Duxot has gone under the radar a bit. Part of Dartmouth Brands, the umbrella company who own the likes of Avi-8, Spinnaker, and Thomas Earnshaw; Duxot watches are all vintage / retro inspired, in particular between the 60s to the 80s. Why they haven’t yet quite reached the heights of Spinnaker and Avi-8 in particular I don’t know, but some of their offerings do look pretty great.
This model is the Consillio, and Duxot has the following to say about it:
“Proportioned and styled in the 70s but built for today, the Consillio delivers the best of nostalgic watch design while arming itself as an unrelenting timepiece for modern wear.”
Certainly agree on the nostalgic watch design of the 70s. But with an RRP of $640 / ~£490, is it an unrelenting timepiece for modern wear? Let’s check it out.
The specs
- Dimensions: 40mm diameter x 12mm height x 47mm lug to lug
- Weight: 138g
- Water resistance rating: 10ATM / 100m
- Movement: Seiko NH35?
- Accuracy: -1.5 sec/day
- Lug width: 20mm
- Warranty: 2 years
- Price: $640 / ~£490
- Available from: https://duxotwatches.com/collections/consillio/products/consillio-dx-2007-11
How does the watch wear? Very well indeed. On my 7” wrist, the 40mm diameter feels great and very comfortable. The size and shape of the case are most definitely inspired by watches from the 70s, so if you love that vintage vibe then the Consillio has it in droves.
The case is a distinctive tonneau shape, with lugs which contain the end links of the bracelet. Another very 70s thing to do.
The case has a vertical brushed top and bottom, with polished sides. The side profile is more or less a flat barrel, although I do like the slight tuck in and the bottom edges.
A flat sapphire crystal sits above the case, with pretty decent clarity.
The bezel action is firm but purposeful and has a decent click. It’s pretty annoying that the alignment is slightly off though. The insert is painted aluminium, not the most exciting but I do like the splash of dark orange.
The screw-in crown has the Duxot “D” engraved in the end and is rather quaint in size. The caseback features the logo in the centre, with various specifics surrounding it.
The dial is relatively straightforward, clean and effectively simple. The printed Duxot logo itself immediately introduces a retro vibe, which is aided by the syringe hands and bold applied baton hour markers; both of which have a rustic brushed finish.
The dark orange of the bezel insert is again introduced with the funky seconds hand, which features a lume-filled block near the end. The lume is fairly average.
Moving on to the bracelet, which is designed to be just like the Rolex President style. This style was first released in 1956 for the launch of the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date and features distinctive semi-circular 3-piece links. The links wrap around the wrist well and aid the comfort. However, I’m surprised by the finishing on these links. With a bushed top and bottom alongside polished outer edges, I would expect the corners where the two finishes to meet to be a clean line. However, it’s easy to see that the polished finish overflows into the brushed finishing which shouldn’t happen.
The buckle is a standard, solid-looking locking deployant clasp. It has a brushed top and polished sides to match the bracelet, as well as polished pushers. The Duxot logo is neatly and accurately engraved on the top it has 4 micro-release pins which allow you to get a pretty great fit.
Duxot hasn’t specified the exact movement, but rather state that it’s a “Self-Winding Japanese Automatic Movement With Date Display”. Whilst I can’t say for certain, as it’s a low beat rate of 21.8k bph, I’d be willing to bet on it being a Seiko NH35. A solid and dependable movement in itself, but not something that justifies the high RRP for me.
Final comments
I rarely find a watch that disappoints me. Mainly because when selecting watches to review, I do my best to filter out poor watches so I only review decent ones that are worth my time reviewing and your time to read. Unfortunately, disappointed is exactly how I feel with the Consillio. I won’t lie, the RRP of $640 / ~£490 is wildly overpriced for a watch with average specs and a wonky bezel insert. It’s very confusing to me, as Dartmouth Brands clearly know how to make a solid budget timepiece – just look at Spinnaker and Avi-8!
Sure, it looks great, especially if you like the 70s retro vibe that comes along with it. But in terms of the Consillio, I’d rather have a Spinnaker for half the price. Perhaps their other models will be a much better option; we’ll have to wait and see.
Geoffrey Waumans
5 January, 2021 at 2:46 pm
Duxot poses a quandary for me. I own a Solicitus, which I can only describe as a nod towards an Explorer in style. It also has a $600 plus MSRP, but I got it for less than $150.00. I think the inflated MSRP is because Duxot is often featured in a major subscription service and they want to show “value”. As a sub-$200 piece, it’s pretty damn good. Great style, awesome brushed silver dial, very good lume and a really solid build. I haven’t opened it yet but I’m pretty sure it uses an NH35 movement, which is fine by me, but not for 600 bucks – that’s for sure! I would really like to see this brand shown by watch channels a bit more, because I think they could offer a good value – if Duxot drops their MSRP to a “normal” level. Otherwise, they’re going to be in Invicta’s lane – and nobody wants to be there!
Aaron Bridges
28 June, 2021 at 2:19 am
I’ve become somewhat of a fan of Duxot in the last six months; ever since receiving my first quartz-movement Duxot through the subscription service mentioned in the comment above me. Since that point I have purchased three different automatic models (Tortuga, Solicitus, and Princepio), and two Quartz models (Accelero and Altum). They are all solid and stylish watches; and worth every penny that I paid for them (none of which were over $200, and purchased brand new in box through eBay and Facebook). Although great watches, as it has already been stated, I cannot see paying the relatively high MSRP that they claim on their website. It would be good for these watches to be marketed through mainstream vendors; however I do not see that happening anytime in the near future given the “limited” number of models made for each watch.
Howard Bamber
20 December, 2021 at 10:28 am
I bought a 2x worn Duxot GMT as I need and collect them and it seemed to be a great every day wear. I paid £100 with the box and papers. Norway id pay the £400 rep. I got what I wanted and expected. I have a huge range of GMT’s and don’t want to wear my Tudor as a daily beater. The GMT Duxor suits a lot of straps and I’m happy with it. The Ronda quartz is a great aw uartz movement and long lasting battery and accurate.