BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
It’s easy to look at the big names in watchmaking and assume that they are the only people that can do a particular type of watch. For example, a retrograde might be seen as something belonging to Breguet or perhaps Jaeger-LeCoultre. The fact is, nearly anyone in the watch industry can do any kind of watch, but they generally stick to their guns in the design department and make watches that are pretty similar to their other models. Smaller boutique brands, like Cuervo Y Sobrinos, don’t have this problem.
The Historiador Retrógrado is a dressy piece with an elegant guilloché dial, sword hands and wild lugs, but it is not a Vacheron Constantin, despite doing the same thing. Before we go any further, we should pay special attention to the 40mm x 11.25mm stainless steel case, more specifically, its lugs. They won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but I like that they appear to have beefed up the teardrop lug shape, a classic from the history books that are rarely seen. They’re huge, but that could mean the watch is a little ungainly for those with dainty wrists.
The dial is simple, but it features a power reserve, a day of the week indicator and the retrograde date, which gives this watch the name Retrógrado. At midnight on the 31st day, the retrograde hand returns to 1 to start the cycle all over again. It’s a novel way of displaying the date. On the opposite side of the watch is the name of the day indicator, a hand with a short end and long end that simply rotates forwards as the days go by.
Powering this is the CYS 6630 calibre, which is itself based on a Soprod 9094 / ETA 2892-A2 self-winding calibre. It has a power reserve of 42 hours and a 4Hz beat rate. There appears to be a nice level of finishing done by Cuervo Y Sobrinos, but it is a little hard to tell from the press pictures.
Visit Cuervo Y Sobrinos here.
