Latest Review
Over the last three years or so, as the idea of the “micro indie” has gained steam in our hobby, SpaceOne has been on the bleeding edge of this movement. Their first two releases perfectly capture every element of what we love about this type of watchmaking: inventive case designs, clever movements, the interesting use of materials, and, importantly, a price point that welcomes enthusiasts rather than shutting them out. The Jump Hour and Tellurium impressed on these fronts and more, and the brand’s third release, a worldtimer that they’ve been quietly showing to clients and press over the last few months, continues the brand’s impressive run, and cements their status as a leading indie brand, micro or otherwise.
The new SpaceOne WorldTimer once again pairs watchmaker Theo Auffret with designer Olivier Gamiette. The case has an oblong shape that’s somewhat reminiscent (in broad strokes, at least) of their Jump Hour debut, but is quite a bit more complex. It mixes sci-fi, spaceship influences with subtle automotive design influences, and a multi-window display that will make some fans of independent watchmaking think of names like Vianney Halter and other similarly adventurous icons of the contemporary indie scene.
This is one of those watches that no matter how experienced you are with these things, it kind of needs to be “taught” on some level, but once you understand what you’re looking at, it’s fairly intuitive. Here’s how it works. In a move that reminds me of Ressence, SpaceOne has basically eliminated traditional hands for an array of rotating discs. Unlike Ressence, these discs are decoupled as opposed to being integrated together. At the 3:00 position we have a minutes disc with a running seconds disc set in its interior. At 6:00, a 12 hour disc reads the current (local) hour. And the large display at 9:00 features the world time complication, with a rotating 24 hour disc and cities disc capable of showing the current time in cities and time zones all over the world.
SpaceOne tells us that the world timer complication has been developed in-house with an assist, of course, from Auffret, who has collaborated with the brand on each of the past two SpaceOne releases. The base movement here is an automatic Soprod P024, and the custom world time module is assembled in France. SpaceOne notes that the setting system has been optimized for ease of use by the owner: the movement can be wound from the first position, the second position is for rapid adjustment of the city disc, and the third position adjusts the 12 hour and 24 hour discs simultaneously.
The unusual case, which of course is a completely custom design for SpaceOne, is crafted from grade 5 titanium. It measures 15.88mm tall, 52.7mm long, and 41.9mm lug to lug. Obviously, these numbers are somewhat difficult to wrap your arms around considering the strange case shape. It’s certainly “big” but it has a certain ergonomic quality to it that you simply have to experience for yourself to determine if the dimensions work on your wrist. It’s hard to think of a watch that has a comparable wearing experience. I will say that when I tried it on in Geneva earlier this year, it didn’t wear particularly well on my right wrist (I’m a lefty) but felt fine on my left wrist. Obviously, your mileage may vary.
The new SpaceOne WorldTimer has a retail price of 2,700 Euros, and will go on sale beginning June 26. A first batch of 600 pieces is expected to be delivered before the end of the year. SpaceOne
