You are probably already familiar with the Swiss Railways clock – even if you don’t know it by name. With its bold, black-and-white dial and red lollipop second hand, its face is an icon of mid-century modern design. Mondaine made it a wristwatch in 1986, and in the ensuing decades, it has seen numerous variations. I reviewed the SBB Classic Fall back in 2017 and today, I’ve got the new Evo2 Automatic.
This isn’t Mondaine’s first automatic Railways Watch, but it is one of the few. A quick browse through their catalog reveals a high quartz-to-auto ratio. Those quartz units are quality Ronda movements but that won’t assuage the disappointed watch nerd who despairs at the sight of a huge red jumping second hand. For those of us who crave mechanicals, this is the model we are looking for. Peek through the Evo2 Automatic’s exhibition case back, and you will see a 26-jewel Sellita SW200-1 with a signed rotor hard at work. Flip it to the front, and enjoy the second hand’s smooth 28.8k bph sweep.
Mondaine offers the watch in 35mm and 40mm wide brushed stainless steel cases. I sampled the larger of the two. It is 46mm long and 10mm thick. An automatic movement will generally be a good deal taller and heavier than a quartz, and you definitely notice the extra heft in the Evo2 Automatic. This is not a bad thing. Indeed, I found it to be a pleasant reminder that this one has a rotor, not a battery.
While the Evo2’s brushed, bowed sides and modest lugs make the barrel look substantial – an impression accentuated by the broad dial – it is by no means oversized. Take a look at those dimensions again. At just 10mm from the sapphire case back to the sapphire crystal, you can wear this watch with almost anything. I found it to be a comfortable fit on my 6.75″ wrist. The slim profile likely comes at the expense of some water resistance, but this is a Railway watch, not a submarine watch, so its 50m rating is more than sufficient.
The crown is particularly well done. It’s a push-pull unit with a signed, red inset head. Raised, broadly-spaced bars provide sufficient grip while recalling the bar markings printed on the dial.
Oh… that dial! This is the feature that draws so many to the Swiss Railways collection. To call it legible would be a vast understatement. The face was designed to be read at a glance while rushing for your train across a crowded terminal. Even scaled-down, it is impossible to miss it on your wrist. I’m particularly fascinated by the bulbous tip of the second hand because it seems counter-intuitive (seconds are small, ergo second hands must be pointy), yet it makes perfect sense when you see it in action. Like the rest of the collection, the evo2 Automatic features the Mondaine brand and the Swiss Railways log (with abbreviations in German, French, and Italian) at the top of the dial. The only addition is “Automatic” at the bottom. A 3 o’clock date window is smoothly integrated and does not truncate its neighboring hour marker. If I have to criticize something (and I must) I would be its lack of nighttime visibility. High contrast goes only so far in the dark. Mondaine does have a clever back-lit version with SuperLunimova on the underside of the hands, but not for the Automatic.
My sample arrived on a 20mm stainless steel mesh strap, secured by a signed deployant clasp. It is a good pairing for this watch and easy to adjust. If mesh is not your thing, Mondaine also offers it with red and black leather straps, or you can shop the a la carte strap assortment in their web store.
I have described the Mondaine Swiss Railways Watch as “smart casual” and I’d apply the same descriptor here. It’s too bold for a dress watch, and with no lume and only average water resistance, it is not equipped to be a tool watch, but it works well for just about any of your day-to-day activities in between.
The Mondaine Evo2 Automatic has an MSRP of $720. That is a significant premium over most of the quartz models, but you are getting a Swiss mechanical movement and, in my humble opinion, the best-looking case in the Railway collection. The Evo2 Automatic is available from Mondaine and authorized retailers. For more information visit Mondaine.com.
