Mondaine watches are instantly recognizable with a unified style across their dials and handsets. Particularly, you have the black hands and indices set against a white dial, most commonly, along with the red lollipop seconds hand. So, how do you go about making a model a bit more unique? You add some lume to the mix. But you see, the Mondaine stop2go Backlight does not do it in the way you would expect.
Now, yes, there is such a thing as a “dark” luminous paint, but that generally offers poor dark visibility to it (though, better than nothing in most cases). On the Mondaine stop2go Backlight, things went in a different direction. As you might have guessed already from the name of the watch, it’s the back of the hands that are coated with luminous paint. On one hand, a glowing backlight to the hands sounds (and looks) pretty cool, but then the practical concern hits – how does the lume get charged?
I’m not going to pretend to have any inside knowledge of the watch (not have I seen one in person), but we can make some educated guesses here. First, we’re going to assume it’s a healthy bit of lume on there, waiting to suck up whatever light it can. Second, you’ve got that bright white dial, which is going to to reflect a good bit of light back up onto the hands. It’s difficult to tell, but the inner portion of the case looks like it might be polished as well, further bouncing light around to the back of the hands.
Frankly, I find the approach used on the Mondaine stop2go Backlight to be pretty clever, and I’m surprised we haven’t seen it in more use. I mean, it’s a great alternative to dressier watches that are trying to decide between a tiny strip of lume, or none at all. With this approach, Mondaine kept the look and style of their watches unchanged, but added a very functional (and cool visual) touch to the watch. One that I certainly would not see showing up some more. If you want to try this out for yourself, you can pick up your own Mondaine stop2go Backlight for $265. mondaine-usa.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Mondaine stop2go Backlight
- Price: $265 and up
- Who we think it might be for: You like the Mondaine look, and want something subtly different
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The lume is the thing, of course!
Tech Specs from Mondaine
- Model number: MST.4101B.LB
- Function: stop2go, BackLight
- Movement (manufacture. Ref.): MONDAINE stop2go cal. 58-02
- Movement (type): Quartz
- Case size/diameter (mm): 41.00
- Case material: Stainless steel brushed
- Case back: Caseback with Screws
- Crown: Regular Gasket
- Crystal/Glass material: Anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal
- Water resistance (m/ft/atm): 30/100/3
- Strap/Bracelet material: Genuine leather
- Strap/Bracelet finishing: Brushed
- Strap width at lug (mm): 20.00
- Illumination: BackLight
- Origin: Swiss Made
