Tag Archives: piers berry

Pinion Neutron – 38mm

For me Pinion Watches are one of the “original” British watch brands, one of the first of this re-birth of so many British brands, I first met Piers Berry at the Salon QP in 2013. Piers was a pioneer especially with his early use of bronze watch cases. Followers of my Instagram feed will have noticed my personal Pinion Pure Bronze.

Pinion have quietly developed a range of sturdy military inspired watches with a variety of new and NOS movements. All of the watches are immediately identifiable as Pinion through their distinctive desgn elements. Which with the exception of the 39mm Atom all featured a 42mm case.

With the new Neutron Pinion they break this tradition with their smallest case size yet at 38mm. The main feature of the dial is a guilloche pattern, with the outer edge in a circular brushed finish. This is then electroplated to achieve the dial colouring (black, blue, dusty pink). Raised numerals are machined in brass, polished then electroplated in nickel (silver) before being applied by hand to the dial. The batons are in a contrasting radium hue and are printed and applied with SuperLuminova. The hands are diamond-cut brass in a polished finish. The hour and minute hands also highlight a subtle etched groove in a contrasting matt finish running along their centre. The hands are nickel (silver) plated and filled with Superluminova.


The watch uses the super reliable ETA 2824-2 movement, each movement is regulated by Pinion’s watchmaking team in England over 5 days / 5 positions to a minimum of +/- 5 seconds variation a day to ensure it remains accurate.


Then, a really nice personal touch the Neutron features a circular brushed steel case backthat is engraved and numbered. Now that all engraving is undertaken in-house, means that the watch can be personalised by each customer to include a memorable
date, name or phrase at no extra cost.

All three versions ( Black, Blue & Dusty Pink) of the Neutron is available for order at Pinions website for £ 1,200 (inc V.A.T.)

Specifications

MOVEMENT Automatic Swiss made ETA 2824-2.
25 Jewels.
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour.
38-hour power reserve.
Regulated in-house over 5 days / 5
positions to a of +/- 5 to +/- 10 seconds
variation a day
CASE Stainless steel. Brushed finish.
ø38mm (excl. crown) / 11mm height.
Stainless steel crown with Pinion motif.
Solid steel case back, engraved and
numbered.
GLASS Domed sapphire crystal with antireflective
coating (inside only).
DIAL Electroplated with circular brushed finish.
Polished applied numerals.
Central guilloche decoration.
Batons printed with Superluminova®
coating.
HANDS Coated brass hands in polished finish with
contrasting etched groove (hour, minutes)
Filled with Superluminova® (hour,
minutes, seconds).
WATER
RESISTANCE
10 ATM, 100 metres.
STRAPS 20mm leather strap with 18mm Pinion
steel buckle.
20mm Nylon one-piece strap with steel
hardware.

Pinion Atom 39

For those of you not on the Pinion mailing list I thought I should highlight the latest news from one of my favourite brands. The announcement of the latest version of the Atom.

Black & white Atom 39mm

I only know what I have read on the press releases. The new watch is the result of a Pinion asking enthusiasts and collectors what they would like to see in a new Atom. As a result I am pleased to see that Piers Berry, the Pinion founder and designer, has gone for a smaller 39mm case size and, despite the cost advantage offered by a Japanese movement, chosen a Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic movement.  He has come up with an individual looking modern tool watch, that clearly shows its Pinion DNA.

The watches will be produced in batches of 50 the first being available in February 2019 for £1050. The price will then increase to £1150.

So sign up for one quickly here on Pinion’s website

Personally, I am looking forward very much to seeing one of these watches in the steel.

Pinion Atom

For a couple of months I have been the proud owner of a rare first series Pinion Atom, which are now no longer  available. For those of you not familiar with the Atom, it is the first watch from Pinion to use a Japanese Miyota movement.

Pinion Atom

At £790, this watch offered a lower entry price than that usually associated with Pinion, whilst maintaining many of the qualities and design elements for which the brand has become known .

As the owner of a Pinion Pure Bronze I was very keen to compare the two watches.

Next to the Pure the obvious difference is the case material and size. The Atom having a 41mm bead  blasted steel case. Then their is the movement, the Miyota 9015 being an automatic. The Atom case is slightly shorter than the Pure and has 20mm lugs rather than 22mm. Despite these differences the two watches are very clearly from the same parents.  Which given the price difference is by no means a small achievement.

Pure & Atom

Pure & Atom profiles

I am a big fan of manual movements, I am attracted to the apparent simplicity and the ritual of winding the watch in the morning. So initially hearing the movement of the automatic rotor in the Atom was a little disconcerting. I have seen other reviews mentioning this, but once I compared the Atom to other watches in my collection in particular a Seiko 5 it is fair to say “they all do it”.

The other difference to many of my watches is the date window. This is a feature I personally unnecessarily clutters the dial, as without the aid of glasses I am usually unable to read.

So getting these minor gripes over with I would like to cover the overall experience of living with the Atom. The dominant feature is clearly the beautifully finished  black dial  with a gillouched machined centre and the sword hands, This shape hands being a first from Pinion . The detailing belies the apparent simplicity of this field watch style dial, with numerals in the Pinion style and the two different levels of black. The small date window placed above the 6, the numerals of the date wheel also use the same Pinion font. Details that become evident if you give this watch more than a quick glance. Finally, for those with very good eyesight the word England appears beneath the six.

The 41mm bead blasted steel case that possibly represents a new direction for Pinion. The Atom being the first to feature bead blasting. This has now been followed by the Atom ND, and the recently announced TT (Twin Time). In my hands this finished has proved to be very resilient. I use this watch as my “doing things” watch and there are still now signs of scratches or blemishes of any kind. The lugs are the now almost standard 20mm which is a godsend for habitual strap swappers like myself, although I wondered whether a slightly larger 22mm might not have suited the watch a little better.

Atom on sand Nato

For anyone who dedicate less time to strap switching than me this watch was supplied with a lovely  rugged brown leather strap with a neat looking branded buckle which rather than the more usual spring bars is attached with little screws.

Atom on original strap

Turning the watch over you find a solid case back. I have never been a fan of display backs, especially on tool watches. As you see the Atom case back is tastefully decorated with an Atomic design.

Atom Case Back

Then should you need any more convincing that this is a practical watch, instead of coming in a beautifully designed box, for which you have to find cupboard space for, it comes in a beautiful handmade  watch roll.

Pinion Watch Roll

I think Pinion have managed to pull off nicely the idea of a well designed and finished watch at a lower cost. It will be very  interesting  to see where this watch leads. As mentioned above we have already seen some indications of this direction with announcement of the TT and the short run of Atom NDs (No date).

Pinion TT Available

Sorry for the blatant lift from the Pinion website but I wanted to post the availability of Pinion’s latest watch the “TT – Twin Time” as soon as possible.  Pinion have managed to produce a great looking titanium watch, a material that I am usually not too keen on for some unknown reason.

Pinion TT Maroon

Pinion TT

The Pinion TT (Two Time-zones) is a 42mm titanium GMT watch with dual time-zone functionality and powered by a Swiss automatic movement.

The Pinion TT is available in two dial variants: Maroon and Anthracite, with each titanium GMT watch feature a contrasting colour scheme and central seconds hand. On both models, a second time-zone is indicated by a beau-blue coloured GMT hand that can be configured to point at the 24-hour numerals on the dial.

The 42mm case is manufactured from titanium which makes the watch around 25% lighter than its steel equivalent ( Axis II Steel ) yet titanium is stronger than steel and features a distinctive grey hue colouring in a brushed/satin finish.

As with previous watches in the Pinion collection, such as the Pure and R-1969, the Pinion TT watch features applied typographic numerals that are raised above the base of the dial. Because of this, the design of the 24 hour GMT hand features a curve to allow it to pass these numerals.

At the heart of the titanium gmt watch is a Swiss made automatic movement, ETA 2893-2 that provides reliable and accurate timekeeping. The decorated movement and Pinion beau-blue winding rotor are visible through the glass exhibition case back on the reverse.

As with all Pinion watches, the TT is water resistant to 100 metres depth; it is finished, assembled and tested by experienced watchmakers in England.

I am looking forward to seeing these watches in the metal

New Pinion Atom – the ND

Atom ND – No date

The original batch of Pinion’s entry level watch should by now all be sold. For anyone that was not able to get hold of one all is not lost I recently received a newsletter announcing a release of a further 30 Atoms, These watches will differ slightly from the original principally by not having a date window. a feature that will not be missed by those of us who have difficulty in reading date windows on the vast majority of watches. As you will see the dial design will also be  returning to the familiar Pinion use of only 12,3,6 and 9 numbers.

Whilst I am writing about this new watch I thought it might also be a great opportunity to reflect on my experiences with my original  Atom.

This watch has now become my goto “doing things” watch. It enables me to wear a British watch in riskier situations than  would feel comfortable with other watches. It has effectively taken the place of my Hamilton Khaki that previously filled that role. The Atom is suited to this use for several reasons. It has 10 ATM water resistance, the case is slim so less likely to be bashed and of course the bullet proof Miyota automatic movement. Japanese automatic movements have always given me the idea they can take more punishment than their European cousins.

Original leather strap and buckle

For the summer and to increase the “doing things” suitability I have chosen to swap the really nice original strap with its great buckle with a variety of fabric straps. Although this strap is too nice not to return in the autumn.

Atom on sand Nato

Atom on Grey Nato

Below is my current favorite, a green MN from Erika’s Originals, The elasticity and the absence of the need to “fold back” making these straps for me the “thinking man’s” nato.

Atom & MN Strap

With these comments I am maybe getting my blog entries in the wrong order, a proper review of the original Atom should have come first. Be sure I am onto it.

Just in case you cannot wait here are the essential details of the original Atom.

Watch features

  • Automatic Japanese mechanical movement
  • Time in hours, minutes
  • Hacking seconds
  • Date display
  • Push in crown
  • Stainless steel case back, engraved
  • 20mm Handmade leather strap ( in various options ).

Movement

  • Japanese Miyota 9015
  • Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
  • Jewels: 24
  • Power reserve: 42 hours
  • Winding: Automatic / self-winding

Watch

  • Case: 316L Stainless steel, matt bead-blasted finish
  • Glass: Sapphire, convex with anti-reflective coating on the inside
  • Water resistance: 10AT (100 metres)
  • Diameter: 41mm excluding crown
  • Case height: 10.5mm
  • Total watch height ( Lug to lug ends ): 50mm

Pinion Atom

I have been waiting for what seems like for ever for the latest watch from Pinion, the entry level Atom, to become available.

Pinion Atom

You might remember I first saw this watch at the Watchmakers Club event before last year’s Salon QP.  I was looking forward to getting my hands on one for a review.

Then  last week an e-mail arrives from Pinion announcing there were only 20 watches left and once these were gone that was it, or at least until Piers  Berry, the founder, changes his mind. So that was it, no watch for me to review.

Salon QP, a more significant watch magazine than my blog, did however manage to get hold of one for review. So I thought I would flag this up to any of you that might not have seen it.

So here is a link to  to their review.

Hopefully, I will get a chance at the future new watches Mr Berry is hinting at.

 

 

 

Pinion – future hint

Due to the usual real life commitments common at this time of year I have had little chance to think of anything in particular to feature this week.

Axis Pure – before my holiday

There are however two pieces of news I think is definitely worth mentioning appeared in the latest Pinion newsletter. Firstly, the original Pure range has come to an end but the new model line will feature vintage hand-wound movements in smaller cased watches.

In the same newsletter Piers also announces Pinions’s return to bronze watches with a revamped Axis II.

I am wondering now if these two announcements could be combined into a slightly smaller bronze cased hand wound Pure ?

Pinion Atom etc

After what seems a relatively quiet time in terms of news from Pinion, Piers Berry has made several announcements recently.

The most imminent being the availability of the “new entry point to the Pinion family” the Atom.

Pinion Atom

The Atom inherits all of the design and production qualities seen in the previous watches in the Pinion collection, but priced at £790 (£658.33 ex.VAT).

The Atom is sized at 41mm diameter, with a slim height of 11mm and is encased in 316L stainless steel with a bead-blasted finish.

The design of the dial follows the graphic code established by earlier models and presents typographic numerals in white, coated with SuperLuminova and contrasting radium colouring. The watch is water resistant to 100-metres.

Unlike all other Pinion watches, the Atom uses the Japanese automatic  calibre (Miyota 9015) which provides accurate timekeeping and a 42-hour power reserve. The reverse of the watch features a solid steel case back that is engraved with the Atom motif and individually numbered.

The Atom is built and tested in England. The watch is available from the Pinion website http://www.pinionwatches.com

Then coming later in the year will be a watch in a new material for Pinion; the TT their first watch in titanium which almost halves the weight of the case when compared to the steel models.

Pinion TT

Weight aside the TT has the familiar design elements of the Pinion range, as you can see on this prototype above. A brushed finish 42mm case with an exhibition back. Offering 10 atm (100 meters) water resistance.

The movement inside being an ETA 2893-2 with a 24 hour hand (second time zone /GMT). The first GMT from Pinion. I am really looking forward to see the final version.

Then this week came the very interesting announcement. Pinion will return to offering bronze watches. After launching the Pinion brand  in 2013 with bronze watches at the core of his range Piers judged that bronze was becoming too mainstream and decided not to offer them anymore. He has had a re-think, done a survey of friends and clients and decided to return to bronze in 2018 with a re-worked Axis II automatic. The interesting he will this time use a bronze, rather than steel, crown. This I remember being a point of discussion, personally originally thought a bronze crown was the the best fit, now after a year with my Pure bronze I am a big fan of the steel crown. I find it links visually very well with the hands and strap fittings. I will reserve final judgement until I have seen the new version.

2018 looks like another interesting year for Pinion.

 

London Watch Week

I don’t think last week was officially know as “watch week” but that is how it turned out for me, a few events growing out of the Salon QP.

Although maybe “week” might not be quiet the right definition as for me everything started mid-October when I met Nicholas Bowman-Scargill for a catch-up. We had first met a year earlier, before he re-launched the Fears brand at the Salon QP 2016. Nicholas told me all about his first year and the three new watches he would be announcing at this years show.  He revealed these in order of significance. The first being an additional colour to the existing Redcliff range this time a pretty striking Passport Red.

Redcliff Passport Red

Next I was expecting a “mechanical Redcliff”, which seemed to be the obvious development. But no, the next watch Nicholas showed me was the quartz Redcliff Continental. The Continental version has a window just the “6” position enabling the wearer to display a second time zone. A very useful feature for international travellers or people with far flung families.

The Continental Range

Then came the news I had been expecting the Fears mechanical watch, not however as I was imagining a Redcliff but a completely new watch – the Brunswick the first mechanical watch for the new Fears.

The Brunswick concept & inspiration

At this time Nicholas was only able to show me a drawing of the watch as the prototype had yet been delivered.  The finished watch was due to be shown at the Watchmakers Club evening before the Salon QP. I will dedicate a post to this interesting new watch.

This brings me to the start of “Watch Week”; the first event being the Watchmaker’s Club “Night Before” evening in a private club in London on Wednesday.  The Watchmakers Club is a new platform, intended to bring watch collectors and industry experts together via intimate, exclusive events and regular social gatherings. The team behind this unique organisation consists of watchmakers, independent brands, industry influencers and journalists.

It all started in 2012, Andreas Strehler exhibited for the first time at SalonQP in London. On the night before the opening of SalonQP, he invited a few friends and watch enthusiasts to share a drink, talk about watches and the world in general. The idea of The Night Before was born.

On the first evening only a handful of what would become a band of friends showed up at the Lansdowne Club in Mayfair. Over the years, The Night Before became an institution: A gathering of interesting people interested in the world of watches and as the guest list began to grow the Lansdowne Club became too small to host the event.

This year the event was held at The Libary in St Martins Lane. There were two sections, one of which, upstairs, was dedicated the British brands, Fears, Garrick and Pinion. It was a great opportunity firstly to see the Fears Brunswick and Pinions new Atom finally in the metal.

Pinion Atom

The Atom doesn’t disappoint at all. As you can see the design clearly says, Pinion. As we have come to expect, Piers presented a really nice well built watch. Differently to previous Pinions you first notice the slimmer (11mm) steel case, made possible by the use of the Japanese Miyota 9105 automatic movement. Using this movement also enables Pinion to offer a watch at a much lower price point than we are used to from this brand, £790. It will be very interesting to see how this bet goes.

After Fears and Pinion I managed to squeeze through to the table where Garrick’s Simon Michlmayr  was displaying their watches, I was especially keen to see the new S1. This watch is built by master watchmaker, Craig Baird, and finished entirely by hand. This is Garrick’s most complicated timepiece to date, featuring a skeletonised dial and incorporating a power reserve indicator. Only five S1 timepieces will be made per annum.

Sketch of Garrick S1

Unfortunately due lack of space and light I couldn’t get a really decent picture so to give an idea of how the watch is I have taken this picture from Garrick website.

Giles Ellis of Schofield was also present that night along with Simon Cudd, of Schofield + Cudd straps, neither was displaying their products other than those they were wearing. I did manage a dingy peek at Schofield latest watch – the Telemark.

All in all it was a very pleasant evening but being a “school night” I  thought it wise to make my way home.

After “the Night Before” comes the actual night- the first evening of this years Salon QP. The big difference between the two evenings was the lighting.

I managed to say hello again to Simon Michlmayr and to get a shot of the Garrick range.

The Garrick range

I then found the two British stands together firstly, the Fears Departure lounge that was proving very popular with the new Brunswick attracting a great deal of praise. Then next door Schofield overseen by Giles Ellis himself and Simon Cudd with his straps. Again thanks to better light I managed to get some more useful pictures.

Schofield Telemark

Schofield Daymark

After visiting the Brits I went a little of topic and had quick chat with two brands that I have admired for a while Habring from Austria and Switzerlands Czapek both really nice and like everyone super enthusiastic about their work.

On Saturday I visited the Salon again this time with my sons, in the hope of planting the seed of an interest in watches early. They were very impressed by the chocolate offered at the Fears Departure lounge.

Pinion Atom

As I am sure you will have noticed I like the watches from British watch brand Pinion. I was therefore really pleased to receive an e-mail announcing their new watch, the Atom.

Pinion Atom – 2107

Rather than wait to get hold of an example I thought I should get the news out as soon as possible, so this is what Piers the owner and designer of Pinion watches says about this new model.

The Atom inherits all of the design and production qualities seen in the previous collection of watches, but priced at £790 (£658.33 ex.VAT) signals it as the new entry-point to the Pinion family.

Like the Axis II and Pure before it, the Atom is sized at 42mm diameter, (but slimmer in height at 11mm) and is encased in 316L stainless steel with a bead-blasted finish.

Central to the watch, is the dial, coloured black in a smooth satin finish, it features a dominant inner raised level, textured with a geometric machining.
The design of the dial follows our graphic code established by previous models and presents typographic numerals in white, coated with SuperLuminova and contrasting radium colouring. For durability, the watch is water resistant to 100-metres depth.

In a new move for Pinion, the Atom utilises the Japanese automatic winding calibre (Miyota 9015) which provides accurate timekeeping and a 42-hour power reserve. The reverse of the watch features a solid steel case back that is engraved with the Atom motif and individually numbered.

As with all of our watches, the Atom is built and tested in England and comes with a hand-made leather strap, leather and canvas watch roll plus international two-year warranty.

When Piers first mentioned the price I was a little incredulous given the price point of other watches in the range, you might notice in my earlier post mentioning this launch I mentioned a price of circa £800.

I am really looking forward to seeing this watch in the metal. I really hope it gives Pinion the sales lift they deserve.