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On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

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On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by MoT »

*In the interest of full disclosure, Fred Bernhardt Amos at Bernhardt Watch Company sent me this watch to take a look at and informed me that it was mine to keep. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions below.*

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On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Bernhardt Watch Company is a small, family owned and operated watch company based in High Point, North Carolina. Fred B. Amos founded the business after decades of collecting and restoring Rolex and other luxury watches. Fred's wife Jamie hands logistics, shipping and accounting, while his son, Phillip is Vice President of Design and is responsible for creating their popular Binnacle Diver line and his wife Taylor is Bernhardt's social media maven. Rounding out the company is Frank Lazimi, who has years of experience working in the watch making industry in Europe, allowing the company to assemble, modify and service domestically as much as possible.

Recently, Bernhardt released new versions of their Captain's Watch, intended to be smaller, lighter and dressier than their usual robust dive watch offerings. I think they have hit the mark, especially with this Rose Gold/Chocolate colorway. Coming in at a quite friendly 38mm, the no-date and strong vintage vibes really appeals to me, and after wearing a lot of chunky divers and other heavy watches in my collection, something smaller and lighter is appreciated. Fred said he likes to wear Captain's Watch on the golf course, and I can see it fitting in well in that setting.

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Captain's Watch comes in a nice wood crate made with all box joint construction (thank you [mention]cortman[/mention] for correcting me) produced in-house at Bernhardt. The rose-gold suburst dial is surrounded by a contrasting chocolate ring with minute indicators and subtly raised Art Deco inspired hour markers. Light reflects off of these nicely, and makes reading the time at a glance easy. The rose-gold hour and minute hands, filled with SuperLuminova are appropriately sized.

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Under the ship's wheel motif case back and wound by the signed, screw down crown lies the 4Hz, 28,800vbh Miyota 9015. I enjoy the Miyota 9x series, and this one winds as smooth as any I've operated, and the crown while just bordering on too large is well shaped and is manipulated easily. No issues could be detected with screwing or unscrewing.

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The Jubilee-style bracelet, two-tone on this colorway, is pretty nice. It is solid link construction with folded end-links that are shaped and fit to the case very well. There is no sloppiness or movement in the end-links on my example. The bracelet articulation is outstanding, draping around even my large wrist comfortably, and it is appropriately "jangly". I do have one issue with the bracelet, and it may be a big one to some: the clasp. While signed and providing a secure snap when closing, it is made from quite thin, stamped metal. It feels cheap and almost like an afterthought when compared to the rest of the watch, or even the rest of the bracelet.

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Overall, I think $319 is a fair price for this watch. I have really enjoyed the size, the fit and finish and definitely the colors, but then again I have always been a sucker for rose gold. I think Captain's Watch would be right at home during a day on the boat, a night on the town or stomping through the rough to find your Titleist after slicing way off to the left. It's midsize diameter (38mm) and reasonably thin (10mm) profile combined with 50m of water resistance make it a great companion.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to Fred B. Amos for providing the Captain's Watch sample.

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Link to Bernhardt Captain's Watch in Rose Gold/Chocolate: https://www.bernhardtwatch.com/collecti ... -chocolate
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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by Boourns »

Have been waiting for this review! Looks great.
I wish that watch were 38mm?
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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by cortman »

Great review, good pics too. This is a very attractively designed watch; the rose gold and chocolate go together perfectly.
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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by MoT »

cortman wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:53 am Great review, good pics too. This is a very attractively designed watch; the rose gold and chocolate go together perfectly.
I was initially concerned with legibility, but that all went away as soon as I saw the watch in person. The contrast between the rose numerals and chocolate minute track complement nicely.
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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by Rabirnie »

My only wish is that they had utilized this dial design on the other variants of this model. A colorful outer edge with silver/champagne center would have really come across well.


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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by pdsf »

ManOnTime wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:07 pm
cortman wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:53 am Great review, good pics too. This is a very attractively designed watch; the rose gold and chocolate go together perfectly.
I was initially concerned with legibility, but that all went away as soon as I saw the watch in person. The contrast between the rose numerals and chocolate minute track complement nicely.
Rarely does a watch or watch review make me crave chocolate. Thank you. :)
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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by MoT »

Rabirnie wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:25 pm My only wish is that they had utilized this dial design on the other variants of this model. A colorful outer edge with silver/champagne center would have really come across well.
You may have something there. I got word from Fred that the rose/chocolate Captain is outselling the other colorways by a decent margin.

He's one of the friendliest and most honest and open "watch guys" I've communicated with. I mentioned comments about dial design and date vs. no date and he replied that he can easily do other dial designs however (and I am paraphrasing) the chasm between those who want a thing and those who actually buy the thing is pretty large.
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On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by Rabirnie »

ManOnTime wrote:
Rabirnie wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:25 pm My only wish is that they had utilized this dial design on the other variants of this model. A colorful outer edge with silver/champagne center would have really come across well.
You may have something there. I got word from Fred that the rose/chocolate Captain is outselling the other colorways by a decent margin.

He's one of the friendliest and most honest and open "watch guys" I've communicated with. I mentioned comments about dial design and date vs. no date and he replied that he can easily do other dial designs however (and I am paraphrasing) the chasm between those who want a thing and those who actually buy the thing is pretty large.
To be fair, if he put that dial combo together for champagne, I’d 100% buy and be willing to sacrifice other pieces in my collection to do so. It would fill a void and be a versatile piece to dress up or down.

I do truly appreciate what Fred has done and continues to do in the industry. He seems to be a stand up guy and open to feedback, which always lends itself to longevity and success.

Totally get that I may be in the minority and he needs to have enough tangible interest to make these things happen!


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Re: On The Desk: Bernhardt Captain's Watch

Post by pdsf »

Totally agree with what [mention]ManOnTime[/mention] and [mention]Rabirnie[/mention] have said. My limited interactions with Fred were always positive, and I think this is a fun design and I look forward to seeing where Fred takes it. 38mm is also quite nice as well. ;)
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