Introducing: The All-New Serica 1174 Parade With A Black Or Brass Sunburst Guilloché Dial
Here at Fratello, we’ve closely followed Serica’s progress since its founding in 2019. We know the Parisian brand for its vintage-inspired yet fresh-looking and attractive watches. Both founders — Jérôme Burgert and Gabriel Vachette — pay great attention to (design) details. When they told us they were working on a dressier piece, it piqued our curiosity. The brand’s current field, dive, and GMT watches all have a recognizable design signature. But how is a less sporty, more elegant model going to fit in there? Well, it’s time to find out, as the all-new Serica 1174 Parade is here.
Up to now, all of the watches from Serica have had a fairly standard shape with a round case and somewhat twisted lugs. “Up to now,” indeed, because the new 1174 Parade has more of an eclipse shape, and the strap connects directly to the case. It’s also the first time that the dial has a sunburst finish and a guilloché pattern. Let’s see how all those firsts come together on the new Serica 1174 Parade, which is available with either a black or brass-colored dial.
The all-new Serica 1174 Parade
I’ll go over the dimensions of Serica’s new creation first because I think that’s what most people are most curious about. The stainless steel case is 35mm wide, 41mm long, and only 8.6mm thick. The thing is, though, those dimensions don’t tell you much about how this thing wears on your wrist. But I’ll get back to that later on. In its press release, Serica says that the Parade has a stadium-like shape. I hadn’t thought of that, but I guess it’s true with the rounded ends and the straights connecting the two in the middle.
It’s funny; even though the initial shape of the Parade is very different from other Serica watches, it’s still recognizable as a watch from the same brand. That’s thanks to the broad bezel with vertical brushing on top and a polished bevel. Of course, the bezel on the brand’s 6190 Field Chronometer is circular, but other than that, it’s identical. Underneath it, there’s another ring, which creates a step before getting to the actual case. While the bezel and the ring underneath it indeed have a stadium-like shape, the case itself flares out a bit with “wings” on the right and left sides. It’s polished on top and horizontally brushed on the flanks.
Comfortably nestled inside the right wing is the fairly small push/pull crown. With it, you can set and wind the Swiss-made Soprod M100 automatic movement inside. This familiar movement runs at a frequency of 28,800vph, features 25 jewels, and holds a power reserve of 42 hours.
A black or brass sunburst guilloché dial
For the Serica 1174 Parade, you can choose between a black or brass-colored dial. In both cases, the dial has a sunburst finish in combination with an S-curved guilloché pattern, and at each hour, there’s a tiny applied marker. The Parade only has hands for the hours and minutes. They are polished and domed and have a leaf/sword shape.
While the finishing and texture are similar for both dial colors, they are much more apparent on the brass version. As you can see in the pictures, the sunburst effect and guilloché curves are less visible on the black dial.
The only text on the dial is the “Serica Swiss” indication at 6 o’clock. We know Serica watches never have a logo on the dial, but there are usually some specs on there. I get why Jérôme and Gabriel left those out on this dressier watch.
However, it’s still nice to know that the Parade is just as sturdy and capable as the sportier-looking watches in Serica’s portfolio. The case back attaches to the case with four screws that go all the way into the bezel. This construction makes the Parade water resistant down to 100 meters, so this is not a dress watch you have to take off when doing the dishes at home or washing your hands.
You can even take it for a swim, but I’d recommend you swap out the 18mm black calfskin strap for something else in that case. By the way, that strap tapers to an elegant 14mm, and it comes with a curved, brushed, and polished papillon pin buckle that resembles the Parade’s stadium-like shape.
On the wrist
When I first held the new Serica 1174 in my hand, it felt a bit big. When I think of a dress watch, I think of my 34mm Breguet 5907, for example. The Parade is almost just as wide, but it’s quite a bit longer than that. However, when I put it on my 17cm wrist, surprisingly, the size felt quite good. The stepped case has a lot of wrist presence, and the thin and lug-less design is comfortable. The many brushed and polished facets make for interesting light play. I hope we’ll get to spend more time with the Parade soon for a more proper hands-on article.
Initial impressions
Maybe it’s because of its slightly bigger size or the distinctive bezel, but the Parade feels sportier than your average dress watch. In that sense, it fits very well in the Serica portfolio. But that’s also why I’m not completely convinced about the sunburst finish and guilloché decoration on the dial. I would love to see what other textures or finishes would look like in combination with the eclipse-shaped case. Nevertheless, I do feel Jérôme and Gabriel created a very original take on the modern dress watch. I also like that there’s an automatic movement inside and that it’s water resistant to 100 meters. That makes it a very capable dress watch that you don’t need to baby or wind all the time.
The all-new Serica 1174 Parade costs €1,490 and comes, as mentioned, on a black calfskin strap. It’s available now from the official Serica website and the brand’s boutique in Paris.
Let me know your first impressions of the new Serica 1174 Parade in the comments below.
