point though and you bet your ass that I will be ready for the next lume battle.

On the back, we have a fairly decently decorated La Joux-Perriet G101 movement that’s about +10 SPD and running at 4 Hz with a nice 68 hours of power reserve. I'm impressed with this movement considering it's in a sub $1K watch where the dial and case are already punching well above its weight. It's not a widely used movement, but it is the same one found in a few of the Anordain models. It does get a knock for the rotor being a little loud but I don't see it being an issue in real world usage.

The bronze signed crown and boxed sapphire crystal is very cool. The side profile reminds me of an older Rolex OP.

Because I ordered the watch in back in October, I was able to pick up some suitable straps from Delugs and Erika's Originals on Black Friday and the Resolute is a god damn strap monster. I wanted this to be my fun watch so I went with a number of colorful straps:

The navy blue shell cordovan strap from Delugs is pure class. Unfortunately this is the thickest of the listed materials and it rubs against the case a bit. It might start to show wear fairly quickly at the point of contact to the case so I'll save it for events and date nights. If considering this combination I would recommend curved springbars.

The denim chevre strap from Delugs makes the watch super fun and brings out some of the blue tones from the ice blue lume. The chrome-tan leather is more resistant to patina so with any luck it will hold that bright color for a while.

The orange saffiano strap is a perfect match for the seconds hand and like the chevre strap, the leather is chrome-tan and similarly resistant to darkening and patina compared to veg-tan leathers.

And finally, this Navy/Orange Erika's Originals strap is something special. I wanted to have something that was my own, and I saw that EO offers custom engraving. I reached out and for 20 euro they engraved my landscape photography business' logo onto the hardware and I LOVE how it turned out. For those who aren't familiar with this region, it's the outline of Washington State modified to be a camera. It's valid to debate the value of an EO strap versus other similar MN straps, but I couldn't be happier with the colorway and engraved buckle.

Other thoughts:

• Finishing is darned good for the price point, but predictably not as good as my IWCs. Vertical brushing on the top, polished on the sides, and a clean line where the two intersect.

• I would have preferred if they went with a less glossy black ink on the dial. If you look closely it feels a little "thick" on the syringe hands.

• Speaking of the syringe hand, the tip of the hour hand feels a little too thin. I wish the hour and minute syringes had the same thickness.

• The standard granolo green strap is way too thick for this case and went straight into my strap drawer, likely never to be seen again. It was very inflexible near the lugs and I'm pretty sure it would have made the case sit way off of the wrist if I even bothered trying to clasp it.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Overall it's a fantastic addition to my small collection and I'm glad I had the chance to try the 39.5 to be sure the 36 would be the better size. Feel free to ping me with questions about how they wear or the ordering/returning process. FYI I did not have to pay duty fees when having this shipped to the US. I'll also report back on how the return process for the 39.5 went. (Update: Farer accepted the return upon delivery. They require the watch to be returned unworn and I did not remove the back sticker or buckle the strap).