Allow me to introduce you to something new that came to my doorstep last week, the 1918 pilot watch from Vario

* For those of you who aren’t familiar with Vario:

“Vario is an online store for watches and watch accessories that allows you to vary and expand your unique style and grow your personal watch and accessories collection. Our brand is about variation and striking a balance between sophistication, quality, and fun.

As we all know, there is no better statement of your sophistication than a smart looking wrist watch. Ivan’s watch design journey began when he couldn’t find a watch strap that shouts out his personality and thus Vario was born in

2016. Armed with his decade of experience in design as an award winning graphic designer running his own studio along with Judy, he brings the same dedication to the watches he design and produce.”

Here are the 1918’s Pilot Watch specs:

Case diameter: 40mm

Case thickness: 10mm

Dial: Enamel

Crystal: 2mm double domed sapphire with inner AR applied

Lug width: 20mm

Lug to lug: 48mm

Lume: C3 Lume

Case Material: 316L stainless steel

Caseback: Sapphire exhibition caseback

Crown: Push-Pull crown

Movement: Miyota 8N33 handwound nickel movement with non-hacking seconds. 17 jewels 21.6kpbh more than 40 hours power reserve

Water resistance: 5 atm

https://vario.sg/collections/vario-1918-pilot-handwound

I love that Vario went with a handwound movement on this one. Such a perfect choice for this style of watch. There’s something so satisfying and therapeutic about hand winding a watch. It makes me so happy. I kind of wish that it was a screw down crown but we can’t always get every detail that we want.

What I like about Vario is that they are consistently improving on bringing us an affordable beater watch. $388 usd for this piece is quite remarkable. The case is a combination of polished and brushed finish. I would have liked to see an all brushed or all blasted case. I’m not a fan of polished finish. That should be reserved for dress watches in my opinion.

The brushed finish on this case is beautifully done. The crown is well done too. Again, it would have had a more aesthetically pleasing look if it wasn’t polished. The crown is easily gripped and functions well when winding and when setting the time. Vario finished off the crown with their etched V logo.

The case back gives you a fantastic view of the Miyota movement. There’s an endearing quality/quirk with the Miyota movement, aka the Miyota stutter. The second hand occasionally stutters or stops for a few seconds. Don’t be alarmed this doesn’t affect the accuracy of the watch whatsoever. The stutter has to do with what’s called the indirect drive system. There’s an excellent article about it on the Caliber Corner website. They explain it in great detail and it’s a great read. The stutter used to bother me years ago but once I understood the why behind it, I think it’s an endearing quality of the movement.

I am really digging this little beater of a watch from Vario. The vintage inspired dial is quite lovely. I love the large numerals teamed up with the rail track style minutes. Those will always have a special place in my heart because my first real watch was not only a pilot inspired tool watch but also had that rail track detail on the dial. The cathedral style hands are the perfect addition for this dial. Vario committed to this vintage aesthetic and didn’t make it feel gimmicky at all. I absolutely love that the hands have a brushed/matte finish and aren’t polished. Vario gets huge points for that in my book. I know it’s not part of the dial, but the solid wire lugs are another detail where Vario gets major points for, but more about later.

What I also appreciate about this dial is how simple the text is, just a simple ‘Vario’ on the dial and that’s it! Vario executed “the kiss” technique here brilliantly! They kept it simple. Finishing off the dial is the long second hand with just a touch of color. The red tip is a simple yet lovely detail.

Another lovely detail is the C3 lume that Vario treated the hands to, but the loveliness didn’t stop there, each of the numerals are coated with an application of lume. This for me is a major bonus, especially since these numerals are so damn beautiful to begin with!

Imagine being a pilot back in the day, having both hands occupied in critical moments where a quick glance at your watch is all that you can get in to time a mission to the second?!? Some of those early pilot watches had the angled dial with that exact thought in mind. I love that Vario chose to do this detail with their take on their pilot watch.

The solid wire lugs are also a design detail that I applaud Vario for committing to! As much as I loved the Crepas Hydrographer watch, the faux wire lugs with a spring bar was a detail that I definitely didn’t like. I don’t like faux details that don’t serve a function. For example, decorative screws on a bezel. If the screws aren’t actually holding the bezel in place, don’t do the faux route, in my opinion it cheapens the whole experience. I love when a company commits to their design vision like Vario did on this watch. That will always earn my respect.

Vario is doing some very special things and they manage to do so with a specific budget in mind. That’s a huge commitment in my opinion. They aren’t bringing you rehashed, played out designs either. Each of their watches are unique in that very charming Vario-esque style that I love.

Vario is definitely a brand that is worthy of way more attention than it is currently getting. They are a special brand that if you haven’t checked them out, do yourself a favor and do so now. You should definitely check out what they are releasing next, it’s so unique!

An affordable and beautiful beater of a watch. Affordable is one of those easily tossed around words in the watch community. What is affordable?!? Well I guess it comes down to the individual. This watch is $388. A price that I would consider affordable for a watch with the details it has. The hands, the 2mm domed sapphire crystal, the lume, the 8N33 handwound nickel movement and the solid wire lugs all are nice details for this price point. All of the details are executed well and everything functions as well as to be expected.

I have said it before, when a watch gives me absolutely everything that I am looking for, price becomes more irrelevant to me. For example, the SeL Omnidiver was the ultimate tool watch I spent decades searching for. Knowing what I know now about that watch, had it been thousands more, I still would have bought it because it gave me everything I was searching for…….and then some.

The 1918 pilot gives me a hand wound movement, good lume, an attractive vintage inspired design, for a great price that I wouldn’t feel guilty about abusing…….honestly that’s all my watches, I never feel guilty about actually using, scratching, denting up my watches.

You all know me well enough to know that case size doesn’t matter to me, it’s just an irrelevant detail in my opinion. That being said, the 1918 is a great size for working on my Jeep. I wear a watch 24/7. The only time my watches come off is when I shower because I prefer patina, dirty, etc….When I’m working on my Jeep, of course there’s a watch on my wrist.

Sometimes I need to get my hands and arms in a tight area so this watch is definitely a good choice to strap on my wrist. A good example of the classic tale of the right tool for the right job!

I am quite pleased that Vario went with a hand wound movement. While it’s no Unitas 6497, it’s still a good choice for this watch. The hand cranker of a movement adds to the overall appeal of this watch for me. One detail that I think would have made this watch more appealing would have been a hunters case back, with its hinged “door” that swings open revealing the open window to the movement. A detail that would have added a bit more of that authentic vintage aesthetic.

That suggestion and the suggestion of eliminating the polished details from this watch are the only changes that I would make to this watch. My suggestions aren’t pointing a “you did something wrong” finger at Vario, my suggestions are just things I would personally change to improve upon my wearing experience of this watch. The watch is an excellent value for the dollar. We hear that tossed around all the time, but this holds true with this watch.

This watch is a little strap monster. That’s another example of a term that is thrown around quite loosely. After this shoot, ! threw this watch on a green NATO, and it changed this watch in a major way for me. It actually has made me appreciate this watch to a whole other level. I love that a simple strap change can completely alter the experience with a watch.

Probably my favorite Vario watch released to date. I want a Popeye watch, but have yet to have luck finding one. That might be my favorite design though.

What I appreciate most about Vario is that they keep their watches are an extremely affordable price point. I have never had one quality issue with any Vario watch I owned and this is an excellent example of affordable watches can be made with good quality without being cheaply made. I have owned some $4k+ watches that the quality was completely rubbish.

Price doesn’t always dictate quality!!!

I have to get some lume shots of this one because the lume is actually really nice. The case shape and the crystal are the two details that really stand out for me with this watch. I would have liked a screw down crown on this one but I can’t always have everything that I want and I am ok with that.

Those of you who are looking for a nicely made and affordable pilot watch with a hand wound movement, this watch is a great place to start looking. Ivan and Judy are great to deal with. They are extremely friendly and extremely helpful in terms of strong customer service skills.

Vario has carved out a nice niche in the world of microbrands. They have a nice following and a good reputation. I can’t recommend them enough.

The common theme I have found consistently is that this affordable watch is that price doesn’t dictate quality. I like all the details that Vario packed into this piece but kept the price under $400. That to me is impressive and important for those watch fans who are on a budget.

The other thing I like about this watch is the vintage inspired doesn’t feel gimmicky like it is trying to hard. There’s a fine line between vintage inspired and making a watch feel like a gimmick. An example of what I consider going over that line into the gimmicky realm is faux patina. I rather a watches naturally ages with my daily abuse. Faux patina on the hands and markers are something I dislike as well. I am glad that Vario kept the dial black with white hour markers and finished off the dial with classic cathedral style hands.

The icing on this dial cake is the railroad track minute markers. It just screams classic pilot watch. My first real watch had this style minute markers so it will always hold a special place in my heart whenever I see a watch with them. I appreciate that Vario topped this dial off with a nice 2mm double domed sapphire crystal. You all know that I would have preferred a plexi crystal but that’s what other watches are for.

I recently had a revelation about wants on a watch. Perhaps I have mentioned this before, but there are suggestions that will improve a watch and there are personal design wants.

Design wants are always fun to think about but when you start adding too many on your want list, soon you will just have a bunch of watches that are exactly the same. I have grown to love all the different details on my watches that make them uniquely individual.

As simple as this watch is, there are so many details that I really appreciate on this watch. I tried to highlight them all in today’s series. Something that I appreciate about Vario is that they occasionally post polls during the design process, allowing their fans to have a say in certain design details. It’s always nice when a company listens to their fans/customers.

Something else that I admire about Vario is their commitment to progression while maintaining their own unique identity. I have seen so many microbrands lose sight of their identity while trying to chase success. Vario has kept true to their DNA but maintaining a forward moving motion.