“I want the purple one!”
Alan Tsao had asked me to choose one of his new Tsao Baltimore Legacy prototypes for an unboxing video on the brand’s Facebook page. Mike Razak wanted the Green Fume. The Royal Fume and Midnight Gray looked rather lovely too, and all of them seemed promising in the bronze case, but Raven (purple) in the stainless steel case was the one that called (cawed?) to me. I had to have it for the video and this subsequent review. The Facebook live stream was a success, and I was indeed duly impressed with the watch and its lush jewel tone. You can watch it here, but if you want more than my rambling first impressions under admittedly dodgy lighting, read on because the Legacy has a lot to offer.
The Legacy is Alan’s fourth offering. Its dual-crown, compressor-style case and internal bezel mark it as a sports watch, and it has the goods to back that up: 200m water resistance, screw-down crowns, a double-domed and AR-coated sapphire crystal, and bright SuperLuminova. Still, it is a more elegant design than many tool watches. A good part of this can be chalked up to size. The stainless steel tonneau case is Tsao’s smallest, measuring 40mm wide, 48mm long, and 13.6mm thick with 20mm between the lugs. This is a proper mid-size that should sit comfortably on many, just as it did on my 6.75″ wrist.
Shape and finishing also play roles in the dress/sports equation. Flat planes and sheer angles with pronounced vertical brushing impart visual heft, reminding you that this is a stout block of stainless steel – a look leaned out in profile by a deep, polished and grooved undercut that forms a lug-to-lug arc, creating the illusion of a much slimmer, curved-back case. At the same time, brightly polished bevels along the edges of the case and bezel soften the slabs to add a touch of elegance.
Angular cases look particularly good when paired with a proper bracelet like the excellent unit supplied with the steel Legacy. It tapers from 20mm at the legs to 18mm at the clasp. Each brushed link is just 3mm thick and 6.3mm long, allowing a smooth flow over your wrist and ensuring that you will get your preferred length. Alan opted for the pin-and-collar system, and the good thing about this is that they are tight and won’t fall out; however, the bad thing is that they are tight and a pain to remove. Experience has taught me that if I just bring such bracelets to my watchmaker for sizing, I can get the fit I want while significantly decreasing the chances of inadvertently teaching my kids the word “motherfucker.” Win-win.
Pinch the two handy tabs of the quick-release springbars, and you can appreciate the tight tolerance between the case and those wedge-shaped end links. I mean, just look at those things! They are machined nearly down to a knife’s edge. I wouldn’t try to slice a tomato with one, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
My love affair with the bracelet cools a bit with the clasp. It is perfectly nice, mind you. It’s signed, beveled, properly finished, and the push-button diver’s extension is a treat. When closed, it is 8.5mm thick, which is proportionate to the case – a rare and wonderful thing as many dive watch brands are fitting extension clasps with the aesthetics of a steel shoe box. I am confident that most people will love it. And yet, for the second dress/sports review in a row, I found myself wishing for a seamless dual deployant clasp that would take up less space and allow me to enjoy the smooth flow of those links without interruption. Picky? Yes. Taste-specific? You bet. But this is my review, and frankly, the Legacy gives me precious little to complain about.
Alas, bronze aficionados will not get a bracelet and will instead have to make do with an equally lovely brown Horween leather strap. I did not sample one of those, but I did try the Legacy on some of my own and found it works quite well on a strap. Indeed, the watch spent a good bit of wrist time fastened with a black textile strap swiped from my Werenbach Leonov.
While we are poking about on the underside, I should draw your attention to the case back where engraved text surrounds the sapphire display window, as well as the outer edge. All of it is finely rendered and cleanly engraved. It’s a simple thing, but it really elevates the watch. You also get a view of the movement, your choice of a Soprod C125 GMT or a three-hand Sellita SW200-1 automatic like the one in the review sample. The BMI rotor you see here not a reminder to check your body mass index, but a collaboration with the Baltimore Museum of Industry and will not be in production models. That one will carry a Maryland flag motif like the one Alan showed us in the unboxing video. But that’s not the most exciting news. You see, the Sellita will ultimately give way to the new MD-1, an ETA 2824 clone like the Sellita, but assembled and tested in Hagerstown. This is a big step forward for American watch production, and at that point, the only way to make the Legacy more Maryland would be to sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on it.
Now, let’s take in that purple majesty dial. On the video, I noted how dark it was. Alan takes color seriously, and I have seen him sweat over getting the perfect shade. Raven is an impressively deep color under most lighting, not quite as bright as that used for a certain Baltimore NFL franchise’s uniforms, but once the sunlight catches the vertical brushing in that dial, look out. It becomes magnificently vivid. I’ve tried to capture some of the variations in my photos, but suffice to say; you will not be disappointed.
Orange accents on the bezel, second hand tip, and “Automatic” label complement the princely hue, while the white text, index, and lume provide high contrast for legibility. Sandwich construction gives the dial some depth, and I was pleased to see that the 6 o’clock date window is neatly beveled, and the rehaut is brushed and colored to match the dial. GMTs get a 24-hour bezel, three handers get 12-hours, allowing you to use it as a poor man’s GMT. The reflections off of the crystal’s edge do get weird when you are viewing it dead-on in the dark, but I assure you, in practice, that lumed inner bezel is perfectly legible.
The signed twin crowns on the Legacy are fraternal, not identical. Unscrew the top one without the rings, and you will find fluid bi-directional movement with just a hint of a mechanical feel. I absolutely loved that. It isn’t ratchety like most external bezels, nor is it devoid of friction like many internals. Rather, it provides satisfying tactile feedback of the same kind you might experience when shifting gears through a smooth manual gearbox. It was one of many little things in this watch that added up to a gratifying experience.
I would be remiss if I didn’t address the Legacy’s packaging. It arrives in an unassuming black cardboard box housing a dandy pebbled leather case that holds three watches in its suede-lined interior. Snaps secure each sturdy pillow to the walls on either side. It’s a clever system, ideal for transporting large watches on bracelets, and about ten times more useful than a wooden display box.
So there we have it. The Tsao Baltimore Legacy is sophisticated, versatile, strikingly handsome, and expertly executed. Full retail will be $650 for the three-hand and $1,100 for the GMT, making the $650/$899 pre-sale pricing all the more appealing, although I doubt there will be that many left. Tsao is only producing 75 of each three-hand and 25 of each GMT. If you hop onto TsaoBaltimore.com, you can see how many people have entered the waiting list for each watch, and this Raven has 112 people in the queue. If you have your heart set on a particular model, I’d suggest you sign up now and be prepared to push that “add to cart” button the minute Tsao opens the gates at 10:00 AM, Thursday, February 18.
Buy the purple one. You’ll love it.
