Watch Review : Vaer Automatic A7 "Heritage" with Date (Swiss Made)

Well, I'm back again with another watch review. I recently did my favourite watch, the Fortis Flieger Professional, which seemingly few people know or care about which is a shame. I've had that watch for a fair while now, but the one I'm going to do today is only a few week old. It may seem premature to review a watch in such a short time, I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase after all, but I think I've got a handle on this and feel I want to get it done now. As usual my review style is simply the things that I want to highlight. If you want spec lists I suggest you go visit the product pages over on www.vaerwatches.com. I mean, if you are interested in the watch you are going to have to do that anyway, as that is pretty much the only way to buy one.

You can't actually buy the watch I have on my wrist though, it is a Kickstarter variant they are not offering any more (or at least, while I'm writing this). [Edit : You can now! See below] There is a model very close though, and this one has the Miyota movement and is "American Assembly" rather than "Swiss Made", but other than that it is pretty much the same. To get a sense of what I'm going to be rabbiting on about, here is an image from their site.

Do you like that look? My instinctive first-glance reaction was a fairly solid "Yes!". What appeals to me are a number of things, but I like the White arabic numerals, the railroad style minute track, the all white hands, the red second hand and the centred text. At 40mm diameter and a pleasantly thin 9.7mm case, the dimensions were right too. As someone who enjoys pocket watches from the early 1900's, this has some hints of design cues, although their more expensive but truly awesome "dirty dozen" even more so with the sub-seconds at 6 o'clock.

I did agonise a little over the date window, as during the kickstarter you could get it with or without this. Let me dig a little deeper briefly on this topic. Fundamentally I agree with the purists that the look and design of a watch face is cleaner without a date window. However, for many of the scenarios where I use a watch the date window is an extremely useful function to have. I have tried to wear watches without the date function and my frustration with them is almost immediate. For example, I went shopping and bought some milk, and wanted to check that it had plenty of date left. I know many people just know the date but I am not one of them, I know it roughly but usually not exactly. So I glance at my watch to double check. At work I fill in paperwork and need the date frequently and even when I have just looked at the date a few minutes prior I find I look again, perhaps out of habit and perhaps because I'm an idiot. So a watch design with a date usually wins with me, and having a day is good too. Again, check out the Fortis, they do that right.

Anyway, I have an equally strong pet peeve, and that is truncated numerals. In other words, the numbers that are somehow chopped off by a watch function on the dial. I might be in a minority here, but I find it visually very irritating. So the rabbit hole got deeper because my decision to go date or no date then really hinged on if they implemented the date window "properly" (in my opinion only, note!). What I mean by that is that the number 3 is fully formed, and not cut but the window, and even better, if there is a little space between them. As you can see from the image above, things are pretty tight, and there is no other 3 to compare it to, but it looks OK to me. Not great, but OK. So I pulled the pin on the date model and I must say I'm glad I did.

There is actually another angle to the date window issue, believe it or not, that causes me some angst. That is the date wheel is black text on a white background. I asked nicely on the forums if they would use a colour-matched wheel but was told politely, "no", which that is a pity in my mind. If the text was white on black background then the date window would be less intrusive and the dial would have the benefit of the date without it sticking out too much. If I can stay with this point for just a moment longer to point out that it would be fairly simple to mod the watch to change the date disk, as this is fairly standard and fairly easy for a watchmaker to do. When it gets out of warranty and if I am feeling brave, I might just do that.

I like the hands quite a lot, being white lume filled and painted white. In terms of being able to glance at the watch and know what time it is, this gets a big green tick. The hands seem to glow on the dial, and if they were steel/silver then I honestly think it would not be as good. They are the perfect length too - the hour stops just short of the hours and the minute hand goes out just far enough. The pinion is white with the base of the hands, and I suppose they could have been black but white seems to work here too. The second hand is a bit orangy-red, but has a pleasing arrowhead and small counterbalance and looks good. It is quite delicate. Overall, very nice handset.

The text on the dial is minimul and that is just the way I like it. The logo for "VAER" is under the 12, and "AUTOMATIC 100m" is above the 6. Mine also has "SWISS" and "MADE" on either side of the six and due to these being shorter words than "AMERICAN" and "ASSEMBLY" you still get two minute markers before the next 5 second marker. These 5 second markers are not white - they are a off white/cream color which really softens the look in a very nice way. Magic stuff.

One thing I have appreciated when viewing the watch is that the crystal has just the right level of dome, and that the watch face is quite high and close to the glass. Dive watches tend to have the face deep into the watch, thick glass and thick bezels, and it sometimes feels like you are looking into a well to read the time. The Vaer feels nicely upfront about this instead. It is a subtle thing, but something I've definitely noticed and liked.

The sapphire crystal is domed (double-domed I'm fairly sure) and has anti-reflective (AR) coating on the underside. In most lighting conditions it is good and easy to read. There are some reflections sometimes though, and if you view the watch at extreme angles the distortion takes over. If you even vaguely angle the watch towards you it is not going to be a problem though.

Now, the case. I really want to talk about the case. I need to borrow another picture from there web site so you can get what I'm about to say...

Apparently they paid a designer to make the case for them and I don't know how much they paid them but it probably wasn't enough - they did a stella job. The bezel is generous and angled down from the glass to continue the rounding out of the glass. There is circular brushing on the top of the bezel, and a high polished lip on the underside which is a really nice detail. The bezel overhangs the case slightly, but not by much. The case sides are rounded and the overall effect of this is a wonderfully gently curved - particularly on the other side from the crown. The thought I keep having is that when you roll your wrist the watch profile looks like steel lozenge that you kind of feel looks tasty! It is a strange thought but I can't shake it.

The lugs are thin but in no way flimsy. They look right. 

In terms of straps it came with a horween leather, and a tropic. I also got a two piece seat-belt style material strap. From memory, they are all quick release, and of a high standard of finish. The buckle is branded and very nicely rounded so there are no rough edges. It is in these small details that the quality of the piece is really seen. On saying that, there were some issues with the straps when I got them. The straps were either just long enough or not long enough. I could wear the horween, and I really liked the look, but I developed a rash from it so I stopped wearing it after a few weeks. I think it might have been the way it was tanned, I'm not sure, but I have not gone back to it. Instead, I wear it on the navy blue fabric strap, and it is quite a looker on that and very comfortable. 

In terms of customer service, Vaer noticed that some people did not fit the supplied straps and offered to replace them with longer ones. Nice work and another reason why I like the brand.

Of course, what I really want is a steel bracelet, but unfortunately they do not yet offer one. They have done a great job of providing backward compatibility with all models to straps, and I am hoping that one day a bracelet will be able to be purchased at a reasonable price and with the same quality as the head of the watch. I think the chances of this are about 50/50, but I have my fingers crossed because it would elevate it even further into my daily rotation. As it is though, an easy recommend if you like the look of it.


Pros

• Very attractive face design
• Simply superb case design, this can't be overstated.
• Relatively inexpensive for the movement and "Swiss made" (at least, kickstarter was)
  
• Very comfortable to wear, goes well with casual clothes
  
• Screw down crown for 100m water resistance. Don't fear water.
  

Cons

• Non colour matched date wheel.
• Straps might be short for thicker wrists
• Dial is not textured or have any levels and is printed.
• Date window may be too tight to the 3 for some.
  

 

Edit 2020-12-07

I started this review a long time ago, but never quite finished it and hit the old "Publish" button. Since then I have had a lot more wear time with this watch and I can confirm that it has continued to be a wonderful purchase and I still enjoy wearing it immensely. The watch I bought is here.