Nezumi Studios Celebrates 10 Years With The Voiture VM1S Mechanical Chronograph

The first watch to ever come out of the Stockholm based design house Nezumi Studios was the Nezumi Voiture, a 24 hour chronograph inspired by the distinctive aesthetic of racing chronographs from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Nezumi Studios founder, David Campo Cardenes, a vintage car enthusiast himself, used this as inspiration for his first watch which would come in the form of a vintage chronograph designed with automotive cues. Even the name Voiture embodies the automotive spirit as it translates to Car, from French to English. Since 2015, the Nezumi Voiture has maintained its form and meca-quartz movement, but the latter changes today as the Voiture gets a motor overhaul. Nezumi Studios celebrates its 10 year anniversary with the Voiture VM1S; the same design that we’ve come to appreciate with a mechanical movement.

The Nezumi Voiture VM1S comes in three different color ways which are similar to those found within the VQ2 collection which Zach Weiss reviewed back in 2016. With the Voiture VM1S, you have your choice between a cream dial with matching sub registers at three and nine, and a black sub register at six, a black dial with the same features but reversed, and a blue dial with cream sub registers all around. The major highlight for the VM1S is that it now sports the Sellita SW510 Mb manual wound movement. A cam operated chronograph with no date and equipped with a 58 power reserve, the Sellita SW510 Mb is the perfect match for the Voiture VM1S without sacrificing the original design and case construction.

The sub register layout on the dial changes up a bit with the VM1S. Starting at three o’clock, the VM1S displays the 30-minute counter sub register, then a 12-hour sub register at six and at nine o’clock, a running 60-seconds sub register. The VM1S still maintains the legible dial design with the horizontal hourglass color block that contrasts and highlights the sub registers within. The orange seconds hand with the hallmark “N” at the tailend also pops against the background color of the dial.

Staying true to the Voiture design and automotive inspiration, a fixed external tachymeter bezel encircles the VM1S and the “10th Anniversary” aligns nicely with the tachymeter numerals and isn’t obtrusive to the overall bezel display. I’m still warming up to chronographs, and I think what puts me off are the occasional pushers that stick out way more than they should. Fortunately, the pushers on the Voiture VM1S appear to be svelte with a compact cylinder atop a more slender one,  and are proportioned nicely (for me at least) with the case. Nezumi has also ditched the racing leather strap for a jubilee bracelet that secures to the wrist via a flip lock clasp. As I’ve said in previous articles, I’m a steel bracelet guy at heart, and if you are as well, then I’m sure this will just check one of the many boxes that have already been checked with the Voiture VM1S.

After the conversion, the Nezumi Voiture VM1S comes with a price tag of $1,524 and that excludes VAT. That easily makes the VM1S the priciest watch out of their catalog and definitely is a ways from the VQ2 chronograph (which comes with the Seiko VK64 meca-quartz movement) price tag of $325. Now that being said, let’s take a quick look at other chronographs out there that use the Sellita SW510 movement and their listing prices: The Farer Moritz listed at $1,848, the Massena Lab Racer at $3,495 and the Oris Diver Sixty Five Chrono at $4,250. That might make the picture a bit clearer if you’re keen on the Nezumi Voiture VM1S but hesitant because of the price. Head on over to Nezumi Studios to check out their latest offering and the rest of their line up. Nezumi