Peren Watches made their debut in 2014 with the Classic Chronograph, a solid, conservative quartz chronograph. It was made in Switzerland and designed in Transylvania. To the best of my knowledge, Peren is the only watch company in that particular region, and they do not let you forget it. From their fang logo to their tastefully bloody product shots, they wear their heritage in a proudly tongue-in-cheek manner, but their new model, the Son of the Dragon (SOD), takes it to a whole new level.
The SOD is a 40mm wide, 10mm thick, stainless steel chronograph powered by an ISA 8271 quartz, a double-rotor chronograph that measures 1/5th-second increments on the central second hand. Like previous Peren watches, the SOD is assembled in Switzerland. The watch takes its name from Vlad III, the notorious Prince of Wallachia, who was later known as Vlad the Impaler and became the inspiration for Count Dracula. Let’s just get this out of the way up front: 1) the watch is black with red accents, toothy markers, and a “Blood Moon” moon phase function; 2) in spite of all this, it is not a campy novelty watch. I’d call it more Tudor than True Blood as it bears a passing resemblance to the Fastrider Blackshield.
The watch has a two-layer metal dial and you can order it in any color you like so long as it’s black. Its outer ring has a pebbled texture, and it cut out around the circular date and moon phase windows at the top and bottom of the dial, forming a bat-wing silhouette. The lower section is embossed with a horizontal pattern, over which are the rings for the 30-minute and small seconds subdials. Theses registers sit high on the dial, above the 9 and 3 o’clock positions so “Peren Transylvania” takes up the remaining space between the center and the moon phase, balancing the layout.
All the key accents are red: the cut away darts of the hour markers, the insets on the gunmetal faceted hands, the sub dial indicators, the second hand with its fang logo counterweight, the moon phase, and even the printing on the black date wheel. Only the 12, 3, 6, and 9 stay black, embossed on the dial’s upper layer. The moon is particularly striking. Frankly, I have no use for a moon phase. No one does, not even vampires (they don’t react to phases of the moon, werewolves do). If you are going to have a purely decorative function, why not do it with a little style? Blood red on a black dial is the way to go.
Several variants are offered. The steel model has a brushed and polished case and bracelet. It is the only model with white text and indices for a look that is more sporty than sanguine. The grey and black models both have grey text on the dial, and both are available with either a bracelet or a black leather strap with red stitching. All watches have a domed sapphire crystal and 50m water resistance.
I think the Peren Son of the Dragon is a sharp looking timepiece that has set itself apart from the crowd with some tasty, eye-grabbing details. Apparently I’m not the only one, as the watch is fully funded and the early bird rewards are gone, but you can still order one for a very tempting $315 CAD ($240 USD). See their Kickstarter page for more.
All photos courtesy of Peren Watches
