Yesterday, we started taking a look at the Chronoflite World Time from Ernst Benz. Today, we’ll wrap up our review of this piece.
Speaking of day-to-day use, this watch worked just fine – though I will admit that the 47mm stainless steel case is a bit larger than I’d prefer to wear. That larger case has plenty of room for the ETA 2893-2A automatic Swiss movement, which can be see easily enough through the sapphire crystal around back, which complements the domed sapphire up front (with the requisite anti-reflective coating of course).
On the edges of that case, you’ve of course got two nicely knurled crowns. Those seal up nicely (double o-rings), giving the whole package a water resistance rating of 50 meters. Should you find yourself in darker water (hopefully not too deep, of course), you’ve got a decent coating of lume on the hands and the dial. Not quite to the levels of an Orange Monster, but it’ll allow you to tell the time at night.
Oh, and how is all this staying in place on your wrist? You’ll have your choice of a few handmade alligator straps, calf leather, or stainless steel bracelet to nestle in between those 22mm lugs. Again, due to to the sizing of the case, this strap felt just a touch on the small side for my tastes, in terms of the width. Of course, it does help to keep things from being too bulky under your wrist while sitting at the desk.
And, with a watch that comes in just north of $5000, you’re going to want to be wearing it all the time. Should you pull the trigger on this Ernst Benz model, you’ll have your choice of a white or black dial, as well as having outer bezel note Paris or Geneve as the city. Is this watch for you? That’s a hard question for me to answer.
The styling is spot on, and there’s a nice bit of mechanical kit tucked away into the case. For me, the case size was larger than something I’d prefer to wear, and I personally am not looking to add a watch at this price point to my own collection. In the end, I guess the decision is just going to be up to you if this watch is going to land on your wrist or not.
And of course, if this one isn’t to your tastes, you can check out Ernst Benz’s full collection here.
