Nezumi Studios Voiture Chronograph

Today we get to take a look at the Nezumi Studios Voiture Chronograph, a watch designed with that 60’s/70’s vibe, a throwback if you will.

Vintage style watches have become all the craze lately, with Omega, Tudor and others doing modern renditions of their classics and micro brands have been getting in on the action as well. Nezumi Studios is a Swedish Company known for producing denim and leather goods, but they have been developing this chronograph now for about a year, and it’s almost ready for launch. As a matter of fact they will be going to Kickstarter September 14th and early bird pricing should be $260 Euro or $295 USD with a retail price of around $512 USD.

The model I have in hand is a prototype, and with that there will be some changes/upgrades for the production model.

Below are full specifications:

• Stainless Steel Case
• 40mm wide excluding crown
• 47mm lug to lug
• 20mm lug width
• 11.5mm thick including domed Sapphire Crystal
• Movement: Modified Seiko VK63 Mecha-Quartz (date removed)
• Vintage Color Radium Superluminova
• Genuine Italian Leather Strap with Stainless Buckle

So what is with the vintage craze in the watch world? Maybe it’s just like fashion and style, we always go back to the past through the decades, maybe it is because many are wanting a more classic size and look. Whatever it is, it is popular, and I would say rightly so. These classic styles are being brought back with the same looks but with upgraded components such as solid stainless steel cases and sapphire crystals.

The movement used here is the Seiko Mecha-Quartz, which if you are not familiar with, gives the pushers a very nice mechanical feel and the orange tachy hand flies right back to 12 to reset, very much the same with an automatic chronograph

The case at 40mm has a fixed bezel and aluminum insert, push-pull crown, domed sapphire, and a sandwich dial. You might be saying there is a sandwich dial? Well, yes, there is. Unlike some sandwich dials we have become accustomed to where the lower dial is a lume dial and the upper dial has stencil markers, Nezumi Studios chose to go with applied markers and have the 3 sub dials be the lower level, giving the dial some depth. The top dial is a matte finish while the sub dials have a slight gloss to them, with a CD pattern, which is a circular texture.

The case has a mix of brushed and polished finishes, with the main case all finely brushed. The high polished areas can be seen on the outer portion of the bezel, crown and pushers and the case back. The lugs curve downward sharply, which reminds me of classic Rolex or Tudor cases. The case of the prototype is well finished, no rough edges, smooth lines and fine brushed and polished areas. The case back is not particularly fancy but is a snap on caseback, with a mirror polish and frosted finish with the Nezumi logo and information etched into it.

Since this is a prototype, there are going to be some changes, as is usual. One of them will be the strap. This is NOT the strap that will come with the Voiture, this is one the brand owner just put one it. The production version will have high quality Italian leather straps I am told, which should be much nicer than the current strap it is on.

Some other changes:

• The dial is too white. Production will be an off white color.
• markers will be a more pronounced white
• orange dial writing will match the orange tachy hand
• no date function with the crown

Overall, the prototype is pretty close. The production will be even better with the above changes/upgrades. Since the leather strap provided is not the best, it is hard to get a good feel for comfort overall, but the case itself sits nice on the wrist, and has that classic look and feel on the my 7 ½ wrist. I can not speak of packaging at this time, because I was not provided with any. I am not sure if it will be just standard packaging or some kind of leather travel roll, but I am sure it will be nice. The lume is bright, but because the hands and markers are small, do not expect to be blown away. Also, the lume will be the old radium lume for production, so it may look different at that time.

At an early bird price of around $300, I believe many who like the vintage style of watches combined with the Seiko Mecha-Quartz and domed sapphire, this should be a good value. Nezumi Studios plans to have a few stretch goals, one of them being a more classic looking domed sapphire crystal that will more accurately resemble acrylic crystals of old. And if you really like the Voiture, and just can’t wait till their Kickstarter campaign starts and their production begins and would like to have this exact prototype, you can!

Check out WatchReport on Instagram. @WatchReport. This is the only place you can enter to win. Find the giveaway post and follow instructions to enter. And if you don’t win, no biggie, check out Nezumi Studios on Kickstarter for the Voiture September 14th and help fund the way to what appears will be a nice classic chronograph.

Follow Nezumi on Instagram as well, to stay updated with progress, different color options for the Voiture and more. @NezumiStudios. You can also find them on Facebook, and their official site HERE.
Thank you to Nezumi for providing this sample for review, and allowing us to do a giveaway with them. Watchreport will have a follow up review with the production model. I look forward to your comments.