Dan Henry is the man behind http://www.timeline.watch/, a place specialising in info on rare and popular vintage timepieces. He’s taken his expertise in this field and has created his own line of vintage-inspired watches. The 1964 is his very latest release.

My gut feeling was right; the whole package is impressive: you get a leather strap, bracelet, and genuine leather watch roll – all for under £200. For the unboxing process and to see what you get, watch the video review below.

Video Review

The specs

• Dimensions: 38mm diameter x 12.9mm height x 44.7mm lug to lug
• Weight: 52g on leather
• Water resistance rating: 5ATM / 50m
• Movement: Seiko VK63
• Lug width: 19mm
• Warranty: 1 year
• Price: $250 / ~£195
• Available from: https://danhenrywatches.com/products/1964-gran-turismo-chronograph

The case

Yes, 38mm is on the small side by modern standards but is in line with the vintage theme of the watch, and I personally think it’s a lovely size. Not too harsh or brash, but classy and elegant on the wrist.

The polished top of bezel and lugs are met with a brushed side (not all the way down the side though), again adjoined by the outer edge of the caseback, which is polished.

The screw-in caseback has an impressively deep and detailed 3D embossed Aston Martin DB5 in the centre; against a blasted backdrop. You’re not going to see it too often, but it’s impressive that you get the level of detail on a watch costing this much.

The high box-shaped crystal is impressive to look at. It’s sapphire coated mineral; so whilst this isn’t quite as good as a full-on sapphire, it’s going to be scratch-resistant enough, and can be overlooked for the price you’re paying. It’s double domed, so there’s a dome on the underside to counter-act the rather huge dome on top; the dome creates a really unique viewing experience. Not only that, the anti-reflective coating is truly stunning – not only is it really effective in providing excellent clarity, it also provides a beautiful flash of blue when the light hits it just right. Just be careful you don’t wallop it due to the height.

The pinion-style pushers for the chronograph are fully polished and are easy to use. They also provide a really solid clunk whilst using them, mainly thanks to the movement. The crown is also fully polished and has the DH from the logo deeply engraved on the end. It’s easy to use and manipulate.

The dial

Dan Henry has done a great job on the design of the 1964; I’ve yet to find someone who hasn’t been impressed by this watch. The dial is simple, striking, and so elegant.

There’s a beautiful sunburst backdrop that sets the scene; working really well with the subdials which have a bevelled edge and concentric circular pattern within.

The chronograph minute subdial is at 9, with the running seconds at 6 and 24-hour indicator at 3.

Not only is the crystal heavily domed, but the dial itself is also, and the minute and big seconds hands have curved tips to flow through the curve. Not really noticeable at a glance, but they look great close up.

The hour markers are all very well machined – pitched with a lumed block at the base and a pointed tip. They have a polished finish like the hands, providing a flash of reflection.

The hands are on the simple side, with a flat, polished finish and a pointed tip. They have a lumed channel within the end and do a decent job of balancing legibility whilst being eye-catching.

The date window located between 4 and 5 is neatly cut out of the dial, whilst the date wheel itself is a regular white one. If that’s the kind of thing that bothers you, then thankfully Dan Henry has provided a non-date version of this watch.

The lume used on the dial is LumiNova, and I’ve got be honest, it’s not really that great at all; it doesn’t glow particularly bright, nor does it charge quickly. I don’t particularly think string lume is absolutely required on a dress watch, so in my eyes, I’m not too bothered, but who doesn’t want strong lume whatever the case?

On the outer edge of the dial, where it slopes downwards, is the tachymeter very tastefully designed and printed.

The strap

It’s quite bold for Dan Henry to stick to his guns with the strap width too, being just 19mm wide it looks a bit on the thin side for a modern watch. But, this isn’t trying to be a modern watch.

The leather strap is constructed of soft, supple, high-quality leather. The light tan colour definitely also supports the vintage theme.

The tang buckle is fully polished, with the DH from the logo lightly etched on one side.

The bracelet

From a style perspective, I personally am not so keen on the beads-of-rice bracelet. However, I can certainly appreciate the quality of construction. Five rows of highly-polished bead links are interconnected, flanked by a wider end link with a brushed top and polished sides.

The buckle is a little different too which I like; brushed on top with the logo engraved at the base with a polished button which opens it up. It’s a standard deployant buckle underneath the hood; which feels a little flimsy when open.

Due to the nature of the bracelet, it’s extremely malleable and thus very comfortable.

The movement

The movement powering the Dan Henry 1964 is the Japanese made Seiko VK63. It has a very good reputation as being a hybrid “mecha-quartz” movement: it’s battery powered, with the main time function being quartz, and the chronograph function is driven by a mechanical module (also battery powered, so no winding). The beat rate of the chrono is 18k bph (5 ticks per second), and it has a 3-year battery life.

Final comments

Well, what can I say? I’m not over-exaggerating, but I’m genuinely pretty speechless. The Dan Henry 1964 is stunning to look at, with an irresistible build quality that far surpasses any expectations.

It clearly appears as if it should be worth much more than its humble price tag suggests. This much quality, plus the leather watch roll and two straps for under £200 ($250)? It’s been a very long time since I’ve been this impressed, and all I can say is if you dig it, get one before they sell out.

The post Dan Henry 1964 Gran Turismo Silver Watch Review appeared first on 12&60.

This modal, the 1963, is described as a mix between a tool and aviation watch and comes in a canvas and genuine leather roll with three watch slots and a spare black NATO strap.

To me, it looks fantastic (and I know I’m not the only one who thinks so) – it truly is an example of excellent design – thanks to Heuer, as it’s an homage to the Carrera ref. 2447

So it looks good, comes with a nice leather watch roll, and only costs a staggering $230 / £180. surely it’s too good to be true?

The specs

• Case dimensions: 42.5mm diameter x 14mm height x 47.3mm lug to lug
• Movement: Miyota 6S20
• Lug width: 22mm
• Water resistance: 50m
• Weight: 82g
• Warranty: 1 year
• Price: $230

The dial

The double deck sandwich dial (meaning there’s two layers) boasts a stunning design thanks to Heuer.

To match the vintage ethos, it has a patina Swiss lume set within the hour markers at a lower level. This is a browny aged / vintage colour. The cutouts include batons at every hour apart from at 12, which features numerals. This cutting out is done to a very high standard considering the price.

The minute and hour hands are a crisp pencil style – which are brushed steel with matching vintage lume to the dial. The big central seconds hand is the chronograph seconds indicator, the hand being a stick with a nice lumed diamond tip.

The silver subdials are very prominent. They have a gentle concentric circular pattern on the base, and are situated at a lower level to the main dial section. These subdials act as follows: a 60-min chrono subdial at 9, 1/10 seconds indicator at 3, and the running seconds at 6. There are also lumed triangles at 12, 3, 6 and 9.

The lume is average at best, but apart from Seiko – you’re never going to get nuclear lume at this price.

The printing across the dial is all very crisp and precise – often on cheaper watches the printing can be a bit sloppy and not so accurate, which is why it’s nice to see this level of execution.

The case

The case is an interesting shape for a watch costing this much – it’s more complex than you’d expect. Whilst it’s still a standard barrel shape, there’s a gentle polished angle on the underside of the sides which provides a pleasant profile. Bar this, the case is brushed, with a thick and equal brushing finish.

A key aspect that makes this watch stand out is the stainless steel 12-hour rotating bezel. Whilst it is available in the more traditional black coloured inset, I felt the pure stainless steel version was incredibly striking. It has an interesting 5-min click which is unusual at first as I’m used to 60 or 120 click bezels – this, however, is a 12 click! It’s very nicely finished and is smooth in operation.

The pushers are polished and protrude out in a purposeful way, well machines. The push-pull crown has a polished end with the “DH” logo deeply engraved. Both offer reassuring quality.

Sitting on top of the case is a sapphire coated mineral crystal with anti-reflective coating. The AR coating isn’t the most amazing, but you can tell it’s there. Many manufacturers are opting for this configuration nowadays – as you get the scratch resistance of sapphire, and the shatter resistance of mineral. The crystal has a cool vintage shape, which is raised off the bezel providing a neat bit of visual distortion around the edges.

The caseback is also impressively constructed for the price. It features a deep-stamped Lockheed Blackbird in 3D, sitting on a matte base. It’s certainly well executed and is very impressive to the eye at this value.

The strap

The Dan Henry 1963 comes with two straps – firstly a beautiful hand-sewn rustic brown Italian leather, as well as a black NATO.

These are both measured at 22mm wide to match the lugs – a decent, manly size to continue the impressive nature of the watch through and onto the wrist. The NATO is standard, nothing really worth noting here apart from the custom buckle that is the same as the leather strap.

The leather strap, however, is very impressive for a watch of this price. The leather smells amazing – almost like an expensive pair of shoes, with thick stitched detailing at the base and top corners.

The tang buckle is brushed and has DH deeply engraved on the bar, which is easy to use.

The leather strap also features quick release pins, which are always a welcome component. It makes switching straps quick and seamless, plus completely removing any chance of damaging the lugs with a strap removal tool.

The movement

The movement powering the Dan Henry 1963 is a Miyota 6S20. There’s nothing particularly exciting to announce about this quartz chronograph – as you’d expect it seems to do its job well and without hiccup.

I feel the nicest things about it are firstly the subdial layout / positioning. They’re well spaced out, creating the impression of an automatic chrono (quartz chronos always seem to be slightly more crowded). The 1/20th second indicator at 3 is also nice to watch spinning around when the chronograph is going.

The movement has a 4 year battery life, and is accurate to +/- 20 seconds per month.

Final comments

If you do a bit of searching around, you’ll come to see that there’s a lot of love for these watches. And to be honest I’m not surprised.

Yes they’re not really original – they’re pretty much full-on homages and heavily inspired by existing watches, but at least they’re not another Submariner or Nomos copy. They’re watches that are a little bit different, with styles that aren’t seen too often.

When you consider the entire package you get – from the leather watch roll down to the quality timepiece itself – for a frankly ridiculous $230, there’s little wonder why Dan Henry watches are going down a storm.

I’ve been mightily impressed by it, so hopefully the price stays the same and we get even more great value vintage inspired watches cone our way.

The post Dan Henry 1963 Watch Review appeared first on 12&60.