BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
Have you ever heard of a watch that is equipped with a fragile complication like the Tourbillon but is ready to conquer the challenging underwater environment of the seas and the oceans? Well, at least I hadn’t up until Angelus recently unveiled the U53. This new sports watch is powered by a flying Tourbillon and is water-resistant to 300 meters.
Once known for its classically styled watches, the Angelus that we know today is a brand that specializes in making modern wristwatches with heavily skeletonized dials, and the U53 is no different. The dial on the U53 has been stripped to its bare minimum, giving the wearer a complete view of the heavily open-worked automatic A-300 calibre. Operating at 4 Hz, the A-300 is characterized by its large skeletonized bridges. The movement has been designed keeping full transparency in mind. For instance, visible from the front is the barrel at 1 o’clock that stores up to 60 hours of power, the winding mechanism at 4 o’clock, the one-minute flying Tourbillon at 6:30, and a running second register at 9. The lume filled centrally mounted hands are well proportioned, and the minute hand reaches all the way to the minute chapter ring on the outer periphery. The hour index has been presented through applied rectangular indices that have also been filled with luminous paint for enhanced low-light visibility.
The case measures 46mm in diameter and has a thickness of around 12.47mm. While these numbers do sound intimidating, the case has been crafted from grade 5 Titanium to make it sit comfortably on the wrist. The case features a nice brushed finish for the most part and features some peculiar design details such as the shark-fin-inspired fixed bezel on top and chunky skeletonized lugs. There are two threaded crowns at 2 and 4 that help ensure the watch is remains water-resistant to 300 meters and are used to control the khaki-colored inner rotating bezel and winding the movement.
The new Angelus U53 is limited to just 25 pieces, and the watch comes attached to a forest green rubber strap. Every watch would also be accompanied by a khaki nylon strap. The watch will retail for CHF 39,400.
Visit Angelus here.
