June 7th, 2024

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to make this announcement. The @officialerrei protipo, the Walrus, has arrived. This will become a fixture on my feed every Wednesday, for Walrus Wednesdays. Seems appropriate 🤷🏻‍♂️ I am very excited to spend some quality time with this prototype that came from the house of Bettarini.

Here are the specs:

Movement: Mechanic, automatic winding ETA, ø 26 mm Hours : minutes : central seconds
Power reserve: 38 hours, 28800 beats/hours, 25 rubies
Case: B14 bronze, patinated micropeened finish (43 mm x 14mm)
Caseback: Grade 5 titanium, secured to the case by 6 DIN 912 screws. Watertightness guaranteed by o-rings
Lugs: 20 mm
Pressure-resistant and waterproof to 1000 m
Crown: B14 bronze, patinated finish, with 18 Kt gold medal Watertightness secured by 2 o-rings
Crystal domed sapphire (5,3 mm)
Dial: 33 mm, luminescent minute markers and numerals

Initial impressions: the case design, the B14 bronze with their patented micropeened finish is what definitely caught my attention first. The massive domed crystal is what grabbed my eyes next. I am looking forward to delving deeper into this piece.

For those who aren’t familiar with @officialerrei, “In 2014, Fratelli Bettarini s.r.l. was born out of the desire of Diletta, Gherardo, and Lapo, the “Bettarini brothers (and sister)” to carry on the project of their father, Alessandro, co-founder of Ennebi and master watchmaker.”

“The company R&I – Relojes e Instrumentos is born from a very simple idea: to create and supply to a public of experts, professionals, collectors or simply enthusiasts, mechanical precision watches of the highest quality created, with an innovative design and extreme solutions, designed and handmade, offering the possibility of customising them to meet the needs of our customers. These features make our products unique, tailor-made.“

June 14th, 2024

A masterpiece of a case?!? I am quite convinced that no one can do a better case than Bettarini. Sure there are a ton of great watchmakers out there doing fantastic work, but in my opinion Bettarini is a true master. The shape of his cases are so romantically poetic with how they flow. You team that flow with his patented finish and that’s how you make a hard to beat case. This 43mm case is so well balanced. This watch has been on my wrist every day since it has arrived and I have to say that no matter what I am doing, it remains perfectly balanced. Despite its dimensions, the Walrus still has that wrist presence that watches have that are from the house of Bettarini.

The B14 bronze case looks absolutely fantastic from the get go. I love how the patina and finish looks even after this short time of me wearing it. The more bronze watches I experience, the quicker it is edging out grade 5 titanium as my favorite case material. There’s a magic with bronze that no other case material has.

His crown designs are equally phenomenal. If you aren’t interested in listening to me go on about this, then just allow the pics to do the talking. The B14 bronze crown with its , patinated finish, and 18 Kt gold medal looks stunning. The crown functions just as beautifully as it looks. I love that @officialerrei crowns are push/pull but are still 1000M water resistant. Watertightness of the crown is secured by 2 o-rings. The crown is a great example of a trifecta of watchmaking. It’s beautiful in terms of aesthetics, it’s functionally sound in terms of operating and it’s engineered with precision.

June 19th, 2024

The sea of green on this dial is so deep and so beautiful. I’m a matte black dial guy through and through, but there is something quite captivating about this green dial. Maybe it has something to do with the large domed 5.3mm thick crystal or maybe it has something to do with the darker shade of green. I do know that it works incredibly well and it compliments the bronze case incredibly well also. The no date dial is something that needs to be applauded here. It’s all about the symmetry and the flow. This dial definitely has both flow and symmetry. Set against the deep forest green, the white markers and hands are perfectly legible. The dial is relatively clean with just the R & I moon logo that is just under the 12H position.

I appreciate the style of the hour and minute hands, as they are classic Bettarini. In my opinion though, the second hand is the star of the hands show. I love the length of the second hand. It reaches slightly past the seconds markers. The orange and black color combo makes for a nice & legible choice. The hour markers are sized appropriately for the dial itself. What I mean when I say appropriately is that the markers aren’t too small or too large, they are symmetrical to the size of the dial. There’s not that crammed together feeling on this dial. It’s a simple dial, but not generic simple. The simplicity of the dial was something that takes planning and precision. It doesn’t happen by chance.

I love a dial that is legible at quick glance. The Walrus definitely falls into that category. I rely heavily upon my watches at work and I need them to be a quick glance legible watch. This is crucial for me especially when both of my hands are occupied. There’s no starting and stopping a stopwatch. I need to look at the dial quickly to get a start and then again to get a stop time. What I time ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes. Being able to do so efficiently is the magic of a legible dial and that’s exactly what this dial is, extremely legible.

June 26th, 2024

This watch has made it on my wrist every day since its arrival. It’s such a well balanced watch that wears incredibly well, yes it has smaller dimensions yet still retains that badass wrist presence that watches from house of Bettarini are known for.

“Walrus is many things, from the world of music to animal kingdom, passing by the only submarines still operational today of the Royal Netherlands Navy (that apparently are all named after sea mammals).”

The ETA 2824 is a workhorse of a movement that has proven itself over and over and over again. It’s a great choice of movements for this piece. The Walrus has a nice 1000m of pressure resistance which I appreciate more with watches like this with a push/pull crown. That little bit of engineering just impresses me.

I am impressed by this watch through and through. Did that surprise me? No, but I never assume a watch is going to be good or bad, until I experience it first hand. I find it astonishing that some people will write off watches or praise a watch, without ever even experiencing it. I always say that experience is the best teacher and I will always stand by that.

This is definitely an evolution piece in the lineage of Bettarini! It combines the old charm of the Italian watchmaking from yesteryear while infusing with new design details such as the size, bezel, lug spacing, and overall balance of the watch case.

July 3rd, 2024

The amount of detail and care that Bettarini and the R&I crew put into their watches is pretty damn spectacular. Take for example the crown on this watch. The crown is its own work of art, with an intricate amount of tiny details that is like a microscopic little city. I’m not typically a fan of gold but it’s magical the way Bettarini uses gold to accentuate the beauty of his watches. As intricate as the details are, Bettarini’s watches are so incredibly simple. Not in the simplicity from lack of effort either. That’s another form of Bettarini’s magic. He has perfected the simplistic complicated. A horological oxymoron!

This is one of those watches that keeps getting better the more time that you spend with it. It’s not the typical watch from the house of Bettarini yet it works so well and retains that classic Italian watchmaking DNA. The only detail that I didn’t care for is the strap it came on. I typically don’t fault a company for the OEM straps or bracelets because I am such a custom strap nerd that I almost always change them regardless of how good or how mediocre they are. The OEM strap is well made, but this custom leather works so much better in my opinion. That’s the cool thing about straps, we can always find one that better matches our unique preferences.

The crystal was definitely a surprise detail on the Walrus. I didn’t realize just how domed the crystal was until I got my hands on this watch. It became one of my favorite details on this watch. The green dial was another surprise because I didn’t realize how much I was going to appreciate it until my matte black loving ass started to spend every day with this watch, which has been every single day since June 6th.

I definitely can say without a single doubt in my mind that I can recommend this watch to anyone who is looking for a watch that has old school watch making, great quality, engineering and functions without failure.

July 10th, 2024

This watch wears so incredibly well. It’s one of the most well balanced watches I’ve experienced. I’ve worn this watch hiking, during yard work, at work, working out and at play. The Walrus never once became uncomfortable or a nuisance on my wrist. There were times when my wrist would fluctuate and I had to adjust the strap accordingly.

Changing the strap is an easy task with the solid screw bars and armed with a flathead screwdriver. Easy yes, but so damn secure as opposed to spring bars or quick release spring bars. In my opinion, real tool watches don’t have spring bars/quick release springs bars.

The lume on the Walrus is extremely well done. Glows brightly and through the night, which is something I prefer. When I wake up in the middle of the night, it’s the watch on my wrist that is what I reference for the time. It’s a quick glance and then hopefully back to sleep. The Walrus is incredibly legible therefore quick glance readability is something that can be done with great ease.

Another detail that I appreciate on the Walrus is the crown. I already established what a beautifully designed crown it is, but it’s just as good functionality too. Easy to grip and operate while it’s on the wrist and off the wrist. I appreciate a crown that can be just as functional while I’m sitting on the couch or if I’m hiking in the rain.

The Walrus is quickly becoming a favorite for me. It’s different enough to give me that something new & unique feeling but retains what I love about the Italian house this watch came from. This watch is full of charm, good quality and tried & tested engineering. Alessandro Bettarini has been around this industry for a long time and his knowledge, his skills are apparent throughout this watch.

Thank you all for reading this review and thank you to Alessandro Bettarini & the team at R&I