Everyone’s Favorite Affordable Watch Brand Just Launched a Hot New Collection
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Ever since founder Etienne Malec founded Baltic in 2016, the French microbrand has captured the imagination of the watch-buying public.
The designs, which originally featured a bi-compax chronograph and a time-only dress watch, were decidedly vintage-inspired—but not homages to any particular model. The power plants were mechanical—but not so high-end as to necessitate prohibitively expensive pricing. The colorways were handsome and varied—but not so much so that the brand’s catalog was difficult to parse. In other words: Here was finally a set of well-built, vintage-looking watches that could be had for, in many cases, just a few hundred bucks.
Designed in France and assembled there from parts produced largely in Hong Kong and Italy, Baltic has produced a host of beloved models since its first pieces became available in 2018, from its Aquascaphe dive watch collection to its more recent Tricompax chronograph line. Now, the brand has set its sights once again on the dress watch—but in a new format that, if not radical, is certainly a breath of fresh air in a world of largely conservative fare.
Called the Prismic, the new collection is based upon…well, “geometric shapes and luminous refractions of the prism.” (A bit oddball as far as inspiration goes, perhaps—but then again, the Nautilus is effectively a wrist-worn pothole, so there’s that.) Geometric inspiration aside, the results are genuinely impressive considering the pricing (more on that in a moment): Measuring 36mm, the case is constructed from a smooth bezel, lugs, and a caseback made from stainless steel, all of which are embedded into a Grade 5 titanium midcase topped with a double-domed sapphire crystal. Upper surfaces are polished, while lower surfaces are circular or horizontally brushed. The whole shebang, including the crystal, is only 9.2mm thick.
But onto the dial—the true showstopper: Available at launch in grey-blue, salmon, purple, and green, each color is vaguely pastel-toned and handsome, with the first two options being the more conservative, and the latter certainly lending a more unique feel. Looking at the dial construction, one is reminded perhaps of certain shaped Patek Philippe references from the mid-20th century: An outer brushed sector features applied, prism-shaped indices that lend a nice three-dimensional pop to the proceedings, while the larger, inner section features a handsome guilloché finish. At 6 o’clock is a grained sub-seconds dial ringed in brushed steel with polished chamfers. The handset, meanwhile, is of the dauphine variety, lending a touch of elegance.
In wanting to maintain a dressier profile, Baltic has equipped the Prismic with a hand-wound Swiss movement, the Peseux 7001, from ETA, which is visible via a sapphire caseback. Water resistant to 30m, you have the choice of an Italian calf leather strap (which puts MSRP somewhere in the range of ~$1,060) or a newly developed, stainless steel mesh bracelet, which will run you ~$1,131.
In short, the Prismic is Baltic doing what it does best—offering a genuinely handsome, mechanically-powered watch for down-to-Earth money. In designing the type of timepiece that a super-collector such as Roni Madhvani might find aesthetically compelling, Malec and company have proven once again that they can straddle the line between vintage and contemporary inspiration perhaps better than anyone on the micobrand scene. We’ll be interested to see how this latest model is received, but from looks alone we only have on word: Bravo.
Baltic Watches in Prismic Purple
$1131.00, Baltic
Baltic Watches in Prismic Salmon
$1131.00, Baltic
Baltic Watches in Grey Blue
$1131.00, Baltic
Baltic Watches in Prismic Green
$1131.00, Baltic
Originally Appeared on GQ
