In this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at the Beaubleu Vitruve Date to see how a young watch brand performs. Can they successfully stand out from the crowd?
The watch market is full of startups and kick-starters, but if you look at any Beaubleu watch, you wouldn’t think it’s one of those microbrands. It’s a bit futuristic but still has roots in the past. Keep reading to learn more about this uniquely designed watch.
Beaubleu: The Brand
Paris has a connection with horology through great names like Breguet, Cartier, and Bell&Ross, as well as smaller brands like Baltic, Yema, ZRC.
However, Beaubleu doesn’t have much history yet. It started with a Parisian designer named Nicolas Ducoudert Pham. He launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 with the brand’s very first collection — the B01. From inception, Pham’s watches have had the distinctive characteristics which eventually became a trademark of Beaubleu.
It only took three years to shake things up a bit and come up with a new line, the Union. Now, you can pre-order a watch from their newest collection — called Vitruve.
All watches released by Beaubleu are unique and also limited editions, and every watch gets a serial number.
This kind of attitude helps to avoid overproducing, and as they say, it challenges the designer’s creativity.
Each watch has an international warranty of 2 years and a 10 years warranty for the movements. Now let’s see what a young brand from the City of Lights can offer us.
The Vitruve Collection
Just by looking at the name of the collection, several things can spring into our minds. As a matter of curiosity, Vitruve can refer to the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius, or it can be the Vitruvian Man drawn by the polymath Leonardo da Vinci.
These two connections are echoed the perfect proportions evident in the collection.
The Vitruve line is the latest release of Beaubleu, which will be delivered in September 2022. Three categories belong to this collection. One of them is the Vitruve Date which has a date display.
There are two color variants of this category — one with a grey dial and steel bracelet and the other with a deep black dial and a black leather strap.
The next one is the Vitruve Origine, regarded as a cocktail watch. It has a blue dial version with a blue leather strap and a brownish dial version on a steel bracelet.
Last but not least comes the subcollection called the Vitruve GMT. The name came from the phrase “Greenwich Mean Time.” All GMT watches, as well as Beaubleu Vitruve GMTs, are capable of showing times in different timezones. They produce this type with an inner bezel, which can be rotated with the help of one of the hidden crowns.
They will release two GMTs, a dark-green dialed one on a black leather strap, and a blue dialed one on a steel bracelet.
As we have seen, there are plenty of watches that one can choose from. However, I will mainly focus on the Vitruve Date full grey version in this review. In my opinion, this prototype can represent the rest of the collection successfully.
The Vitruve Date
A question may arise: how can I write this honest review if the Vitruve line is not released yet? I had the honor to get a Vitruve Date prototype to test and write about for you.
My initial thoughts totally covered what they wrote on the website. “The Vitruve Date appears to be sculpted from a single block of steel.” That’s the first thing I noticed (and felt) before I got lost in the details. Let’s continue with the specifications.
Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of the Beaubleu Vitruve date watch:
Pros
- uniqueness
- high quality
- packaging
Cons
- high cost
- hard to read the time quickly
Read on for the full review.
Dimensions
The diameter of the watch is 39 mm, but with the wide bezel, it looks smaller. That’s why they refer to Beaubleu watches as universal — suiting both slender and also bigger wrists.
The lug to lug size is 45 mm, and because of the bracelet, it has a jellyfish shape from the side; thus, it makes the watch wear bigger.
I’m sure that swapping out the band for a leather strap would make the watch fit better on any wrist. While on the subject, the lug width is 20 mm, and the watch is slim, at a height of 9.6 mm.
It’s a small watch, and the style is also unisex, so it reaches a wide audience.
Case and Crystal
The stainless steel case has an extraordinary design. The bezel has a nice brushed finish, while the sides are polished. The skeletonized lugs wrap the case contributing to an overall appearance that radiates bohemian and futuristic vibes at the same time.
The shiny sides are compensated with the anti-reflection sapphire glass. (It’s not anti-reflectent on the prototype.)
The watch can withstand 3 ATM pressure, so it’s more “splash-proof” than waterproof. This means that while you shouldn’t immerse it in water, it’ll be ok to wear when washing your hands and in light rain.
Dial and Hands
The dial is brushed and matches the bezel nicely.
There are applied circular indexes on this model and printed hour markers from 3 to 10, and there is the Beaubleu trademark on the remaining 11-2. The dial also contains a painted logo, an “Automatic” and “Paris” inscription.
While that’s a lot of characters to squeeze into a small space, the fonts were cleverly designed as to keep in line with the minimal aesthetic. There is also a date display at 6 o’clock. The date wheel is not the average and boring black on white because the numbers are white, while the background is blue.
Next, let’s move on to the hands, which are, in my opinion, the most outstanding part of Beaubleu watches.
The first thing that came to my mind when I first saw this watch was that it reminds me of the vintage Raketa Kopernikus, which also had circular hands. Upon closer inspection, Beaubleu has a bit different background.
The round hands, which are the most eye-catching details on the watch, were inspired by the work of the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei.
I’m sure it takes some time for everybody to get used to this type of time display. Let me give you a pointer (no pun intended) — at the top of the hands there is a little bump that you can use as a pointer to tell you the exact time.
Movement
The heart of the watch is a Miyota 9015, an automatic movement with 24 jewels. It has the Parashock anti-shock system and 42 hours of power reserve. Zelos, Boldr and Lum-Tec brands also use the caliber 9015.
The movement is also well-decorated with some kind of Côtes de Genève. There is also an updated datewheel.
I should also mention that the blue background also matches the blue minute hand, which is a nice touch. You can admire the heart of the watch through a display caseback.
Strap
You have the can choose either a leather strap, or a steel bracelet. The watch with the strap costs 820 euros, while the watch on a bracelet costs 950 euros.
I could wear it on the steel ribbon bracelet. It is a semi-integrated steel strap that wraps around the wrist delicately while doesn’t catch the hair.
According to their promise, the straps will arrive with a quick-release system, so it will be easy to dress up or down the watch.
The Verdict
To sum up my experience with the Beaubleu Vitruve Date: the watch is high quality and fits on my 17.5 cm (6.9 inches) wrist well.
It’s not the most practical watch on the market because every time I tried to read the time, it made me confused for a second. Despite that, the whole watch makes me smile because it’s funky and sporty-elegant. It’s not an everyday piece per se, but I could wear it every day 😉.
Questions? Comments? Leave them below!
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