For this year, the German watchmaker has presented a revised version of its last year’s “deck” timepiece, which is now aptly named Archimede Deck Watch R. Initially introduced early last year as a prototype, the original was inspired by the famous (at least, among serious collectors) Stowa Kriegsmarine maritime chronometer used by the German Navy during World War II.
Perhaps, the German brand’s owner decided that the watch was too blatant a copy of strongly influenced by the original and decided to replace the Arabic numerals with Roman digits.
Although the watch became slightly less legible, the choice was nevertheless historically justified, since there were a number of deck timekeepers that were, too, equipped with dials with Roman numerals printed on them (like, say, the British EMT Deck.)
For those not familiar with the concept, I can tell that a deck watch was used as an auxiliary timekeeper that had to be synchronized on a daily basis with the “big” chronometer of a ship. Much more compact than the huge chronometers, it was still a very, very accurate watch.
Well, it must be noted that the new Archimede Deck Watch R (as you may have already guessed, “R” is for “Roman”) is not a chronometer.
The watch sports a standard grade ETA Unitas 6498 hand-wound movement. First introduced in the 1950s, these units are slowly getting out of circulation. There are still a few watchmaking companies that keep using them for their hand-wound watches. The list is not very long, but it includes brands like Chr. Ward C8 with its original Regulator Pilot, Eberhard & Co. with the 2014 vintage-styled Traversetolo Ambri Piotta, and even Tissot that decided to use it as a source of power for its Heritage 1936 Hand-Wound collection from 2016.
The movement is encased inside a compact stainless steel body 42 millimeters in diameter and around 10.5 mm in height. Like the last year’s model, this one, too, offers an interesting to admire the combination of polished and satin-finished surfaces.
Another drawback also has something to do with the caliber.
Perfectly visible through a transparent mineral glass that covers the case back, the movement comes completely undecorated, and, believe me, there is nothing to look at when it comes to a standard-grade Unitas 6498: there is just too much of dull, cheap-looking metal there for an average eye to be pleased.
The good news is that the timekeeper offers a well-balanced dial layout with lots of breathing space between the numerals and the other elements of design. And that’s the dial that you will see most of the time.
Supplied with either a silvered or black dial, the watch sports blue, and white hands respectively, both sets looking contrast on their backgrounds.
Of course, it would be nice to see the watch feature a luminous dial, as the original did, thus compensating for the lack of lume on the hands and the hour markers. However, the Deck Watch R is designed as a vintage-styled dress watch, so the absence of Superluminova is not a serious problem. I mean, who needs lume when you got a face like this?
WWR Verdict
Originality 4/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Overall Legibility: 5/5
Nighttime Legibility: 1/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Photos: Archimede
Archimede Deck Watch R UA7952 specification
Price: €475 (MSRP, incl. European VAT)
Movement: Hand-wound, ETA Unitas 6498, 17 jewels, Swiss Made
- Frequency: 18,000 vph
- Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds
- Power reserve: 46 hours
Case: Stainless steel
Shape: Round
Size: 42.00 mm
Case height: 10.50 mm
Dial: Silvered or Black
Numerals: Roman
Hour markers: Black or White
Hands: Blue or White
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Black or brown leather strap with a steel pin buckle (a deployant clasp adds €40 to the grand total)
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective on both sides
Back: Transparent, mineral glass