Archimede Recreates Subtle Vintage Dress Watch Style with the New 1950-2 Two Tone

We’re pretty big fans of Archimede here at Worn & Wound, and we tend to cover their tool watches pretty closely. But if you associate the brand primarily with their Outdoor line, or the iconic pilot’s watches they’ve been producing for years, you’re missing out on some pretty interesting stuff. With a reputation for pure tool watches made from tough Ickler cases, Archimede’s dressier options can easily get lost in the shuffle, which is a shame, because they’re made to the same high manufacturing standards as the sports pieces, and offer a vintage inspired dress watch style that is undeniably appealing. Let’s take a closer look at the just announced 1950-2 Two Tone, a new addition to the brand’s line of 1950s inspired dress watches.

Archimede 1950-2 Two Tone 

• Case Material: Stainless steel
• Dial: Black, silver
• Dimensions: 40 x 9.8 x 44mm
• Crystal: Sapphire   
• Water Resistance: 3 ATM 
• Crown: Push/pull         
• Movement: Sellita SW 200-1, Sellita SW 215
• Strap/bracelet: Leather, Stainless steel mesh
• Price: $692 – $816
• Reference Number: n/a
• Expected Release: Available now

Archimede’s 1950’s line uses not just dress watch aesthetics from the decade as inspiration, but watch construction as well. During this time period, it was common to design watches with curved dials and hands to create the illusion of thinness on the wrist. This also aided in legibility, as the curves of the time telling elements could be matched to the often dramatic curve of the plastic crystals that were ubiquitous at the time. If you’ve handled a watch from the 50s with this type of design, you likely understand the inherent charm associated with it. It’s a way of making something that has been completely outpaced by new manufacturing methods and materials, and is one of the things that really makes “vintage” watches feel vintage.

The Two Tone moniker Archimde has used here is a bit misleading – the cases are all made of stainless steel (and by Ickler, naturally), but the numerals and hands have been given the gold treatment for the first time since the 1950’s line debuted. It’s such a natural choice, it’s almost hard to believe that it hadn’t been done before, but here we are. 

In addition to the gold dial accents, Archimede has made other design choices to play up the vintage feel of the watch. The dial, of course, is subtly curved, as is the sapphire crystal (previous entries in the 1950’s line had acrylic crystals as an option, but it appears the Two Tone is sapphire only). The crown has been designed in a slim style that is also right out of the 50s, as are the dauphine, faceted hands, and triangular hour markers. And if you really want that mid-century vibe, the 1950-2 Two Tone can be ordered on a straight link, Milanese mesh bracelet. 

While on paper there’s a lot of vintage design happening here, the case is a very modern 40mm in diameter. Lug-to-lug length, however, is a modest 44mm thanks to the very short lugs. I would expect this case to wear smaller than a typical 40mm case would, but it’s certainly a bit larger than the 50s heritage would suggest. For folks with larger wrists who are interested in this style but just can’t envision inching closer to true vintage size, the 1950-2 might be a nice fit.

As an upgrade, Archimede is also offering the Two Tone with a hand wound movement (a Sellita SW 215). While an automatic movement offers a certain level of convenience for those of us who rotate through a collection of watches, the hand wound feels like the way to go on a 1950s inspired dress watch. Two dial colors are available, black and silver, both with a matte finish. 

The Two Tone starts at about $692 on a strap, after currency conversion, with the bracelet version selling for roughly $750. Upgrading to the hand wound movement will run another $66. The 1950-2 Two Tone is available now on the Archimede website. Archimede