HANDS-ON: De Tangramatic 39 Alpha Brown California

Als onderdeel van de Australian Watch Week vragen we microbrand haven Worn & Wound voor hun uit de manchet op elk horloge dat we beoordelen:

"Het is een eigenzinnige aanwijzing op een Cali-Dial, maar ik weet niet zeker of dat genoeg is om het uit te laten zien." - Zach Weiss, Worn & Wound

In a bunch of fresh-faced Australian brands Tangramatic is perhaps the freshest face of all – founded just last year by Sydneysider Francis del Mundo after he discovered the world of horology via the rabbit-hole that is Watchuseek.

It’s a testament to the amazing opportunities of crowdsourced funding and golobalised production that del Mundo was able to express his love of watches by designing his own. The watches of Tangramatic lean towards the dressy end of the spectrum, with a distinctive design aesthetic that’s somewhere between Bauhaus minimalism and early ‘60s funk.

The standout model for me is the 39 Alpha Brown California. Clearly Tangramatic are believers in the ‘what you see is what you get’ school of model names, as the most distinguishing feature of the watch is its (you guessed it) brown California style dial, in a 39mm case.  Now what, I hear you ask, is a California dial? Good question. Essentially a California dial is one where half the numerals are roman, and half arabic. The reason why it’s called a California dial is one shrouded in horological lore and conjecture. Some say that the dial, found on early Rolex references, is called the California dial because they were very popular in that state, the result being that vintage dealers scoured the country for examples leading them to be nicknamed ‘California’ dials. Another version of events tells that a dial refinisher named Kirk Rich from LA refinished Rolex dials in this style, and the style became associated with California. Whichever legend you choose to believe, there’s no doubt that Cali dials look cool, and it’s rightly the highlight of this watch.

The brown dial on the Tangramatic is a good choice, as it adds a bit of vintage warmth to what is otherwise a fairly straight up and down steel watch. The curving logo text (another nice vintage element) is unobtrusive and well proportioned. And the handset has a few nice details like the tiny arrow tip on the seconds hand and the lollipop midway down the hour hand, which neatly follows the curve of the logo text. These small details are needed to keep the design interesting, especially on such a restrained piece.

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