I have made no secret over the past year or so of my affection for the watches that GoS have been creating. This is due in large part to the damascus steel, of course, but it’s also how they play with color in the treatment of those dials that really grabs my attention. Well, Baselworld is just around the corner, so it make sense that they’d announce a new model – the GoS Väring.
With the various watches that GoS have been creating, they also look to honor the land and history of Sweden, where they’re based. This time around, it’s the Swedish Vikings that get the nod. Rather than trying to repackage the history, let me just quote what the brand has to say:
The Byzantine Emperor founded the Varanguan guard around the end of the 10th century to serve as elite troops and his own personal body guards. The guard members were Vikings and the origins of the name Varanguan is from the Norse name Väring and the word Vár, which means Fidelity. During the same period, a man destined to be a local viking leader was born in the village of Kareby. Kareby later grew to become Linkoping, and that man’s name was Varing.
Now, if you ask me, going back to the 10th century for inspiration means, yeah, bronze seems to be thematically fitting. In this case, the bronze shows up on the caseback, chapter ring, and handset. All of the other metal you see will be GoS’s damascus steel. It should make for an interesting combination of materials, and I can only imagine those dials will be treated in an interesting color that sets off the bronze quite nicely. Outside of that, the only other non-bronze parts will be the movement, crystals, and case screws.
The GoS Väring will be showing up on their website soon, and the first prototype (serial #0) will be introduced, at production-level quality, at Baselworld later this month. As of the time of this writing, all twelve examples that will be made are still available, with pricing coming in at $16,500. goswatches.com
Tech Specs from GoS
- Case: 43.5mmx10.5mm (5ATM) made in Stainless Damascus steel case ring and Bronze (CuSn8) case back and bezel. The bronze parts have a satinized finish that is lightly patinated while the chamfers are high gloss polished.
- Lug width: 22mm
- Glass: Flat sapphire glass with double sided AR coating, extra hard on outside
- Movement: GoS02 caliber based on Technotime TT718 and manufactured to COSC specifications. The movement has a center second hand and ticks at 4Hz (28,800) with a 120 hour power reserve. It has a classic finishing with deep polished beveled edges and satinized top
- Dial: 192 layered steel monochrome Damascus steel with a pools pattern. Tempered coloring of dial available as an option and every clients gets to choose their dial from a minimum of two alternatives
- Index ring/rehaut: Solid Bronze, handfinished patinated surfaces and polished chamfers. The bottom layerof the index ring is white/green luminescent and provide raking light on the damascus steel dial
- Hands: Solid bronze, handfinished with pre-patinized surfaces and polished chamfers
- Crown: 8.5mm in finegrained stainless damascus stainless steel, fileworked edge, double gasket crown inset
- Case finishing: Stainless damascus steel, high gloss polished with GoS logo engraved on case side. Bronze parts satinized and patinized to slightly darken the Bronze. All chamfers handpolished to a high-gloss Bronze surface that will patinate with use
- Strap:HandcraftedMooseleatherfittedwithstainlesssteelGoSbuckle
- Every watch engraved with its production number 1-12/12
- Five-year guarantee
- Delivered in handcrafted presentation box in Walnut, made by Kanevad wood artists in Linköping and engraved with viking knot patterns.
