From Hoptroff’s website:
Hoptroff delivers elegant timepieces that embrace the very latest technology. An electromechanical movement, manufactured in-house using Bluetooth technology to allow wireless time and data updates.
Each timepiece in the collection offers a novel complication. Pioneering manufacturing technologies allow a degree of bespoke customisation last seen in the true luxury maisons of the past. Each timepiece is unique and answers to only one owner.
You can email us at info@hoptroff.com
For technical support, contact support@hoptroff.com
You can call +44 (0)20 7127 0605
You can write to:
Hoptroff London
74/75 County Street
London SE1 4AD
United Kingdom

Watch Model: Sports Watch

Price: approximately $1480 usd

The Hotblack Sports gives you live sports results, wherever you are. Out to dinner, on the road, in a meeting. Be the first to know.

In normal operation the left and top dials combine to indicate the date, and the bottom dial ticks seconds, wiper-style. But when you want to follow a live match, select it on your smartphone. The home team’s score is shown on the top dial, while the away team’s score is shown on the left dial. The bottom dial shows elapsed match time.

The live data requires an iPhone to access score updates. Download the app to check which sports and leagues are currently supported. Android phone support from 2015.

In vertical-brushed, black-PVD coated stainless steel with a sapphire crystal, the Hotblack range is waterproof to 5 atmospheres, 10 second/year accuracy and a 5 year battery. The hands and hour digits are coated in superluminova. The calendar is perpetual and automatically adjusts for daylight saving and leap seconds. When you order, be sure to specify if you want the pushers on the right (for right-handed people) or the left (for left-handed people).

The Packaging:

The watch comes in a appropriate ‘black’ box and it’s a traditional two part box set up. The outter box is cardboard with a removable lid labeled with Hotblack London and the inner box is a nice high gloss watch box with a hinged lid. Nothing out of the ordinary but it gets the job done. The watch inside is clasped to a watch pillow and the crystal & caseback have a clear plastic protector attached for added protection.

The Case:

The first thing I noticed about the Hoptroff Sports Watch is that how sleek it is because of the vertical brushed PVD coating which reminds me of a high performance sports car. The 44mm case is very beautiful and you can immediately see the amount of care that went into the detailing with the PVD coating on the stainless steel case. On the 3 o’clock side of the case are two button pushers but no crown. I was immediately intrigued by the fact there was no crown as I don’t think I have ever owned a watch without a crown. The pushers are very easy to operate and are used for various functions which will be explained later in the review along with how to set the time. The caseback is fastened down by 6 screws that are also black which adds to the overall sleek and stealth feel to the watch. The sides of the case have a matte black finish which contrasts quite nicely with the high gloss finish on the rest of the case. The lugs are pretty short which allows the watch to sit nicely on the wrist even for small or larger wrists. The case is water resistant to 5 atm though it is advised that swimming with the watch on is not a good idea. I agree.

The Dial:

The dial is matte black with white numerals, text and hands. There are 3 subdials on the dial located at the 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions. The subdial at 12 indicates the home teams score and the date units, the subdial at 9 indicates the away teams score and the date tens, and the subdial at 6 indicates the match elapsed time and rocking seconds. I will explain what the sub dials mean in the features section of this review. The dial is very easy to read because of the nice crisp white set against the matte dial along with the sapphire cystal. The hands are very simple which helps keep the dial very clean. Even with all the subdial and numerals, this dial is still very clean and easy to read. Accomplishing this is actually quite difficult but Hoptroff managed to get all this on the dial, yet keep it clean and legible. Underneath the subdial at six, features name of the model ‘Hotblack’ and the origin of  Hoptroff  ‘London’. With the exclusion of 6,9,12 because of the subdials, the other Arabic numerals are present on the dial along with hash marks for the minutes printed in crisp white.

The Bracelet:

The black PVD coated bracelet matches the case perfectly. It features the traditional folding clasp style with micro adjustment for those inbetween wrist sizes. The clasp is very easy to operate and the clasps locks into place without any play. The clasp is engraved with Hotblack London. The bracelet links are pretty thin which helps with the overall weight and wearing comfort of the watch. The removable links are held in place by screw in style pins, which I am becoming a fan of the more I review watches with them.

Wrist shot:

For reference my wrist is 7 3/4″

The Functions and How It Works:

Having a a smartphone or tablet is a must if you want to take advantage of the awesome features of the Hotblack Sports Watch. First download the Hoptroff App onto your device, the app is free to download.

Once the app is downloaded, enter the app to get started.

To connect your watch to your device make sure your Bluetooth is turned on your phone or tablet, then select the new connection option in the Hoptroff app. On your Sports watch press the top pusher at the 2 o’clock position. A sub menu will appear:

Select the watch model you want to connect, and click the box, this would be the box labeled Hotblack Sports as shown in the picture above. Once your watch is connected then it’s time to play! By clicking the football option it will bring up a menu of all the current live matches in which you can select which game you wish to follow on your Hotblack Sports Watch. The top subdial will indicate the home teams score, the subdial at the 9 o’clock position indicates the away teams score and the bottom subdial is the elapsed time in the match.

The Hidden Treasures menu is also very cool filled with some cool information such as temperature, GMT time as seen in the picture below.

There is also a Test and Service- diagnostic menu that you can test the watches motor which checks all the dials by moving every hand on the watch. Not only is it helpful to run the tests, but is also so cool to watch the hands move all around, very sci fi esque.

Another menu allows you to align the hands on the watch manually in every direction.

Conclusion:

The Hoptroff Sports Watch is a very unique watch, so unique in fact that I never experienced a watch like it. In this day and age of the “smart watch” the Hotblack Sports Watch still retains all that I love about a watch without going overboard on the gimicky tech aspect. Just because your gadget goes on your wrist doesn’t make it a watch in my opinion, a smart watch is more of a technology filled bracelet than what I would classify as a watch.

I love the simple, clean dial on this watch, you can’t beat matte black with white, it’s a stunning combo. This was a very hard watch to photograph though because of the high gloss PVD finish getting the right angle without catching the camera reflection or glare was very difficult to accomplish. I do like a challenge though. The watch is extremely easy to operate using the also easy to navigate Hoptroff app. It’s an addicting watch to use because of the app features. It wears very comfortable on the wrist as well. I’m very excited to try this watch on a vintage leather strap, I think it will present beautifully in that combination.

This is a great watch for everyday use and for those sports fan that need to keep track of those scores. It’s a tech filled watch but retains that historical feel  that make a timepiece just that, a beautiful timepiece.

A very special thank you to Richard Hoptroff for making this review possible. You are a great person to deal with and the ease of communication made this experience even better.