In a watch universe chock full of Rolex homages and reimaginings, there are a couple of models that seem to have fallen by the wayside: the Cellinis, Rolex’s dress watch line (understandably hard to market to a watch community mostly interested in more casual offerings), and the ref 5500 case, used most famously for the Air-King but also in an Explorer variant in the late 1950s and 1960s. Given the combined desire for more modestly sized watches and vintage Rolex styling, I find it a bit unusual that there aren’t more brands using the 34mm ref. 5500 case as a template.
It’s this unusual variant that the Asia Mechanical Watches Group (on Facebook, about 3600 members strong) chose to use as their official watch in partnership with Mathey-Tissot. Luckily for the rest of us, it’s available for public sale here. Mathey-Tissot (not to be confused with Tissot of the Swatch Group) has been making watches in Switzerland since the 1890s.
The AMWG exclusive MT369 draws a lot of inspiration from the Rolex Explorer 5500. The case measures 34mm excluding the crown and is 43mm lug to lug – the same size as the ref 5500 case. The 13mm thickness (including the domed sapphire crystal) is a bit thicker to accommodate the MT224 Peseaux movement. The tops of the lugs have a circular brushed finish, while the sides of the case and bezel are mirror polished. The crown is nicely proportioned for the case size and is easy to unscrew in order to set and wind the watch. There is a ghost position in the crown, indicating that the MT224 does have the capability of showing the date, though it’s not used in this watch. The crown is topped off with the engraved Mathey-Tissot logo, which resembles the international sign of peace. The flat caseback is brushed and engraved with “Asia Mechanical Watch Group Exclusive,” a very unfussy treatment in a world where many brands insist on fitting dissertation length descriptions back there. The 5ATM water resistance rating is not mentioned anywhere on the watch at all but is perfectly capable for normal day-to-day tasks.
The domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating was an excellent choice to top off this watch. The distortion around the edges gives it that vintage feel, but the clarity through the crystal is absolutely perfect. The dial beneath is matte black with a 3-6-9 marker layout printed in Superluminova C1 lume. The hands are polished silver and echo the classic Mercedes handset, though the hour hand uses the Mathey-Tissot logo. So instead of a Mercedes hour hand, you have a peace hour hand. The dial lume is thickly applied and is very bright, but the lume on the hands wasn’t as generous, making the hands a bit harder to see in the dark than I would like.
The AMWG MT369 uses the new Mathey Tissot MT224 calibre. From the specifications sheet, it appears to be very similar to the ETA 2428-2, which of course, is now unavailable to brands outside of Swatch Group. The movement performed extremely well while the watch was under review; the advertised power reserve of 38 hours seems to be accurate for real-world usage, and the second hand beat happily along at 28800bph. I don’t have a timing machine, so I didn’t check the rate scientifically, but I did not notice the watch losing or gaining time when I wore it multiple days in a row. The movement does hack, so it’s possible to set it accurately to the second should you so choose.
Wearing the MT369, of course, I started with it on the bracelet. The rivet-style bracelet has a brushed finish to match the case, and the solid end links fit tightly to the case. Each link is actually three pieces pinned together, so the bracelet flows more like a beads of rice bracelet around my 6.5” wrist than an Oyster bracelet. It tapers from 19mm at the case to 16mm at the deployant clasp to match the overall vintage aesthetic of the watch.
Sizing the bracelet, however, was an exercise in extreme patience, and it took my recall of all of my childhood lessons on how to find tiny dropped parts not to lose any screws in the process. The removable links are held in place by double-headed screws, meaning that you need to hold one end of the screw stationary with a screwdriver while turning the other end with another screwdriver to remove the screw. It’s a more secure configuration than a pin and collar system, but it’s about 110% secure as a single-headed screw and about 400% more frustrating to deal with. I was glad that the deployant clasp had three micro-adjustment holes (about the length of one link) because it kept me from repeating the exercise of removing links.
Like any classically styled, black dial watch, the MT 369 has the potential to be an absolute strap monster. It looks fantastic on the 19mm gray leather strap I had on hand, and I have no doubt that it would go great on a variety of other straps. The 19mm lug width is the only limiting factor, but finding straps of that width is not hard if you’re willing to look around a bit. The drilled lug holes in the case make it very easy to swap the bracelet for a strap and back again.
For the $399 purchase price, I think AMWG and Mathey-Tissot have put together a fantastic homage to the Rolex Explorer 5500. It’s solidly constructed, wearable for a variety of wrists, and in the style of the watch it pays homage to can be adapted to a variety of settings. I think AMWG is on to something with the use of the 5500 case as a template for their watch, and I hope other brands take notice and follow suit.
