The sporty metal watch is a timeless icon and a universal tool for gentlemen the world over. The good ones are able to adapt to any wardrobe or situation in your life with impeccable style and functionality and the new Dietrich Time Companion collection is no exception. Zurich-based Dietrich is an independent watch brand that launched in 2014 with its now discontinued Organic Time collection that had a very distinctive, avant-garde design language that was inspired by creator Emmanuel Dietrich’s artistry.
But Dietrich, a long-time and very successful designer for brands such as Hermes and Louis-Vuitton, always had the desire to create a distinctively designed sports watch, a core category of the watch industry. He began work on the design of this concept years ago. “But as always,” says Dietrich, “simplicity is the most complicated goal to reach, and this project has kept me busy for a very long time, much longer than I’d ever anticipated.”
The Dietrich Time Companion is an everyday and every-situation timepiece that ticks all the right metal watch boxes, albeit in a very DIETRICH way. The TC incorporates cues from Dietrich’s Organic Time collection and the family resemblance is clear with common DNA such as the bezel’s rounded six-sided shape. The most distinctive design element is unique to the Dietrich Time Companion and undoubtedly one of the most innovative metal bracelets we’ve seen. As Dietrich’s own design and exclusive to the brand, it employs hexagonal links that each articulate, making the watch visually striking and surprisingly comfortable.
All Dietrich Time Companion pieces are manufactured in Switzerland using tried and true ETA 2824-2 automatic movements – you’ll rarely go wrong with an accuracy rating of +/- 2 seconds per day and a 42-hour power reserve. A screw-down crown makes for 5ATM or 50m of water resistance, which is sufficient for most.
One of Dietrich’s main goals for the Time Companion was split-second legibility and we’d say that mission was very well accomplished. The dial is elegantly simple and the hands stand out in easy-to-read relief. However, Dietrich’s gone a step further and used two distinct shades of Super-LumiNova on the hands and dial. In daylight, they both appear white, but in dark conditions, the dial’s indices glow blue while the hands glow green.
The Dietrich Time Companion is available with either exposed stainless steel or black PVD coating with three dial choices (black, blue, or silver), and with either plain or engraved bezels. That makes for 12 distinct combinations starting at a retail price of $1,895, and you can learn more at dietrichamerica.com
Dietrich Time Companion Collection Specifications
•Case, frame and bezel, 316L stainless steel, vertical brushed and polished
•Screwed crown
• Black, blue, or silver dial, polished with brushed contrast surfaces
• White night luminescent Super-LumiNova on hands and indices
• Stainless steel polished screws on bezel
• Length: 42 mm/1.65 in
• Width of case: 43,8 mm/1.72 in
• Total width including the crown: 46.2 mm/1.81 in
• Height: 12.2 mm/0.48 in
• Weight with metal bracelet: about 146 gr
• Sellita SW 200-1 automatic mechanical movement
• Custom cut Sapphire glass with an anti-glare coating on both sides
• Hour, minute, central second and date
• Water resistant 5 ATM
•Swiss made