Belchengruppe Offers Something Different With Inaugural Range

You’d think after all the years I’ve spent observing, handling, and dismantling watch cases, I’d kind of be over it by now. Yeah, my shrink says the same thing. What can I say? The novelty of watchmaking is the only drug to which I’ve ever been a slave. And so whenever something remotely new comes along, I can’t help but indulge my interest. Say hello to the inaugural range from Belchengruppe.

Belchengruppe had been due to exhibit at Baselworld. Sure, I was more excited to see the latest technical and aesthetic developments of the big boys, but there is a special place in my heart for smaller brands trying to find their niche. That special place in my heart bleeds for these tiny brands because the cancellation of Baselworld is a far bigger deal for them than it is for, say, Zenith, or Chopard, or De Bethune.

Established brands with fat finances will be fine. They’ll find a way to get the novelties to us or us to the novelties, and, ultimately, the news to you. Smaller brands really benefit from association with the major players with whom they get to rub shoulders at massive fairs. I would get on a plane and happily fly a few hours to hang out with Omega, Rolex, AP, you name it. Would I do the same for a brand I’d never heard of? That’s less likely. Having a quick introduction to the products and the owners, however, is all it takes to increase that likelihood tenfold. That’s what Baselworld offers brands just starting out. And if you could see the meeting calendar I had lined-up for the fair, you’d be able to see that meeting these brands was a real priority.

Brutal case design

But here we are. Coronavirus is spreading. Fear is festering. With half the industry dashing for their masks, and the other half trying to figure out if scratching their heads over what to do next counts as touching their face (which is a big no-no unless you want to die instantly from Covid-19), brands like Belchengruppe are relying on media outlets taking a flyer on reporting about stuff they’ve never seen. Well, consider this a flyer…

A heck of a lot of thought has gone into such a pared-back design…

This mini range of “two” pieces is an exercise in brutal case design. I have a watchmaker friend with whom I trained that loves stuff like this. He’s always adored the “drawing-board-brought-to-life” look. It’s a concept case. Sure, it’s a simple concept, but it unsullied by overthinking. At least, it looks that way (it’s supposed to). In reality, of course, a heck of a lot of thought has gone into such a pared-back design. The more you take away from a design, the more confident you have to be in what’s left. Getting rid of — oh, I don’t know — the majority of the natural curves you’d expect to find in a watch case is bold. The result? Something that cannot be missed on the wrist. I would love to see how this little guys wear in real life. That, above all else, would be the kicker for me.

Six options

So why did I put “two” in inverted commas? Well, you can look at this release in multiple ways. Really, what we have here is one watch with two dials, which can be fitted to cases finished in one of three ways. So, in total, there are six options. Dial A or B (named the “Visuren” and “120” dials) come in either a polished, brushed, or blasted steel housing. Personally, I’d probably take something like this in a blasted case. I would definitely steer clear of the polished model, and I’d be a little skeptical about the edges on the brushed model (but I’m open to being convinced).

It does face some incredibly stiff competition…

The movements are your regular Swiss fare. All watches from Belchengruppe (named after the Belchen mountains, by the way) run on the Sellita 290-1 movement. It’s a decent choice for a start-up, but it does face some incredibly stiff competition from extremely established brands in this price point that rely on the same or similar movements (I’m thinking of Oris, specifically). Prices for these brutalist bad-boys start at CHF 1,745 and run as high as CHF 1,995. All images used in this article were taken by Michael Himpel. You can learn more about the brand here.

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