That's what this review could have been called if this watch had been featured in the franchise about the retired assassin John Wick. Agree, if a watch of this brand were to appear on the wrist of Scott Winston, manager of the New York branch of the Continental hotel chain, it would be interesting. But, unfortunately, watches from another brand appear in the film, so let’s leave our imaginations and move on directly to the review.
I love that in the watch world you can always discover something for yourself. Be it fresh new items, some iconic models from the past and interesting facts associated with them, or even entire brands that I had never even heard of or was only superficially familiar with. For me this year they were M2Z, Mathey-Tissot, D1 Milano and now Continental.
The model we are reviewing today is a chronograph watch in an interesting emerald color. The shade is chosen very competently: it is not bright, not flashy, but you definitely won’t go unnoticed in such a watch. In the discussion of this model, some people complained - where and with what to wear such a watch?
Yes, this is not a universal watch for all occasions, but there are a lot of scenarios where you can wear it. Be it a working day in the office, an informal meeting at a club, a walk on vacation and many, many more. As for color, it can be combined with clothes or left as the main accent.
The watch has an interesting optical illusion. The first thought that flashes through your head when looking at the watch is how big it is! Yes, the case with a diameter of 43 mm is not the most compact, but this effect is achieved not by the size of the watch, but by the almost complete absence of a bezel. Visually, it seems that the entire surface of the watch is occupied by a dial covered with a large sapphire crystal.
The watch has an internal inclined bezel with a tachymeter scale printed on it. It is quite wide, but due to the fact that it is painted in the color of the dial, it smoothly flows into it and seems to be part of it. The massiveness of the watch is given by the overall thickness (12 mm) and the geometry of the case, which does not try to smooth out the corners, but has deliberately straight, simple shapes.
The lugs do not protrude much beyond the watch case; they are anatomically curved down, which ensures a comfortable fit, despite everything said above.
In addition to the interest in the watch itself and the brand, which was new to me, a separate point was getting to know the watch mechanism.
The watch is equipped with a quartz movement “RL Z60”, which was first presented in 2013 at the Baselworld exhibition (the largest annual international exhibition of watches and jewelry). It is Ronda's first quartz caliber, measuring 13 and 1/4 inches, with a chronograph function. Many consider it the answer to the quartz caliber “G10.211” from ETA.
I have a watch with the “G10.211” movement, but I haven’t dealt with the “RL Z60” before. I was doubly interested in meeting him and comparing both calibers myself. Without going into too much technical detail, I’ll just note that the “RL Z60” does not have any precious stones in its composition, while the “G10.211” has 4 of them.
Visually, the location of the playpens on the dial is identical, but the functionality and purpose are different:
- the hour and minute hands are located in their rightful place, but the second hand works in the right arena between the “2” and “3” o’clock marks (in “G10.211” it is located in the lower arena at “6 o’clock”) ;
- The 30-minute chronograph is implemented by two hands - this is the central hand, counting the seconds, and the minute hand in the lower arena at “6 o’clock” (in “G10.211” three hands are responsible for the chronograph function and, as we can see, a counter of tenths of seconds in "RL Z60" donated);
- the remaining left playpen, between the “9” and “10” o’clock marks, acquired the function of indicating the day of the week.
I will not judge which mechanism is more convenient or more functional. They are different and give us the opportunity to choose the option that is closer and more important to everyone.
The playpens themselves are designed in their own way, have their own markings and divisions of different heights. On the one hand, this causes a certain imbalance, but on the other, it introduces a touch of originality and visually highlights the purpose of each playpen. The chronograph buttons are pressed clearly and have a tight, pleasant action.
The hour and minute hands are thin and long, I would even say that the minute hand is too long. Readability is good, but not perfect. Personally, I would like the hands to be thicker, but then their harmony with the hour markers would be disrupted. The phosphor is present in both, but due to its small width, it is not bright and does not shine for long. The date is placed at 4 o'clock. Black numbers on a white background, as well as the date window itself, look a little foreign.
The company logo is present on the crown and clasp of the leather strap. The back cover also has a logo and minimal technical information. All of them are laser engraved. The engraving itself is shallow, has an almost flat texture and stands out only due to the contrast of polished and matte surfaces.
This model is sold on a brown leather strap. The texture imitates crocodile skin. It is soft and comfortable, but seems a bit thin for such a massive body. There are options on the Milanese bracelet in other colors, but in my opinion, it doesn’t suit them at all.
