Three years ago, Indian brand Bangalore Watch Company continued its efforts to create watches tied to Indian culture, history, and achievement by introducing the Apogee. The model line celebrated the Indian space program, featuring a ceramic-coated steel case, an internal bezel for a second time zone, and a depiction of the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, on the caseback. This year, the brand has tried to one-up itself. Not content with making a space-themed watch, Bangalore decided to send a watch into the stratosphere to see how it fared when pushed to the limits. The new limited-edition Bangalore Watch Company Apogee Karman Line celebrates the flight by introducing a blue meteorite dial to the line.
To test the Apogee in space, BWC worked with a UK-based space engineering firm to hitch a ride on a stratospheric flight in a high-altitude balloon. The watch reached an altitude of 35km before a controlled descent. On landing, it was examined and found to be functioning perfectly, having withstood -65°C temperatures and re-entry shock forces. It’s cool to know a watch can go really high and make the trip without suffering damage or mechanical failure, and the Apogee Karman Line is pressure tested to -1 ATM. At the same time, there’s a bit of showmanship going on here, similar to testing a dive watch to anything beyond 300m: plenty of cool, very little practicality. There’s also the fact that it is generally agreed that the Karman Line extends from 80km-100km; as with many space endeavors, perhaps the naming is aspirational.
The case of the Apogee Karman Line remains the same as the original, with a tonneau shape accented by knurled steel crowns at 2 and 4 and measuring 40mm in diameter and 44mm lug-to-lug. In my experience, the Apogee wears stout due to its hooded lugs but never crosses the line into feeling chunky. For some, it may well cross that line, though, and the flatter case and 12mm thickness could amplify the effect. Bangalore Watch Co. introduced a new (to the brand) material with the Apogee that it calls Cerasteel™. Instead of a straight steel case, the model is clad in a ceramic coating for a softer, smoother feel and a look that appears more modern and refined. While here, the Cerasteel™ is executed in a matte black, my favorite so far was the white of the Manzinus model. Incidentally, that version featured a small disc of meteorite at 6 o’clock, the brand’s first use of the material. The watch is water resistant to 100m and comes on a black leather strap with a custom pin buckle.
The dial is where I think the Karman Line LE really shines. While BWC describes this as a blue meteorite, there appears to be a lot more going on here. Using slices from the Muonionalusta meteorite, the dial appears to be a play of blues and greens and purples that go far beyond other blue meteorite dials I’ve seen. The interior bezel, controlled by the 2 o’clock crown, offers added dual-time functionality with a 12/24-hour scale. Legibilityseems to be intact with the rhodium-plated hands and indices, all of which have Super-LumiNova C3 applied. For the curious: the coordinates on the dial are those of Sriharikota, an island just off the east coast of India that is home to the Satish Dhawan Space Center. The date window is unoffensive and clear, but I would have replaced it with a 6 o’clock marker to keep the focus on the meteorite dial.
While the original Apogee models featured the common Sellita SW200, the Apogee Karman Line gets an upgrade with the La Joux-Perret G100. Built on the Miyota 9000 platform, the G100 is upgraded with improved finishing and Swiss componentry. The G100 was introduced in 2022 to take on Sellita and ETA, and most notably (especially when compared to its base caliber), it delivers a 68-hour power reserve at 28,800vph, with standard accuracy of -/+12 seconds per day. While the caseback isn’t shown in these press photos, it is reported to share the same design as the previous versions, with a depiction of Aryabhata, India’s first satellite, traveling through space above Earth.
Whatever you think of space-themed watches, the marketing around them, or the ubiquity of meteorite amongst them, the Apogee Karman Line seems to be doing it all well. The coloring of the dial is really what grabs you, and even writing this, I kept looking at the dial over and over again, studying the tell-tale patterning and its variations. I imagine the way it plays in the light when in person is even more captivating. The Bangalore Watch Co. Apogee Karman Line is priced at INR 240,000 (approximately $2,850 USD) and limited to 50 pieces. For more information, please visit the Bangalore Watch Company website.
