Via Huckberry: Antoine Arnaud Spirit of St. Louis Chrono – $199.98 ($248)
Note: Huckberry is a flash-sale site that requires you to hand over an email address for access. More on them here. Meanwhile, you can find two other models of this watch in their watch shop.
Yes, for $200 there are plenty of good looking automatic watches out there. But for those of us who are suckers for a well executed Chronograph, this has to be one of the better looking options under $200.
And it’s a real stunner.
Miyota Quartz + Mineral Glass might not get a watch snob’s pulse racing (or even elevated), but the vintage hands & font, domed crystal, and sturdy feel means it shouldn’t be written off by those of us who aren’t obsessed with horology. For whatever reason, the big watch manufacturers just don’t make affordable watches that look like this.
The Antoine Arnaud brand was originally launched via indiegogo, but now appears to be in full scale production. Huckberry has been selling their Spirit of St. Louis chrono for just a touch under $200. That’s right around what they were going for during the indiegogo campaign at 149€. They now retail for 179€, or, $241, but getting your hands on one over on this side of the atlantic might be difficult (they’ll ship to you direct, but it’s an extra $20).
44mm case is larger but doesn’t wear enormous, thanks in part to a slimmer body. Lug width is 20mm instead of 22mm (which you’d expect on a 42+mm case) and that helps add to the dress-watch look. The suede on the strap has a shorter nap (almost nubuck) but it’s plenty flexible, right out of the box. The pushers for the chronograph also have a vintage look to them, and they even put an engraved, stylized “A” on top of the crown.
Does this watch lean heavily on it’s looks, instead of its guts, when it comes to pricing? Yeah. And in this case, many of us are gonna be more than fine with that.
Enter here to win this Antoine Arnaud Spirit of St. Louis Chronograph. One entry per person. Deadline for entry is 11:59 pm ET 7/24/14. Huge thanks to Huckberry for passing along one of these watches for a review + giveaway!
Update: Congrats to J. Anthony who won the drawing for this Antoine Arnaud Spirit of St. Louis Chronograph. Also, thanks again to Huckberry for providing the watch for review & giveaway…
