Brushed Dial Movado M95 Sub Sea

There is a Scandinavian ideal known as Janteloven, which is a bit tricky to define but I’m going to try. Broadly, it’s a laughably egalitarian ideal that eschews any expressions of extreme individuality or success. In plain English, it’s a concept that aims to make the opposite of ostentation aspirational. Now, I enjoy a good horological peacocking as much as everyone save perhaps @dimepiece or @165club. But despite my better intentions, my Swedish heritage slips through every once in awhile. When you simply feel a bit silly bidding 350K on a steel 1463 at Phillips these days only to wear it to dinner occasionally and perhaps whilst making toast around the house, Movado has you covered. In fact, it’s its own flavor of FB case that’s equally cool and looks just as beautifully timeless on wrist. Particularly this one.

When you’re a watch nerd to the level that you can recognize parts, not just watches, you’ll get it. You’ll see a Singer dial in five watches. Or a Spillman. François Borgel, who crafted cases for the Tasti Tondi, is hard to come by. But he made this alternative case which is equally Tasti. Case craft and lug shape is entirely responsible for how we interface with watches—how they wear, their degree of subtlety and many other feelings. This 35.5mm steel stepped-bezel with early water resistant construction has been made by the master and it shows. In addition, it’s one of just a handful that I’ve ever seen with a vertically brushed dial, not quite linen but textured deeply to that effect. And, of course, the quirky serpentine hands that everyone loves, fortunately in blued steel here.

Amongst all the neo-vintage masters who referenced the Tasti Tondi, I’m thinking Roger Dubuis and Franck Muller mostly, it’s worth noting that there’s a truly vintage watch which did the same in many ways. The 1463 will forever be king. But the fact that you can get a similar vintage aesthetic with a comparable case at not just less than 100K, but less that 10K, is remarkable. Better still, no Saudi oil magnate, Russian oligarch, or sponsored Hollywood starlet would ever sport one. It’s as much of the people as a VW and the sort of watch that you’d only wear if you knew what you were doing. I can remember a time when I was first getting into watches and I didn’t know what ‘FB case’ meant. Now I do: fucking beautiful.

This example appears to be in great shape also. The dial shows a few marks across the tachymetre, but no major damage. The tritium is pretty much gone, but still doesn’t look too bad if you like a bit of rough. I’d leave it, but that’d be an easy fix. Most importantly, though, the case is lovely. Great lugs, back, everything. It comes from a well-regarded Dutch collector, available on Instagram only for now, but may show up on Chrono24 shortly.