First Look: The Brooklyn Gent from Carpenter Watches

The Brooklyn Gent is the long overdue sophomore release from Carpenter Watches, a Brooklyn-based micro that hit the ground running way back in 2015 with their first watch, the Brooklyn Field. Whereas the Field took its namesake to heart, the Gent (I’m dropping “Brooklyn” for simplicity’s sake) goes for a more classic aesthetic—one that straddles dress and everyday-sportiness with ease.

The Gent’s stainless steel case (as shown here) measures 38 millimeters across and features a mix of brushed and polished surfaces. Though we only had the steel version on-hand to briefly check out, also available is a solid bronze variant that’s quite eye-catching, and it’s arguably the more interesting of the two case options. Instead of sapphire, the watch is fitted with a high-dome acrylic crystal, which you’re either going to love or hate (I’m in the pro-acrylic camp). The oversized crown at three screws-down, and the movement, an ETA 2824-2, is visible through a sapphire display around back.

My one knock against the Gent is its water-resistance rating, which is just 5 ATM. When I look at the Gent, I see it as the sort of watch one should be able to wear daily—a go-anywhere, do-anything type of piece. But 5 ATM is not enough to take the watch into the water, so that’s a bit of a letdown.

The Gent is available in four primary setups. There’s the silvery sunburst version you see here with matching indices and hands, and there’s also a version with the same dial color, but with indices and hands that match the bronze case option. Similarly, there’s also a black sunburst variant with silver indices and hands, and another one with indices and hands to match a bronze case. As it stands, you cannot get a Gent with silver-toned indices and hands in a bronze case.The dial layout of the Gent is relatively straightforward, with applied markers at every hour and printed Arabic numerals at every five-minute interval, printed hash marks for the remaining minutes, a circular date with a metallic frame at three, and simple lumed sticks for the hour/minute hand and an arrow-tipped needle for the second hand. The balance here is actually quite nice, and I even like the date window at three, which somehow manages not to intrude on the symmetry of the dial the way other date windows often do.

You can get the Gent on either a leather strap (brown or black) for $825, or on a  matching bracelet for $895. The bracelet is a simple oyster style with center-polished links, solid end-links, and a butterfly deployant. There is no bracelet option for the bronze-cased variants.

All in all, the Gent is a handsome, classically-styled watch that should make do as a daily driver. As I noted above, the biggest shortcoming is the water-resistance, and some might balk at the acrylic crystal for the asking price, but altogether it’s a neat little package from Carpenter Watches. Carpenter Watches