In watchmaking, as some may say of life, being noticed is everything. Standing out from the crowd can make all the difference. But, as I’m sure you’ll all remember from school, being noticed, being known, is not necessarily the same as being popular.
Every classroom has its clown. It may have been you. I’m equally pleased and embarrassed to say mine was occasionally me. And when I think back on those days and the highlights of my brief stand-up career, I remember the reactions of my peers more than anything. Sometimes they would go along with the joke, and I’d go home on top of the world, and other times, my hijinks would be greeted with stoney-faced disapproval. So why was that the case? Why did effectively the same thing sire two completely different reactions (and all shades thereof between)?
I thought perhaps it might just have come down to the “product”. Were my jokes funny or not? But I’m not convinced that was it (mostly, because I’m not convinced any of my jokes were funny). In seriousness, however, I think it comes down not to the nature of the product, but rather its utility.
The question is not what the product is, but rather what did my fooling around do for my classmates. Did it create a welcome distraction from a lesson none were keen to learn, or did it interrupt the delineation of essential information pertaining to an onrushing exam, for example?
All of this popped into my head while studying the Xeric Timeline Retrograde. It’s an eye-catching watch but in a different way from the brand’s previous fare. This watch is an evolution. It’s a step forward. It’s the next generation of Xeric, and I am all for it.
Xeric has always had a knack for grabbing attention without damaging sales. It’s not a skill that’s easy to define. Of course, outlandish case shapes, wild colours, or funky materials can help arrest a browser’s gaze, but unless these things are applied with a modicum of maturity, the product won’t be likely to sell.
What the brand has done effectively in the past is to anchor every product in some sense of normality. The madder cases (like the Vendetta X) got more pared-back displays; meanwhile, the basic case silhouettes (like the Halo II or the Trappist-1) got the tastier dial designs. And it is in this delicate balance that the product’s utility, and perhaps the root of its popularity thus far, can be found.
Xeric is an affordable brand that allows lower-budget buyers to make the same kind of relative statement to their peers that MB&F owners are able to make to theirs. However, the big difference between the buyers’ approach to these pieces is that the MB&F is almost certainly less of an investment for its buyer to make than a Xeric is (relatively speaking). Therefore, the utility of the watch changes. It must be able to be both things at once. It must be able to scream and whisper. It can’t be too out there. It needs to be everything at once.
That’s exactly what we have with the Timeline Retrograde. It is without a doubt in my humble opinion, the best watch the brand has ever made. It isn’t the most alarming or extravagant or perhaps even ambitious, but it is the most mature, wearable, and timeless of the bunch.
Double retrograde movements are rare. They had a brief window of popularity in the ‘60s and ‘70s but never really caught on. This example is powered by a heavily modified Miyota 9015 and displays the passing hours (0–12) and minutes (0–60) on the lefthand side of the dial. A magnified date window (super cool touch) sits between the curved hour and the minute tracks on the righthand side of the display.
A brief explanation of a retrograde function: normally, in watchmaking, everything moves in circles. Sometimes, we like things to move in lines. A retrograde (which derives from the Latin word “retrogradus”, which means “going backwards”) function, allows information to be communicated lineally by an indicator that immediately snaps back to “zero” once its journey to the end of whatever line it was travelling upon is complete.
The information presented on this watch is clean clear, and a thing of beauty to behold. And the fact it comes in a case shape and on a bracelet that looks more than a little familiar to those of us who follow German watchmaking is actually even better…
Of course, it could just be a coincidence, but if you don’t see the case shape and bracelet of the Glashütte Original Seventies collection in this Xeric Timeline Retrograde, you definitely need your eyes testing.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that it leaps out to me, given the Glashütte Original Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date in vibing orange is my favourite and most worn watch I own. It’s fair to reason that I might have one or two negative things to say about such a retread, but here, thanks to the genuine value added by the complication, I’m strangely at peace with it. In fact, given how much I clearly adore the form, I’m kind of thrilled there’s another watch out there with it. Is it as good as the GO? No. It doesn’t even threaten it. Is it sufficiently good enough on its own merit for me, an owner of the GO to buy one? Absolutely, it is.
The size too is pleasing. At 38 mm wide and 12 mm thick, it lands squarely in the sweet spot for a square watch with heavily rounded corners (it’ll look a bit more like a 42 but won’t feel it thanks to the stout 47 mm lug-to-lug). This watch will be limited to just 999 pieces per colour and available for preorder pricing of $699–749 on Kickstarter with a final retail price of $1199. It is water resistant to 50 meters (with a pull-out crown) and comes with a two-year international warranty.
Xeric Timeline Retrograde
Technical Specifications -
- MOVEMENT: Xeric Caliber X5.1 Automatic customized from a Miyota 9015
- CASE MATERIAL: 316L Stainless Steel
- CASE SIZE (mm): 38.0
- CASE THICKNESS (mm): 12.5
- LUG TO LUG (mm): 47.0
- CRYSTAL: Anti-reflective sapphire glass
- INDEX & LUMINOUS: Applied Index With Lume
- CROWN TYPE: Pull Out
- BAND: 316L Stainless Steel
- WATER RESISTANCE: 5 ATM
- WATCH WEIGHT (g): 160
- WARRANTY: 24 Month International Warranty
