Rose Anniversary

[Rdenney]

Our favorite salesperson at the Movado Store is leaving today, and we got one last Labor Day sale deal before reducing our visitation there dramatically. And this month is our 15th anniversary. We carefully consulted experts (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_anniversary) and discovered that watches are considered the official gift for this particular occasion. I am not making this up. The material signifying this anniversary is crystal, as it happens.

It gets even better. The official flower gift is the rose. Yes, you read that right. No, I am not making this up.

So, with no recourse but to move a bit closer to financial ruin, my wife found herself working it out with our favorite salesperson, and well, what are you gonna do?

She selected a titanium and rose gold Concord C1 Chronograph for me, and a stunning steel and rose gold (plus a veritable plethora of diamonds) Ebel Brasilia Grande for herself. I was out of state when this plan was hatched, and was also out of state on the actual day of our anniversary. So, on Wednesday, I started getting text messages.



Now, I'm standing in front of a class of engineers and technicians and had to keep my mind on what I was doing. But it wasn't easy!

This Concord is recent, and it is in the current catalog.

This one has a tiny flaw, which is why it found its way into the Movado Company Store. The result was that this $17,000 was priced where it was within reach, and I mean better than any discount I've ever seen even at those stores (or on the gray market, for that matter). But it comes, of course, with a full factory warranty.





The case is 47mm, and 15.1mm thick, so it's size makes me glad I have a big wrist. It's slightly larger and more curvaceous than the first C1. The body of the case is Grade 5 titanium with a black PVD coating, and the substantial bezel is rose gold with a titanium band to hold the crystal. The crenellations are polished and everything else is brushed or bead-blasted. The pushers are ceramic, as is the crown insert. Black and rose gold really make a fetching combination.



The dial is particularly noteworthy. The guilloche is a pattern of rounded rectangles (drawn from the Concord "C") that are radially brushed on the tops. The subdials mimic the octagonal shape of the bezel, and are rose gold. The date window is a Concord "C" in gold.



The strap is similar in design to the first C1, attached to the side of the case with screws rather than using lugs. Without lugs, this massive watch will fit even moderate wrists.



The strap material is a rubber base sandwiched with matte-finish alligator. As such, it is a little richer than all rubber but just as durable, as long as you don't swim in it. But the watch can swim if you don't mind sacrificing the alligator--it is rated at 20 atmospheres. The watch is remarkably comfortable to wear, and not nearly as heavy as it looks.



The movement is an ETA Valgranges A07.211, which is a 16''' version of the 7750, I suspect finished by La Joux Perret to a very high standard. No, the movement is not haute horlogerie, but these days etablisseurs don't have a lot of choices. Concord makes a few thousand of these a year, and I'd rather have this movement than something built by a secret contractor and marketed as in-house, which happens all too frequently. The AP ROO, which is in a similar vein, has the high-end movement (at least it does now), but at a vastly higher price.

Here's the back (forgive the dust):





And the excellent deployant:



The C1 in general and this one in particular makes a big statement, and it's unquestionably showy. I would not wear it in all circumstances. There was a time I derided these watches, and thought them a poor substitute for, say, a Hublot. But, in truth, this compares beautifully with Hublot, but without being called "Big Bang". Concord needed a Biver, I guess, to makes these concepts work in the market, but I don't mind wearing something with just about zero probability of seeing it on someone else's wrist, even at a WIS get-together.

And what could be better for the Crystal-Rose-Watch anniversary?

Rick "gonna be wearing this a lot" Denney