I’m pretty well acquainted with Erroyl, the my review of their first model, the E30, was one of the first out there in 2015, and later I checked out the stunning Regent. The Duke, is without doubt, a step up. A Swiss Made automatic housing the ETA 2824-2 is a great start, and whilst the price of AUD $899 / £520 makes it their most expensive timepiece yet, it’s still great value for a Swiss auto. Let’s check it out in closer detail.
The specs
- Dimensions: 39mm diameter x 11mm height x 44mm lug to lug
- Weight: 137g
- Water resistance rating: 10ATM / 100m
- Movement: ETA 2824-2
- Accuracy: +10.4 sec/day
- Lug width: 20mm
- Warranty: 2 years
- Price: AUD $899 / £520
- Available from: https://www.erroyl.com/collections/duke-collection/products/duke-melrose
The case
The case of the Duke is a barrel shape with a curved underside. It’s fully polished with brushed tops of the lugs and ridge of bezel. The 39mm diameter is a splendid size for a classy dress watch.
The general fit and finish of the case is splendid – all edging and finishing is flawless.
The pumpkin crown has pleasant grip, although it’s a little tough to hand wind. It has Erroyl’s badge E logo delicately engraved on the end in a very accurate fashion.
The case has a double domed sapphire crystal, with an anti-reflective coating on the underside which provides good clarity and a decent viewing angle.
An exhibition caseback sits at the rear, the central window having various details engraved around it. Secured by 6 screws, it’s a smooth and curvaceous affair.
The dial
I’m finding the grey colour of the Erroyl Duke’s dial is a classy alternative to the usual black. There are no applied elements though, which I find to be a bit of a bummer. The dial in real life seems a bit lighter than the pictures on Erroyl’s site.
The sword shaped hands have a thick grey border to them, which affect legibility. I’ve noticed that these thicker than normal borders make the hands blend into the dial a bit more than usual, thus appearing a lot thinner in body than they actually are.
There are lumed numerals at every hour, printed in a smart and subtle font. The dial is slips into two main sections – an inner circle with a very light concentric circular pattern, providing a bit of texture to the dial; and an outer ridge.
The Erroyl logo is printed within the top half on the inner circle, with a raised base so the printwork is not directly on the circular pattern. There is a gentle rail lines minute track in rehaut, and an inner light index at edge of inner circle. The words Swiss Made are printed at the foot of dial.
The date wheel is positioned at 6 which I really like, and is cut out of the dial with a delicate border to it. The colour of the date wheel matches the dial very well indeed, and has white text.
The lume strength is nothing too exciting.
The bracelet
A jubilee bracelet isn’t my personal favourite style, although I can appreciate the craftsmanship of this one. The end links fit cosy to the case and lugs, and all 5-columns of links are very well constructed.
The bracelet is smooth as butter to manipulate and thus is beautifully comfortable on the wrist.
The 1st, 3rd, and 5th link are brushed, with the 2nd and 4th being polished; the outer links have polished edges. This alternation of finishes creates a lovely impression whilst on the wrist, the light catching the various facets in a very effective way.
The concealed butterfly clasp is tremendous – you don’t realise it’s even a join. One half of the clasp has an overlapping Erroyl shield logo which sits within an ingress on the other side. The clasp has polished side buttons to open it up.
The movement
The movement powering the Erroyl Duke is the venerable ETA 2824-2. Whilst it’s the standard grade, Erroyl have customised the rotor by means of skeletonised côtes de Genève (Geneva Waves) with their E logo laser etched in center. Sadly this E logo is slightly misaligned; it’s not quite sitting in the centre.
The 2824-2 is quite possibly on of the most used Swiss automatic movements available. It’s also extremely reliable, tough, and easy to service and regulate. Speaking of regulation, this one is coming in at +10.4 sec/day. Usually I like to see autos within 10sec/day so it’s a shame it’s running a tad fast.
The movement is clean and crisp, and lovely to look at.
Final comments
Really there’s only 2 minors I’ve found with the Erroyl Duke: the thick borders on the hands reducing the legibility, and the misaligned E logo on the rotor. One is a design issue, whilst the other is a genuine flaw which hopefully won’t happen regularly.
Bar those two issues; it truly is a stunning timepiece. Sure you can get Swiss Made autos for cheaper, such as a Steinhart, but this is a true original piece with high quality packaging to boot.
It’s a lovely size, comfortable wear, and looks impressive on. The build quality also give quite a luxurious impression – so you’ll definitely feel like your getting your money’s worth.
