How to write a luxury watch review....about literally any watch...

Presenting the Raketa Ref. 2416 Field Watch, as reviewed by Hodinkee/Fratello/Time & Tide/A Blog To Watch/Teddy Baldassarre/WatchTime/Worn & Wound/literally every YouTube watch channel with more than 25k subs:

We had the opportunity to go hands-on with this exquisite Raketa (aka "Rocket") luxury field watch. Though this review is sponsored and the watch was given to us free of charge, this review reflects our honest, unbiased opinion after a week on the wrist. Let's get to it!

First, let's talk about the brand, which doesn't just deserve to be discussed in the same circles as the Holy Trinity, but, in many ways, dwarfs them. The company that would become Raketa (translated: "Rocket") was established by none other than Peter The Great and was producing timepieces in a dedicated manufacture as early as 1721—the year Jaquet Droz himself was born and nearly 15 years before Blancpain would be established. Their history since is ticks all the boxes of a true heritage brand: Supplier of battle-tested military watches? Check. Worn in space? Check. A fully-integrated watchmaker that produces and assembles literally every single component internally and domestically?One of only 5 in the world. And, like Rolex, they're committed to educating future generations of watchmakers through their establishment of the Petrodvorets Watchmaking School. If centuries of uninterrupted heritage and in-house watchmaking prowess is what you value, your horological journey ends not in Geneva, but in St Petersburg.

This vintage-inspired, mid-sized field watch follows the recent trend of smaller watches and brings serious vintage military vibes. The case is fully polished with short, sloping lugs that hug the wrist and fit an endless variety of 18mm straps. While some readers might see the 36mm case diameter and write this off, we're big fans of the recent return to smaller watches led by the Tudor Black Bay 54, Longines Spirit 37mm, and other brands offering more unisex, mid-century wearing experiences. On wrist, we'd say this wears closer to a 36.5mm than a 36mm due to the high polish and bold, white dial. We would suggest you try this on at an AD before writing it off as too small or "feminine."

Moving to the dial, the first thing you'll notice is the striking matte-white color, which cuts glare while providing a crisp, clean base for the highly legible, printed black numerals and railroad minute track. While some might argue applied numerals would have been nice at this price point, Raketa opted for a true vintage approach to the dial, keeping it inline with similar printed-dial heritage pieces like IWC’s Big Pilot, Spitfire, and Mark XX, Hamilton's Khakis, Omega's 57 Seamaster recreations, and any number Longines heritage reissues. We suspect Raketa’s decision really had more to do with keeping the period-perfect typography of the numerals intact and think they made the right call in valuing authenticity over filigree. Some staffers also pointed out the absence of lume on the dial as a potential dealbreaker, and while that does seem like a missed opportunity, we all agreed it would disrupt the clean, monochromatic approach taken on the dial.

Kudos must also be given to Raketa for the absolutely perfect placement of the date window at the 6 o'clock position, which gives the dial ideal symmetry and avoids the appearance of the date being an afterthought to please mainstream buyers. And not only is the placement perfect, but Raketa also gave us a color-matched date wheel with black numerals to match the hour arabics, allowing the date to disappear into the dial and comfort those of us who prefer the purity of a no-date timepiece.

Moving on to the handset, the design continues to impress. The subtle sword-shaped hour and elongated minute hands hit exactly as they should: The hour hand grazing the numerals and the minute hand extending gracefully to the railroad minute track near the outer-edge of the dial. The central seconds hand extends to the outer edge of the railroad track to complete this picture of elegance and restraint. Speaking of that railroad track, another detail that had us all praising the Raketa design team is the thin circle that sits beautifully between the outer track and the pinion, perfectly evoking the circular shape of the case and providing a great easter-egg for eagle-eyed enthusiasts. Bravo! The dial is protected by another period-perfect touch: A boxed, acrylic crystal that completes the vintage experience. Before you get out the pitchforks and demand sapphire at this price, like the purest of the Speedmaster Moonwatch reissues ($6600 SRP), the Pateka offers enthusiasts a true time-capsule of visual distortions and the ability to buff out minor scuffs with a little Poly-Watch and a microfiber.

But, of course, the star of the show is the movement. While IWC, Longines, Oris, Hamilton, and even Breitling reached for third-party movements to keep costs down on their three-handers, Raketa gifted us a fully in-house movement. No "in group" or modified Sellita here—this is completely designed and assembled by Raketa, who have been producing every component—including hairsprings and escapements—in their Petrodvorets manufacture for centuries. Even mighty Rolex had to buy themselves a manufacture. Raketa, like Seiko, created their own.

Keeping things inline with the vintage vibes of the watch (while allowing it to keep its svelte proportions), Raketa opted for a manual-wind movement, which is a joy to operate—with audible and tactile feedback that make you feel directly connected to the hairspring with every twist, reminding us of what matters in an era increasingly defined by the soulless smart-watch charging cable. The quick-set date mechanism is another unique feature in that you advance the date by pulling out the spring-loaded crown once for each day you want to skip forward. We wish more movements offered this simple, convenient approach, which we suspect also adds durability as you're not twisting the crown as often as you would on a typical time-and-date watch. Like IWC, Raketa doesn't state accuracy numbers for the movements in their watches, but we expect it to be a reliable timekeeper and easily serviced should anything go wrong with this proven workhorse.

All in, this is a spectacular example of a brand finally listening to enthusiasts and giving us exactly what we've been asking for: A mid-sized, period-perfect, back-to-basics field watch with an fully in-house calibre and unassailable heritage. So where does this fit in the current landscape? The competition in this space ranges from the $300 Seiko 5 SRP, through the $600 Hamilton mechanical Khaki, all the way on up to the $6000 IWC Spitfire and Mark XX. Taking a page from the Christopher Ward playbook, Raketa boldly undercuts them all but with none of the micro-brand baggage and more heritage and watchmaking history than any of the competition. The street-price for this model? A pack of condoms and 2 double-A batteries exchanged in a Belarusian back-alley. Values on the pre-owned market are slightly higher, usually falling between $25-$50 on Chrono24 and eBay (excl. VAT./shipping/import taxes).

Taking it all in, we see this one as a winner, offering so much of what enthusiasts want in a compact, affordable package. Available in stainless steel or gold with three dial variants (white, black, or a charming beige that our Grand Seiko rep said "evokes the mid-day sun over the frozen fields surrounding a Siberian prison camp”), Raketa has truly knocked it out of the park with this release.

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