At Baselworld this year, Movado showed its all-new collection of men’s automatic watches. The 1881 Automatic Collection combines familiar Movado design characteristics with elements of the brand’s revamped look – all with a reliable Swiss movement inside.
The 1881 Automatic is a three-hand watch with a date display at 6 o’clock. It has the spare, stark appeal that has characterized Movado ever since the “Museum” watch became the centerpiece of the brand in the 1980s. That watch, and those that followed it, were defined by the prominent concave dot at 12 o’clock. In recent years, Movado has moved beyond this completely minimalist design to incorporate some other elements on the dial.
The 1881 Automatic is a good example of this: it has a subdued minutes track, which has been stamped on the dial, and applied hour indexes. The dial is divided into an inner section and an outer ring. The interior has a sunray finish; outside of this is a “reflector ring” that has been sandblasted.
Also of note is the larger dot at the top of the dial. Movado has used larger versions of the signature dot over the last few years, especially as it has worked to expand its consumer base with the more eye-catching Movado Bold series of watches.
Underneath this dial is an ETA 2824-2, a workhorse Swiss movement. This automatic caliber runs in 25 jewels and beats at 28,800 vph. It has Incabloc shock protection, a quick-set date mechanism, and a power reserve of approximately 40 hours.
The 1881 Automatic has a diameter of 39.5 mm and is 9 mm thick. It is cased in stainless steel and has an exhibition caseback to reveal the rotor. It is water resistant to 30 meters. The watch is available with a black dial or a blue dial; either of these versions costs $1,095. At $1,195, there is a black-dial model with a steel case finished in gold PVD, as well as gold-PVD hands and indexes. All come on a black calfskin strap with a pin buckle.
stunning watch well sculpted design. clean sharp images.
I just bought the watch. After wearing for 3 days I did not like it. It does keep time accurately and i certain it is not swiss made. Moreover, I called the Movado to return it. The agent refused to accept the return claiming that if the watch is worn even for minutes It can not be returned. I did find any such warning in the material which I received from Movado. I am greatly disappointed in the watch and Movado.
I just got this watch and the movement is a Sellita SW200-1 and not the ETA. Movado only says “Swiss Movement” on their website, but I thought I was getting the ETA movement based on your review. (So you should probably change that)
This is strange…the whole Movado concept was based on not having hour or minute markers…now we have Movados with hour and minute markets…is a digital Rolex next?