As we all no doubt remember, my love for the Sjöö Sandström Royal Steel Worldtimer was, shall we say, controversial. Well, I still stand by my points, and it is still one of my favorite watches. There must be something in the brand’s design DNA that clicks with me, as their latest announcement has me sitting up and taking notice – the Sjöö Sandström Royal Capital Gold.

This is surprising for a rather big reason – I am generally not a fan of gold. Here though, on the Sjöö Sandström Royal Capital Gold, it works. It probably doesn’t hurt that this particular gold is 18k pink gold, which presents itself as much less brash than the typical yellow gold. I also rather like that they’ve added a date complication in this latest version.

That complication has been added to the Sjöö Sandström Royal Capital Gold courtesy of a Vaucher caliber, replete with a micro-rotor (another oddity that I find myself inexorably drawn to). While prior iterations of the Sjöö Sandström Royal Capital have relied on the Vaucher caliber 5401, this time it’s the VMF 5400 that gets the nod.

Flipping the Sjöö Sandström Royal Capital Gold back over, you get an eyeful of the silver dial (in either silver or blue finishes), topped with rose gold satin and polished finish indices. Simple stick hands pick up the shape of those indices, and keep the proportions (and legibility) spot-on for this 40mm watch. As long as we’re talking sizes, it’s worth noting the slimness that the micro-rotor-equipped Vaucher movement brings to the table. It’s just a hair over 8mm, and that’s including the curved sapphire crystal. Perhaps you don’t care about slipping a watch under your shirt cuff, but in my preferences, that’s a rather lovely bit of svelteness.

As I mentioned, this version of the Sjöö Sandström Royal Capital Gold brings a date complication to the mix. It’s a shame that the blue-dialed version doesn’t have a color-matched date wheel, but it’s not enough for me to not prefer the blue dial. I suppose when you’re only making 60 examples (30 of each dial color), custom date wheels may not be at the top of the list.

Tech Specs From Sjöö Sandström

• Case: 18K 5N pink gold, Ø40 mm, thickness 8.1 mm incl. Curved sapphire crystal.
• Dial: Silver AU-1740-1, Blue AU-1740-2, with rose gold satin and polished index.
• Caseback: 18K 5N pink gold, see-through with sapphire crystal.
• Crown: 18K 5N pink gold with engraved logo.
• Water Resistance: 10 ATM (100m)
• Bracelet: Black or Blue genuine alligator bracelet, 20 mm.
• Buckle: Folding buckle in 18K, 5N gold with engraved logo, quick adjustment of length.
• Limited edition of only 30 pieces of each execution.
• RRP: 168 800 SEK | €16,800

Then again, if I were the one to be putting €16,800 (a smidgen under $21,000) down on the sales slip, I’d be wanting that date wheel to more closely match the dial (or at least be a dark color, like an argent or black). As far as nits go to pick, that’s a small nit, but date wheels and colors are something that just seem to get under our skin. Then again, I’m not likely to have one of these on my wrist given the limited nature and pricing, so it’s a moot point for me. We’ll see if our traveling friends run across these at the show over in Basel, and see how things look in person. sjoosandstrom.se