Sometimes, coincidence strikes and allows me to make a headline that plays on a semi-obscure reference. Today is that day: Adeste Fidelis, or as it may be better known to Americans, “Come All Ye Faithful” and today’s watch on my wrist, Lideste, line up neatly.
The Lideste Prima Edizione Carrara gets a fancy name for what is, at the core, a pretty simple concept. Take good materials, make them front and center, and leave off anything else. The core of the concept begins with a beautiful dial cut from Italian marble.
The Lideste Prima Edizione Carrara is one watch, offered in six different variations. You can choose from silver, yellow gold or rose gold, and then decide if you prefer Italian leather or a Milanese mesh bracelet (which conveniently fits in the love of all things Italian that the brand owners seem to possess.) To be very clear, three colors, times two strap options equals six variants. The things that are constant here are, every watch uses a sapphire crystal, every watch uses a back engraved with the map of Italy, secured with six individual screws, and all of the strap options use quick-release spring bars for easy strap changes.
The dial is made of Carrara Marble, quarried in Carrara Italy. Marble quarried here was used in the Pantheon in ancient Rome, the Pieta in St. Peter’s Basilica, and Michelangelo’s David. It was also used for the George Washington statue on display in the National Museum of American History in Washington DC. Quarrying marble is difficult and dangerous, making this something of a watch with a story. The indices are applied, while the minute track and branding are printed.
The case sides are marked with Swiss Made, and you can be sure that it is, bearing a lovely Ronda movement powering the show. Do I care that it’s a quartz watch? No. Do I love automatic watches, and appreciate when a brand attempts to move up to self-winding mechanical? Yes. But facts are, a Swiss automatic is quite expensive, and Lideste have chosen to not equip the Prima Edizione Carrara with a seconds hand, so in practice? You don’t really notice the difference, or care.
There are, of course, things I would liked to have seen in the watch. For example, the minute hand doesn’t quite reach the minute marks. The hands are matched to the case color, and on the silver watch, it’s an easy win to have made them blued. The hands are long, slender, and peaked in the middle, so that they catch the light and play with it. The hands are slightly notched at the canon pinion. I’m less a fan of this — we saw it on the super-affordable Tissot — but it’s not bad here. The case shape is one that has a short flat side, and tapers into the case back quickly.
On the wrist, the watch wears well. It’s not too large, not too small. It’s thin, and tapers at the caseback. Subtly alerting you to the origin of the thing, SWISS MADE is engraved on the side of the case in small letters just at the rim that separates the bezel from the taper to case back. The Milanese is as comfortable as you might expect, which is to say, very comfortable. The crown is small, and half-hidden under the overhang that is the dial and case, and this also works well. The whole thing is 316L stainless steel, and water resistant to 5ATM. While the crown doesn’t screw down, the caseback held on with six screws does lend itself to being decently watertight. In colder climes when I might not perspire as much, a leather or suede strap like one from Cheapest Nato would do the treat. In this stifling Mediterranean summer, the Milanese mesh is a light weight, comfortable alternative.
All in all, there’s one nice watch, similar to others we’ve seen, but none that had a marble dial, or were executed quite this nicely in all the details in this price point and design ethos. Ultimately, if you like this sort of simplified watch (I’m avoiding the word ‘minimalist’) and appreciate the marble dial and the correct application of 2 hands instead of 3, this watch may be for you. There’s six choices in terms of color and strap, one dial, one Swiss movement, and a comfortable wear of a watch. The Lideste Prima Edizione Carrara sells for 249 EUR ($290 USD) and is available at lideste.com.
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Lideste Prima Edizione Carrara
- Price: $249 EUR or about $290 USD
- Who we think it might be for: You like a simple watch, but want one with stainless steel, sapphire crystal, and a marble dial. That is, you like the execution of taking a simple idea, and using all the best materials.
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: It’s nice, and an easy wear. My mother-in-law likes it, and my wife thinks it makes me look sexy. I need all the help I can get.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I liked blued hands, and I think they’d go well here, completing the look. I think I’d do something to make the printing less black. Perhaps a darker gray would take the starkness of black-on-white off of it.
Tech Specs from Lideste
- Case size: 40mm
- Height: 7mm
- Case material: steel
- Crystal: sapphire
- Strap: Polished Milanese mesh in stainless, or handmade Italian nubuck leather strap using pin and buckle.
- Movement: Swiss-made Ronda 762 quartz
