I recently reviewed one of the offerings from Carrnegie, the Premier, which I found to be a lovely, unique dress watch for a very reasonable price. Really, the only thing to be aware of is the slightly reflective sapphire crystal; but that’s it. Everything else is great for the value of the watch.
They have since sent me a couple of extra models for comparison: so here we have the Premier, Classic and Sports. The primary difference between each model is the strap, however, what’s most impressive is how the different colourway is utilised throughout the timepiece.
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Watch the below video for an in-depth comparison
The Carrnegie Premier
Let’s start with the Premier; their most expensive offering starting at $239. This comes fitted with a crocodile stamped leather strap, and the quality is very good and comfortable. This model is the rose gold version; which has the same colour throughout the case and also on the clasp. It’s not available with the standard tang buckle – you can only get the butterfly clasp with the Premier.
The Carrnegie Classic
Next, we have the Classic – and this iteration is the gold with the blue theme. This is where we really see the Carrnegie range come into its own. The gold plating is used for the main case section, and also the butterfly clasp.
However, the blue “theme” is not what you’d expect. Usually, when a brand offers a few different colourways, all that is changed is the dial. Not here. Not Carrnegie.
I’m very impressed to see the blue not only used on the dial, but also on the bezel, crown, and caseback. This must result in a lot of extra effort and cost, but boy does it make a difference, especially when you consider there’s 3 different bases (steel, gold and rose gold) and 3 different themes (white, black and blue).
Thinking about the base, it also changes the hands and applied indices on the dial – so they also change to steel, gold or rose gold depending on the case. Again, a lovely display of a great way of offering different colour schemes for a model.
The Classic has a smooth leather strap and starts at $179 (for the tang buckle, add $20 for the butterfly clasp). That $40 is quite noticeable in the quality of leather. Personally, I’m not usually too fussed by alligator print, but if I was to choose, I’d definitely go for the Premier based on the better quality strap. It’s also good to note that there are 3 coloured straps that match the theme; blue, black, and brown (which is for the white dial).
The Carrnegie Sports
The model I have here is the Sports Black Rose Gold. There’s something about black and rose gold that just goes so well together – immediately it’s a winning combination.
As is their custom, the black theme runs through from the dial to the bezel, crown and caseback.
The Sports is identified by the rubber strap – which is available in black (which is used on the black and white), and blue. It costs the same as the Classic – starting at $179 (for the tang buckle, add $20 for the butterfly clasp). The quality of the rubber strap is lovely – it’s not stiff or hard, which some can be – but rather, it’s supple and malleable. It’s very comfortable on the wrist, with some interesting “0” grips on the underside to keep it from spinning. There’s also a central raised channel on the top which keeps things interesting and draws the eye.
Final comments
Carrnegie has done a remarkable job in creating an excellent range of watches that are truly different. It’s not just a change of dial colour for them, it’s a change of hands and indices on the dial, and a different bezel, crown and caseback. In reality, this is a way of “theming” that works very well indeed – they create a very different look (just compare the Premier and the Sports for instance) – and it’s one that I’d love to see more of.
All things considered, they are great value for money and the amount of work that must go into each iteration is impressive. Yes, naming an entire model based solely on the type of strap is a slightly bizarre way of working, but there’s no doubt that these are an impressive collection that provides a wide range of styles.
