The MHD team aren’t like most others as they go into a lot of detail about how they dream up their concepts, and they certainly don’t shy away displaying it for all to see. This is refreshing to see as most hide their original designs away under lock and key away from prying eyes and potential copycats. This to us portrays confidence in their ability and a true love for the craft.

MHD was kind enough to provide us with a sample of their SA2 Heritage model which is a limited edition piece with a run of just 100 units. We have no 25 out of the 100.

SPECS

• Case diameter: 41mm
• Case thickness: 10mm
• Lug-to-lug: 47mm
• Case material: 316L Stainless Steel
• Crystal: Sapphire crystal with bevel edge
• Dial: dual layered dial with a white face
• Movement: Miyota 9039
• Water resistance: 50m
• Weight: 84g (approx)
• Straps: 1 Sand and 1 Black Seatbelt material Nato
• Price: £645
• Warranty: 2 years
• Available from: https://www.mhdwatches.com/collections/mhd-sa2

Initially, it’s not the dial that draws you into this watch, it’s the case. This design is unlike anything I’ve ever laid my eyes, and it’s a marvellous piece of design and a real feat of watchmaking. Inspired by motorsport engineering, the case is a 4-piece layered exoskeleton chassis and is a sight to see. The design perfectly blends and fuses curved edges with crisp sharp lines to form a shape that you just don’t see. We start right at the top with the machine turned bezel which features cleanly done circular brushing, this is then flanked by the top portion of the frame which is highly polished to contrast against the brushed bezel. This then steeply slopes down with a satin-finished bevelled edge to meet the side where you’ll find the machined and knurled crown on the right side and a plaque donating the model name and no of the piece. To tie this all together MHD have opted to leave the exposed Allen heads to give it a raw industrial look.

The visual treats aren’t quite done yet as the case is not brushed nor polished, it’s as you’ll see, heavily knurled which to me invokes a sense of raw engineering which is honestly perfect for the SA2. You may also have noticed the absence of any lugs – in the traditional sense, which is honestly just more eye candy and surprisingly useful to boot, though not perfect. The lugs and spring bar are essentially constructed from one piece of solid metal which gives the chassis strength and rigidity – just like you’d find in a car bred for racing. Although not a new design, MHD has put their unique stamp on it and made their own.

However, although extremely well done, there are a few slight trade-offs with this design. The first is the limitation is for strap choices, as is you can slip a nato under there as well as pretty much all other straps that are a singular piece, but as there are no moving parts, so you couldn’t exactly install a two-piece strap. Personally, I don’t find an issue with that as you’ll find out later, but I can see it being a potential caveat for some. One other slight drawback is what this feature does to the strap. Because of its inherent design and how a strap wraps through the bars, it causes the strap to become moulded (see the images) to the case shape. Again if you’re keeping the original straps, this is not a problem, but if you were to perhaps put your favourite nato on it, it could mean that it would then be more difficult to use on other watches after.

Onto the caseback and you’ll find it’s a screw-in exhibition style. Right in the centre there is a Sapphire window that lets you gander at the Miyota movement, bordering this there is some excellently done engraving to denote the specifications and other information. This is then surrounded by a finely done brushed finished and topped off with a circular pattern of flat head screws that to me resemble that of a bolt wheel pattern you’d find on a cars wheel hub. Here you can also appreciate the extra detailing and design work that has gone into the main chassis with the angular yet curvy components which flank the integrated spring bars. Here I’m personally seeing a few flourishes of a racing-inspired front splitter, but I could be wrong.

Finally to the dial and it’s safe to say the nods to the automotive industry continue to thrive here to thanks the splashes of red, black and chrome. Staring at the dial, you’ll notice the sloped chapter ring with a seemingly nicely printed minute track with red markers at each hour. Though nice to the eye, under macro we noted some slight defects in the printing on the red hour markers and some subtle smudging on the minute track. Every day, you’d not notice this, but it is noteworthy and a little disappointing.

Onto the main dial and it’s marketed as white but in most lighting it appears – to my eye at least, a pale cream/off-white, but it’s still a lovely colour. The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed that the dial is constructed from two pieces. The top machine-turned steel section sits above a layer of chromed steel and is cut at every hour providing the hour markers. Could they have cut corners and simply applied or even painted the markers? yes, but we are sure glad that they went all out and didn’t. One other cool detail that catches my attention is the markers between the 8 and 12 position which makes me visualise the dial as a fuel gauge taken straight from a vintage sports car. Does it provide any functionality? Certainly not, but it’s extremely cool and I think it’s great.

Like with the case this isn’t all perfect and there is one issue, the legibility. To me, this is more than just a watch, it’s a piece of art, but a watch needs to function and unfortunately, the SA2 does suffer in this department. In daylight and bright environments, it’s fine, but as soon as the light fades it becomes increasingly more difficult to read which is made a smidgen worse by the omission of any lume. Though on the lume front, I think they made the right call by not having any as it would spoil the aesthetic. One saving grace is all that chrome, is it practical?, no, but do I love how it plays and catches the light.

The final detail that makes up the dial is the handset and they’re certainly no off the shelf affair. They have been carefully designed and crafted to perfectly match the overall style of the piece. The main hour and minute hand are skeletonised, chromed and feature a black tip on the end. The second’s hand is a touch more streamline, again is chromed and has a red tip. These are just a perfect fit and honestly I can’t see any other hands working so well with the design, the red matches, the black ties in and the chrome adds that extra visual pop, they’re just spot on.

Now to the daily wear and kicking off with the included straps, it’s safe to say that I’m impressed. Included with the SA2 you get two high-grade straps fabricated from car seat belt material which is extremely durable and surprisingly soft. Although – as previously mentioned, the integrated lugs do tarnish the strap somewhat. The fabric chosen by MHD is lovely as it’s flexible, smooth and feels great against your skin, it’s easily the best strap of this style that I have ever used. The main hardware is solid and very well finished as is the contrasting stitching (on the sand variant). However, the buckle tongue is a bit too wobbly and loose for our liking, though that hardly puts it into deal-breaking territory. The adjustment holes are cleanly cut and plentiful – 13 to be precise which provides you with plenty of scope to get a great fit.

As for comfort, the case bottom is mostly flat paired with a unique lug design, and when combined, those attributes wouldn’t look like they would lend well comfort, yet the SA2 does wear nicely on my six-inch wrist. As is, the lugs don’t taper down all that much nor are they set at a conventional angle which then isn’t helped by an unusual profile, though strangely these features don’t work against it. When on wrist, the strap curves upwards slightly thanks to the integrated spring bars, then flows steeply down to meet your wrist and in doing so, it conforms surprisingly well. Not traditional at all, but it works. Also, I think the extra padding from the strap does aid this and helps the comfort aspect a fair amount too. I can’t say it’ll be comfortable for everyone, though it was a pleasantly nice experience for me. The weight on the wrist isn’t a big factor either as it’s well south of 100g. All in all, it wears unexpectedly nicely.

Seems like I got a bit carried away and neglected to cover a few things.

The dial is covered with a Sapphire crystal that sits perfectly flush with the top of the bezel, yet has a slightly bevelled edge that slopes down into it. This is great to see as it adds yet another visual element on top of everything else on display.

The crown is also very well executed as it merges two finishes; the flat side edge is circularly brushed which ties in with the bezel and caseback and the grip is then knurled which is harmoniously paired to the case. Not only does it look great, it provides you with a very nice tactile grip. This is not a screw-down crown and is simply a push-pull design with no ghost position meaning it’s only one pull to adjust the time. As a whole the crown is very nice to use meaning winding is a really easy task to carry out as is adjusting the time.

Finally to the heart of the SA2 and that would be none other than the Miyota 9039, essentially a 9015 without the date complication. The 9039 has manual winding, a hacking seconds function, 24 jewels and a solid 42-hour power reserve. Accuracy is stated between -30 and +10 per day though it’s running considerably better than that only gaining a small amount daily. The 9039 is a tried and tested Japanese and is honestly the minimum spec would like to have seen in a watch at this price point. Over the test period, the 9039 has been performing solidly and is holding its power reserve without issue, this is great as 42 hours is plentiful. The winding feature works flawlessly too providing you with confidence that it’ll be ready to go whenever you need.

What can be said about the MHD SA2 Heritage, it’s a superbly built piece with tonnes of fine craft details, character and charm that sets apart from similarly priced alternatives. This is thanks to MHD’s unique design language, attention to detail and nods to the automotive. Is it perfect? No, but none of the aforementioned issues are that detriment nor would they be classed as deal-breaking issues.

Essentially you’re getting a unique watch that despite its subtle imperfections is a joy to wear and admire and would honestly make a fine addition to any collection.

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I’ve reviewed the MHD CR1 panda chronograph, which is a striking watch. Let’s see how another watch of his fares in the AGT.

The specs

• Dimensions: 42mm diameter x 13mm height x 50mm lug to lug
• Weight: 83g
• Water resistance rating: 5ATM / 50m
• Movement: Miyota 9015
• Accuracy: +8.0 sec/day
• Lug width: 20mm
• Warranty: 18 months
• Price: £550
• Available from: https://www.mhdwatches.com/products/mhd-agt

The case

The case is a really interesting design, which is splendidly executed. It’s a layered 4 piece case, inspired by the Alcraft GT car. The key feature is the exoskeleton chassis sides exposing a knurled centre barrel. It certainly is cool.

The overall shape of the case is fairly different to the norm, my only concern is that it has a flat base with no curvature: if you have very round or small wrists it may sit quite high. Whilst viewing from the top the lugs are very wide too; and this is something that will be down to personal preference if you like it or not.

The exoskeleton chassis has an eye-catching highly polished side and a brushed top, whilst the polished bevel to the bezel works in tandem with it.

A boxed, flat sapphire crystal sits above the bezel, with a very good helping of anti-reflective coating.

The crown is easy to pull out and adjust the time thanks to a ridged channel, allowing you to get your nails in and pull, however it’s difficult to use for hand winding. It has a flat, unsigned end and knurled edges to match the case barrel.

The screw-in caseback is simple in appearance and function. The main feature is the exhibition window to display the movement, with various specs laser etched around.

The dial

The dial has a machine turned steel base, and is flanked by a brushed steel chapter ring. This certainly continues the automotive theme, the full-on usage of steel is welcome in my eyes.

It’s technically a sandwich dial, as the markings are laser cut with the lower lumed layer exposed. In addition to all the hour markers, there’s an interconnecting curve between the 8 and 12, mimicking the appearance of a speedometer. It’s all delightfully accurate and neat.

The hands are intriguing shape, with two straight black outer edges and a lumed stick in-between them, protruding outwards. The hands are all different thicknesses and lengths, and whilst the design is pleasantly different to be honest the visibility isn’t the greatest – for me, I think they need to be bolder.

The minimal printing is a decent example of effective, minimal design; with the logo in the top half and GBD in the bottom. Then there’s just the printed minute track on the rehaut.

The strap

The MHD AGT seems to be loaded with a fairly stock leather strap. There’s no logo stamped on the underside, and no markings on the simple brushed tang buckle. I think this is a bit of a shame to see, especially when you’re spending this much money on a watch.

That’s not to say it’s a great strap; the leather is beautifully soft and very supple. It has a dull shine to it which compliments the polished accents of the case.

As I mentioned before, the tang buckle is distinctly standard.

The movement

The movement powering the MHD AGT is the extremely popular Miyota 9015; the go-to choice for microbrands when it comes to a solid and dependable hi-beat movement.

Specs include 28.8k bph (8 ticks per second), hacking seconds hand, and hand plus automatic winding. It’s not much of a looker – it’s pretty industrial in appearance and there’s no customisation here.

Still, I’m always grateful to see a mechanical movement within a watch, no matter how it looks.

Final comments

The case and dial have a distinct industrial feel, made to highly impressive tolerances and accuracy. It’s got an obvious motorsport theme to it, which will work in its favour for sure. I definitely think it’s a very unique design too – so if you’re the kind of person who loves watches that look like no other than this is a great choice for you.

There’s a couple things that I feel could be improved upon for the price – namely a branded strap and buckle is a must-have for a £500 watch, whilst some sort of customisation to the rotor is a “would like to see”.

Apart from that, the only thing to be aware of is the sheer flatness of the case, so take note if you have a particularly round or small wrist.

The MHD AGT is no doubt a cool-looking watch, which is very well manufactured. And on a personal note, it’s cool to see a British watch brand with such a unique design.

The post MHD AGT Watch Review appeared first on 12&60.

No explanation needed, then, when you see that his watches are 60’s inspired, and automotive themed. MHD started with a 3 hander, and introduced chronograph following. This year, the chrono CR1 range was expanded with the introduction of two Panda models – white dial and black subdials (this one), and one the opposite. Costing £250 +VAT, let’s see if it’s a decent watch for the money.

The specs

• Dimensions: 42mm diameter x 11mm height x 50.5mm lug to lug
• Weight: 85g
• Water resistance rating: 10 ATM
• Movement: Miyota 6s21
• Lug width: 20mm
• Warranty: 1 year
• Price: £250 (exc VAT)

The dial

The dial has a satin finish, and is available in white or black.

The white dial has high contrasting black and grey markings that are all printed; no applied elements are used. I like the font used – one very similar to Porsche Design – supporting the automotive theme.

The black subdials at 3 and 9 are on a lower level, proving a small amount of depth. It really is a striking design, with the subdials staring right at you like a couple of beady eyes – which is the reasoning behind the panda name. The running seconds is located at 3, and the chronograph minutes are at 9.

The hands are a window type, which have a cutout in the top section so you can still see the subdials when the hands are located over the top of them. Whilst it’s a good idea, I’ve found that in some circumstances it can make reading the actual time hard. Theseconds hand is extra long and breaks past the minute track around the outer edge of the dial.

The case

The case is an extemely simple cushion style shape – when you take a look from the side it’s really just a thick slab of steel. It’s completely brushed, so it’ll prove to be quite hard wearing.

All MHD’s feature a bevel edged mineral crystal. I asked Matt why he made the choice of mineral over sapphire. He said it was due to it’s strength, durability and shatter resistance. Whilst that’s true – mineral is more shatter resistant – you simply can’t avoid the fact that sapphire crystal is the correct choice for a luxury / high end watch.

The knurled pushers and screw-in crown are all the exact same; but are very cool and blatantly automotive inspired. They’re very well machined, providing great grip and nice feedback.

The screw-in caseback is brushed in a circular pattern. The central area has been left blank, with various details lightly laser etched around the outer edge – which would have been nice if they were engraved.

The strap

The watch seems to come fitted with an aftermarket strap, as there is no markings or branding on it. No stamp exists on the underside of the strap, and the buckle is unsigned.

It is made of calf leather, with matching black stitching. It’s racing themed thanks to the 3 holes that are on either side. It starts at 20mm wide at the lugs, reducing down to 18mm at the buckle.

It’s a little bit stiff to start off with, but it’s comfortable, smells nice, and seems to be high quality.

The unsigned tang buckle is simple to use and look at, and is completely brushed to match the case.

The movement

The movement powering the CR1 is the Miyota 6s21. It’s an interesting case, as it acts like a mecha-quartz in that the chronograph seconds runs at 5 ticks per second, but in fact it is fully quartz – it doesn’t even have any jewels.

The accuracy is fairly solid at +/- 20 seconds a month, and it has a 3 years battery life. Using the crown and pushers gives you a sense of quality and dependability, so I’m sure it’ll be a solid performer.

Final comments

Of course, I’m always happy to see proper British watch manufacturers. In my opinion, MHD is as British as they come. These watches really paint the picture of the best and most glorious automotive design in the 60’s – think Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce.

A testament to the simple but effective design is the fact that I receive comments literally everytime I wear it. The watch is striking in the metal.

The only negative to mention really is the selection of mineral crystal rather than sapphire. Sure it has better shatter resistance, but if you want people to associate your brand with top quality you simply have to go sapphire.

In the meantime, though, the MHD CR1 Panda Chronograph is a timepiece that is as good looking as it is well built.

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