There’s few things that get us more excited than the combination of a microbrand and authentic British history, cue the new Swan & Edgar Horizon – a watch that’s been assembled in Maidenhead UK by well known Horologium and utilizing a Japanese Miyota 9015 movement. As someone who’s lived in London for over 5 years in my mid 20’s, I can’t help but be intrigued by renowned British culture. This specific watch takes their heritage, such as the Battle of Britain, and their geographical landmarks such as the English Channel and transcends it into a beautiful wearable piece of horology.
Mind you, as much as we love these types of creative efforts, it’s certainly not a unique concept in its own right. We’ve witnessed brands such as Nomadic from Ireland pull off the same stunt before. What really matters to many of us watch enthusiasts is the fluidity of the watch manufacturing, and if the brand is able to follow through in execution with their stated quality control efforts and customer support. Gladly, today we’ll be taking a look at Swan & Edgar’s Horizon Blue dial variant, which I’ve had the chance to spend significant time with to test it.
First Hand Experience
Beyond the backstory of the Swan & Edgar Horizon, lays an impressively designed and thought out dress watch. A series of smart manufacturing and aesthetic choices has created a very pleasant and unique watch. The Horizon at its core is a dress watch, but it’s not dated in appearance, maintaining a modern silhouette with its round and high polished stainless steel case and the choice of a striking fume blue enamel dial.
The watch gives a first impression of quality when handled in hand, with a nice heft and solid feeling case. Passing my fingers over the subtle curvatures from the side of the case to the caseback reveals excellent manufacturing tolerances as well, with no sharp edges or mismatched parts. I’m particularly impressed with the polished finish, that appears to be expertly done around the entire watch, except of course the center of the caseback that’s intentionally finished in a what looks like a very fine matte bead blasted finish – but even that is velvety soft feeling. The caseback has the White Cliffs of Dover embossed horizontally across it in a nice landscape format.
The lugs are perfectly crafted on this watch, which is apparent just by looking at its profile, and even more so when placed on wrist. For a 39mm case size the Horizon could not fit any better on my 6.5 inch wrist. The lugs contour my wrist perfectly, leaving no visible gaps, and providing a surprisingly comfortable fit on wrist. Without sounding outlandish, I’m compelled to say that I get a budget Moser vibe from this watch. I believe this is due to the round case case shape, domed bezel, and curved lugs in combination with the fume blue dial – a series of watchmaking design choices that Moser has perfected over the years. Of course in the instance of the Horizon, the oomph is toned down due to the more affordable choices of materials and levels of craftsmanship that allows this watch to be sold at a fair $1091.00 USD.
The Dial
Upon first inspecting the dial I wasn’t overly convinced about its finishing technique, the finish looked a touch too glossy to my eye, and I was able to pick up a slight “egg shell” pattern under the right lighting during extreme macro inspection. This led me to dig into the manufacturing process of the dial, and ultimately revealing that it’s actually been kiln-fired at high temperatures and then finished with a Swiss Berlac enamel. What initially appeared to me as a synthetic dial, has turned out to be quite a complex and well thought out finishing technique with quality materials. The light refractions off the dial, and the subtle texturing is authentic. If the dial were to be matte finished with a grained texture like you see on most fume dial’s, I’m not sure it would produce the striking depth of color that this one has. The fume gradient is very pronounced, shifting from an almost shoreline soft blue in the center, to a deep and dark nearly black blue on the outer fringes of the dial. In terms of the color tonality, this is one of the best I’ve seen if matching the sea’s natural appearance is the goal.
The Swan & Edgar logo, as well as the Horizon one line branding is placed at the 6’oclock position, leaving the rest of the dial feeling free and open. The date wheel border is round, complimenting the round shape of the case. The dauphene hands are quite traditional, but in my opinion really suit the overall appearance of this dress watch. Many of the aesthetic choices have been tastefully implemented, and I commend a new watch brand making such great decisions right out of the gate. The seconds hand is needle shaped and has a red tip for easy spotting against the gradually darker background.
One peculiar aspect of the dial is the 18k gold plated triangle at 12’oclock. This is a design aspect that could be overlooked if you’re not familiar with some of the UK’s history. The triangle honors the Battle of Britain “Raf Sector Clock”, and has the number 12 painted in black using the a custom font inspired by the original clock. Encapsulating the dial is a double domed sapphire crystal with an applied anti reflective coating. The doming of the crystal is very subtle but its present, and is a nice final touch to the Horizon.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, this is a watch that is bathed in historic British iconicism. It has a good mix of historical events and geographical landmarks intertwined into its design philosophy. What’s truly impressive about this watch is the diligence and execution in conveying these points – they are not heartlessly thrown into the mix to create and sell just another watch with British influence. What I’m experiencing with this sample that we have on hand is actually quite the opposite of that, with impressive attention to detail and a carefully thought out layout – this appears to be a true enthusiast watch coming from a new microbrand that should be on your radar.
For more information on specs and release date visit the Swan & Edgar London official website here.
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