Sometimes, it’s all about the color. Take the James & Muriel Timekeeper for instance. Many of its elements look familiar: the mid-sized round case, wire style lugs, Ronda quartz movement with small seconds, even the trendy “This & That” format brand name. We’ve seen more than a few of these watches. I’ve owned one or two. Yet when James & Muriel asked me to review their prototype, I immediately said yes because I really, really dig that sunset dial.
Let me be clear, while the TimeKeeper is certainly familiar, familiar is not bad. The polished 41mm wide, 45mm long stainless steel case is exactly the right size for my 6.75” wrist and being only 10mm thick, it is a sensible choice when suiting up for the office. The 20mm black calf leather strap is appropriately neutral and dressy. Quick-release pins are a plus. Water resistance is 50m, which is not exactly tool watch territory, but more than ample for daily wear, especially given that the TimeKeeper is more of what I would call a fashionable dress/casual piece.
A scratch-resistant, flat sapphire crystal protects things up front. Out back, things are a bit more mundane. There is no case back art of which to speak, just a matte surface and a small logo. The signed crown, on the other hand, is nicely done: its size is proportionate to that of the case, its split shape is eye-catching, and its coin edge affords easy grip.
The 6 jewel, gold plated, Swiss made Ronda Slimtech 1069 inside is a serviceable unit and a reliable performer, unlikely to give its owner much trouble apart from a battery change every two years or so (helpfully telegraphed by an end-of-life indicator). Also, while I try not to be a movement snob, I admit that I prefer my quartz watches not exhibit a jumpy second hand tick. A 6 o’clock small seconds like this one goes far to mask that irritating telltale.
Now we can finally get to that dial. It has a field watch 12/24-hour layout, a 60-minute index, and baton hands. There is no lume, which is disappointing for a true field watch, but less so given the TimeKeeper’s more fashionable design brief. Of the three colors available, the Horizon Blue is the most striking. A luscious orange small seconds bursts from a matte field of deep blue – true blue, mind you, not navy. It is lovely. All other elements on that blue field are white except for the orange five-minute markers. It’s a striking, satisfying look.
James & Muriel offer the watch in white and black as well. The white dial displays the same attention to color as the blue, showing pops of orange, bright blue hands, and a gray 24-hour index among the otherwise black-on-white printing. The black dial is the most conventional and to my eye, the least interesting. There is nothing at all wrong with the white and gray on black, it’s just a little too close to what we might have expected. A dash of orange and blue would have been quite attractive and also afforded the three variants a unified brand identity.
James and Muriel plan to launch the watch on Kickstarter later this month. Pricing is not yet finalized, but you can expect to pay between $170-190, which is impulse-buy good. For more information and to sign up notice of those early-bird bargains, head over to JamesAndMuriel.co. ⬩
