Introduction: Batavi Amsterdam Kosmopoliet GMT
Batavi’s aim is to give watch lovers something for the eye and for the soul. A combination of vintage aesthetics mixed with Dutch minimalism. A watch to enjoy, be proud of, and one that can be worn daily without worries.
Batavi Amsterdam Kosmopoliet GMT
Batavi is a young Dutch watch brand based in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The addition of Amsterdam, below the brand name in the dial, is purely for recognition and attention purposes. The first model of the brand, the Noordzee — which translates to Northsea in English — was a rather mediocre 100M sports watch with a Miyota movement and uni-directional diver’s bezel. Batavi has now, however, very much improved its game for its second watch, the Kosmopoliet GMT. Kosmopoliet, by the way, easily translates to English with Cosmopolite or world citizen.
History of Batavi
In fact, it’s the history of the Batavi. Batavi as a watch brand took its name from an ancient Germanic tribe that lived around the modern Dutch Rhine delta from the second half of the first century BC to the third century AD. An area that the Romans called Insula Batavorum — Island of the Batavi. Today, this would be an area in The Netherlands between the Lower Rhine and the Waal river. It would land somewhere between the cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen.
Painting of the Batavi, Otto Eerelman, 1861
The name Batavi came from batawiz, the ancient Germanic plural of batuz. Batuz didn’t mean anything less than “good”. Some translations peg it as meaning “the best”. So that makes it a pretty decent choice for a new watch brand. That’ll do it for today’s history lesson. Back to what Batavi means nowadays.
The movement
As said, compared to their first watch, Batavi really stepped up its game with this second model. The brand went so far that there’s not much left to wish for. Let’s start with its heart. The Batavi Kosmopoliet GMT uses a Swiss Made ETA 2893-2 automatic movement. A well-known and trustworthy 21 jewel caliber, running at a frequency of 28,800vph and offering a power reserve of 50 hours.
…ETA 2893-2 Advanced
An ETA 2893-2 caliber is available in several quality levels. The Batavi Kosmopoliet GMT uses the Advanced execution. In short, for the insiders, this is an Elaboré movement with the bridge, rotor, and some other parts decorated. Pictured below is one of the prototypes with a regular Elaboré 2893-2 movement. Just to give you an idea — we get to the price of the watch later — the going price for such a movement is around €250.
A 200M Stainless Steel casing
A solidly constructed 39 mm stainless steel casing protects the movement. The attractive diameter of this watch perfectly suits its thickness of 12.5 mm. It’s very balanced. The lug width is 20 mm, while the lug-to-lug distance is 48 mm. Special notice should be for the nice chamfers on the side of the lugs. Further, the crown is of the screw-down type and is signed BA (Batavi Amsterdam).
…yet another sapphire crystal in the exhibition case back…
Double domed sapphire crystal closes the watch upfront. But that’s not it. The bi-directional rotating bezel has a sapphire insert as well. And, turning the watch around, we’ll find yet another sapphire crystal in the exhibition case back, unveiling the aforementioned ETA movement.
Dial and hands
Sandwich dials often are a sign of excellence, exactly why Batavi chose that feature in their Kosmopoliet GMT. And in my opinion, it suits it very well. On second glance there’s this nice little detail of a two-layer dial. The color of the underlying luminous Swiss SuperLuminova C3 material is a creamy off-white. It resembles the discolored tritium which one finds on vintage watches.
The same luminous material is used in all four hands, with exactly the same color as well. Another thing to mention about the hands is their length, perfectly adjusted to the index dots and minute track in the dial.
Straps and bracelet
The Batavi Kosmopoliet GMT will be introduced in — at least — four different versions. Medina, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles. All with different color schemes, and with a different set of bands. All versions will be equipped with a stainless steel bracelet, a slightly curved rubber strap, and a soft-nylon NATO-type strap. Only the first 100 pieces of the watch will be supplied with a premium leather strap for free. If you don’t manage to order one of the 100 Super-Earlybird offers, there’s the possibility to order the leather strap for €88 extra.
That premium leather strap is something to be very happy about. It’s supplied by Belgium Molequin, which is known for its fine and soft leathers. But the NATO strap is also of better quality than we often see. It certainly feels much softer. The material is like that of a car security belt.
…a Kickstarter campaign
The Batavi Amsterdam Kosmopoliet GMT is offered through a Kickstarter campaign. Initially, four versions will be introduced, however, if the total amount pledged exceeds a certain value, two more versions — Amazon and Sahara — will come available.
Pricing and availability
Batavi, in my opinion, did an awesome job of keeping the price of the Kosmopoliet GMT as attractive as possible. But there’s only so low you can go! A Swiss-made ETA 2893-2, sapphire crystal all around, a 200-meter case, a sandwich dial, and high-quality straps must surely have added up, right? Amazingly, the Kickstarter campaign prices start at €649. That’s for a Super-Earlybird deal (which is including the Molequin leather strap). Even the expected future retail price of €879 for the watch with a stainless steel bracelet, rubber, and nylon strap, seems a good deal to me.
As of NOW, the Kickstarter campaign is live. When the 100 Super-Earlybird offers are sold, the Batavi Amsterdam Kosmopoliet GMT will go in production. The first deliveries are then foreseen for August 2020.
