MeisterSinger Perigraph Range Updated For 2020

You may love the one-hand concept, you may hate it. But beyond MeisterSinger’s traditional mode of time-telling lies a handsome collection of watches. One of the catalog’s stalwarts — the MeisterSinger Perigraph — receives a welcome update, and looks fantastic in its new livery.

You could write a book on the philosophy behind single-hand watches. In fact, over the course of its history, MeisterSinger has written enough words on this subject to produce a definitive tome. Ultimately, though, it can be broken down to a very simple, very American mantra: Don’t sweat the small stuff.

We have Robert S. Eliot, MD, to thank for that slice of wisdom, and the late Richard Carlson to thank for bringing it into mainstream culture. MeisterSinger is responsible for manifesting this modus operandi in watch form. And the Perigraph — one of the brand’s most popular models — has become something of a standard-bearer for the cause.

Meat on the bone

What I like about the Perigraph family is that it isn’t dull. I’m not saying that the one hand concept isn’t appealing; I’m just saying that without a little extra meat on the bone it isn’t appealing to me. I really like the MeisterSinger models that do something creative with dial apertures, operating with a great deal of space and freedom in the background of the single hand concept. It is amazing, in my opinion, just how much cleaner and clearer a watch appears when something as seemingly innocuous as the minute hand is removed. Seriously. You wouldn’t expect the transformation to be quite so startling. But, it seems, we’re so accustomed to at least two hands, the single-hand concept is still able to rock us to our cores.

Space to breathe

The MeisterSinger Perigraph is a simple time and date watch. That said, it displays both the time and the date in ways against the grain. The time we’ve covered — the long, languid hour hand, creeping its way around the dial. The date, however, is shown by way of an exposed disc. A small, red triangle placed on the watch’s vertical axis points to the date. On the press shots included in this article, the 29th of the month has been chosen for illustrative purposes.

The dial-printing is very sympathetic to this design. The MeisterSinger wordmark and the model name have been placed in opposing hemispheres. This doesn’t just keep two vastly different fonts at arm’s length from one another, but it also gives the date wheel space to breathe. The whole dial would have appeared very cluttered if just a single line more had been added to either side of the dial. Kudos to MeisterSinger for resisting the urge.

These MeisterSinger Perigraph models are not shrinking violets. Powered by the automatic Sellita 200-1 movement, automatic, which boasts a 38-hour power reserve, these 43mm-wide stainless steel watches are water-resistant to a sufficient 50 meters and topped by sapphire crystals.

Running rings around the competition

When it comes to getting a lot out of a little, MesiterSinger appears to be running rings around the competition. Forget the amount of money the brand must be saving on hour hands (genius cost-cutting), by offering the exact same model with either a black or white date/chapter ring, MeisterSinger has once again streamlined product development and production expenditure. And the really weird thing is, the two models look so incredibly different, it doesn’t feel like we’ve been short-changed. Rather, it feels as if we have been presented with a very nice idea in two contrasting finishes.

This doesn’t require us to weigh-up multiple contrasting design elements and make a decision on balance. Instead, we are asked a simple question as customers: Which color date wheel/chapter ring would you prefer? White or black? Let us know which one wins in your book in the comments section below. These models should start to emerge in authorized dealers around March 2020 and will cost €1,690. Learn more about MeisterSinger here.