It’ll cost you $170 / £120, and is a solid Bauhaus / Nomos Tangente homage. If you know anything about your affordable Chinese homages, you’ll notice that this is basically the same as the Rodina I reviewed here, apart from a few important differences.

At first glance, it seems like a great deal – a proven design, along with an impressive movement in the Miyota 9015, so let’s take a closer look to see if this is really the case.

The specs

• Brand: GT&FQ
• Series: Rider
• Model: GTFQ-M005
• Movement: Miyota 9015
• Case: Premium 316L Stainless Steel 
• Dimensions: 38mm x 9 mm x 47mm (lug to lug)
• Weight: 53g
• Crystal: Front (Sapphire) See-through case back (Mineral Glass)
• Water Resistance: 5ATM (50M) 
• Band: Genuine Leather Strap: 20mm wide at lugs, 18mm wide at buckle
• Features: Date, hacking seconds hand
• Warranty: 1 Year

The case

The case is fully polished and clearly borrowed by the Nomos Tangente – from the lugs, the ridge around the case, and even the caseback.

The ridge around the sides of the case is minimal – not really a massive protrusion but just enough to keep a simple barrel case shape a little bit interesting. In addition to this, the angular lugs are a very pleasant design. They’re also drilled-through, so changing the strap is very easy and you’re unlikely to scratch or damage the lugs whilst doing so.

On to the sapphire crystal, which I think is one of the most impressive aspects of the watch. The anti-reflective coating is a class above all other watches in this price range. Watch the video review, and I compare it to the Steinhart Ocean 1 – a watch that I regard as one of the best watches available under £500 currently. The AR coating on the Rider M005 is much more impressive looking and works better in removing reflections. It really makes viewing the watch a joy and seem more expensive than it is.

From the greatest part of the watch to the worst – the crown. The crown itself isn’t that bad – it’s well sized and provides good grip. The issue with it is the “R” embossed on the end – it’s not refined at all, in fact, I’d be more inclined to call it a splat.

The screw-in caseback houses a mineral crystal window, allowing the entirety of the Miyota 9015 movement to be seen.

The case, on the whole, is well made and finished bar the embossing on the crown.

The dial

The dial is unmistakably in the Bauhaus style, and is a homage to the Nomos Tangente. It’s very simple in appearance and design: bold yet subtle.

I like how it’s a silvery / champagne colour rather than a bright white – this softens the dial and provides a classier look. The printing is the main characteristic, as there’s no applied elements at all – it’s a very flat dial with no textures or layers. With all eyes on the printing, it would have to be spot on as it will become the subject of scrutiny. Thankfully it is – it’s all delicate and accurate enough.

The hands are chemically blued, and are thin and elegant. They reach far towards the edge of the dial – the minute and seconds hands extend to the minute track and the hour hand sites just short of the hour markers. They’re flat, not pitched, again exaggerating the flat impression of the dial.

The date window is the only thing that bestows the dial with any sort of second layer. It’s fashioned well, with close attention to detail given it rather than being just a straight cut out of the main dial. This is because of the frame / border surrounding the window on a lower level, before the date wheel which is the same colour and therefore fits in nicely.

Whilst the dial is simple – there’s not really a massive amount going on – it’s well executed.

The strap

The leather strap is, of course, the usual place where watch brands try to save money and this is the case here. Unlike its brother the M001, which has a really nice strap for the price, the strap found on this watch is quite obviously made on a budget. It’s thin, and therefore feels fairly cheap. It’ll suffice for a while visually, but it’s unlikely to last a long time and just doesn’t feel that great on the wrist. So, although the watch is dead cheap I’d say that to make it a timepiece you’d be happy to wear for a very long time I’d recommend buying a decent strap. It measures 20mm wide at the lugs, reducing to 18mm at the buckle.

The tang buckle that comes with the strap is actually pretty good, with “Rider” deeply engraved across the top bar. 

The movement

Rather surprisingly, the movement powering the Rider M005 is the Miyota 9015. At a price like this, you’d expect a lesser movement, one that’s not high beat or quite as popular, especially amongst micro brands. For instance, the 9015 can be found in the following watches I’ve recently reviewed to name a few: the Erroyl E30, Melbourne Watch Co Flinders, and the Brathwait Minimalist Automatic. 

Of course, all those watches are much more expensive – in fact, at the current price, I believe this watch is the cheapest watch out there with the 9015. It’s high beat, running at 28.8k bph (8 ticks per second), has a power reserve of 40 hours, a hacking seconds hand, hand wind capability, and the reputation of a sturdy, well made and reliable movement.

As I’ve found quite often, the rotor is a little bit noisy when it’s spinning but no so loud it should put you off. Visually, it’s pretty industrial and basic but nice enough to be appreciated. 

The competition

The most direct competitor is no doubt the Rodina Bauhaus. It’s more or less exactly the same watch, bar a slightly different dial configuration and a lesser movement. The Rodina is cheaper at $120 / £85, but it isn’t as good a watch (namely the movement and the anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal) – so I’d opt for the Rider.

Of course, don’t forget you could go for the real deal – and buy the Nomos Tangente for £1200.

Final comments

Just like its brother, the M001, this watch has surprised me in terms of quality and specs for the affordable price of $170 / £120. I think it’s one of the cheapest watches to house a Miyota 9015, which in itself is a feat. Not only that though, the anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal is one of such quality you’d expect it to be found on a watch costing many times the asking price.

Of course, it’s not completely flawless – the “R” on the crown is a total splat, and the quality of the leather strap is not quite up to scratch.

Still, if you’re after a Bauhaus / Nomos style watch, for the price it doesn’t get better than the GT&FQ Rider M005.

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Costing a mere $140 / £100, but with an RRP $300 / £210, is this a decent watch? Is it good enough to challenge JLC (let’s not get too excited), or is it just another Chinese ripoff which is poorly made? Read on to find out.

The specs

• Brand: GT&FQ
• Series: Rider
• Model: M001 
• Movement: Sea-Gull Automatic ST1780
• Case: in 316L stainless steel with a silvered sunray-brushed dial
• Dimensions: 41mm (diameter) x 12mm (height) x 47mm (lug to lug)
• Crystal: Front (Sapphire) See-through case back (Mineral glass)
• Water Resistence: 5ATM (50M) 
• Weight: 76g
• Strap: Genuine Leather 
• Feature: Independent Second Hand, Date, Power Reserve Indicator
• Warranty: 1 Year

The case

I’ll just go out and say it, the Rider M001 does exceed expectations and it is indeed an excellent timepiece for the price. The case is a perfect example of how it’s impressive and is worth being considered ahead of others in this bracket. It’s well machined, the finishing is excellent, and it also has a couple of surprising little details.

The bezel is completely polished, and is separate from the case body. The bottom of the case and the exhibition caseback are both also polished, so there’s a bit of a variety in finished. Usually when this happens, the joins where both finished meet aren’t the best – and are messy or not accurate. That’s not the case here; the lines are all straight and definite.

Another thing that really impressed me is something so minor that you wouldn’t even notice at a glance – and that’s the shoulder of the lugs. They have a tiny slither of polished finishing right on the corners, that advance the whole length of the lug. Again, it’s not something that is a major feature – but you can notice it and it makes a big difference to the appearance of the case.

The exhibition caseback shows off the movement in its entirety (which is pretty ugly, see more below), with details deeply engraved around the window. The push-pull crown has a “R” embossed on the end, and the grip is good enough to provide sufficient purchase to wind it up easily. The crystal on top is a domed sapphire, and is effective at stopping reflections and has great clarity.

There’s also a little pusher for the date advance located on the side of the case located at 2. It’s pretty small, is inset into the case, and is fashioned tidily.

On the whole, the case is so well made it’s mightily impressvie for a watch costing £100.

The dial

Moving onto the dial, it’s a familiar and beautiful design thanks to the hard work of the folks at JLC. Of course, Jaeger-LeCoultre are not going to make anything ugly, so any homage is also going to be beautiful.

So the design is great (although some are concerned about the name “Rider”, and how it’s a bit lame), but the execution of it is also of a decent level.

The main base of the dial features a silvered sun-ray finish to it, which subtly catches the light and attractively rotates around based on the viewing angle. The subdials (power reserve at 10, date at 2, and small seconds at 6) are all set in on a lower level, bringing a sense of depth to the dial. The date and small seconds subdials also have a very subtle concentric circular pattern texture.

This depth is also emphasised by the edging of the dial, which falls away nicely creating a “domed” effect that works well with the domed sapphire crystal.

The printing is all reasonably fine and accurate, providing good legibility despite being on top of the sun-burst finish.

The dauphine minute and hour hands are fully polished and are pitched, supplying a good amount of reflection. The hands of the subdials are blued, most likely chemically rather than heated, but they still have a nice visual presence.

The applied hour markers are all pitched triangles (interestingly the marker at 12 is about the only difference form the JLC), and are all very well made and applied.

Just like the case, the dial has been made to a level of finish and quality that is much better than the price would suggest.

The strap

The strap on the Rider M001 is another positive. Usually on a Chinese automatic watch for around £100, the strap is the first thing to be cut back on. But I’ve been pretty happy with the quality of this strap. I’ve been wearing it a lot, and it’s lasted well – it hasn’t showed much signs of wear non the underside, and the usual crimp where the buckle resides isn’t as bad as I was expecting too. I think the leather itself is higher quality than the competition and what I’ve come to expect, therefore is lasting a bit longer. It looks the part too, with a decent alligator print applied to it and a matt finish (which I much prefer to it being a shiny patent top).

The buckle is a straight forward tang style, which works well due to the angle on the pin which minimises wear on the strap holes. It has “Rider” deeply engraved on the top bar.

The movement

The movement powering the Rider M001 is the Sea-Gull ST 1780 – the same as can be found in the Perpetual PR-02 I reviewed here (notice how the dial arrangement is the same). It’s also known as the TY2714 and has mid-level specs, such as a beat rate of 21.6k bph (6 ticks per second, but looks surprisingly smooth thanks to the small seconds hand), 28 jewels and 42 hour power reserve. It’s pretty ugly, and also not finished very well – the bridges and rotor are surprisingly grubby. But, it works well and is accurate enough for the price of the watch, so I guess it can always be serviced.

The competition

The main direct competitor I can think of is the Perpetual PR-02 (read my review here), which I have mentioned already. It’s more or less exactly the same price, at $150, but it’s a nightmare to get hold of nowadays – Perpetual Watch are only a small company making a limited amount of watches, and the waiting lists are at least 6 months, so you’d be pretty lucky to get one. So whilst I think that there’s nothing in it in terms of quality of watch between the two, I think that the Rider M001 wins it on availability.

Final comments

I’ve not been this impressed by a watch since I got my hands on my Perpetual Regulator and Power Reserve. At the current price of $140 or £100, simply put, this is a staggering timepiece.

Yes the movement looks terrible, but it performs well and offers a tremendous amount for the price, and that’s literally the only negative point I can find on this watch. Even the leather strap, which is so often the downfall of cheaper Chinese autos, is decent. The finishing of the case is above expectations, as is the dial, which features accurate applied elements and a variety of textures. 

So while the Rider M001 is under £150, I’d highly recommend it. Get one before the price rises!

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