Here’s a brand you rarely hear about. And yet it is, Dwiss celebrated its tenth anniversary last year. This Swiss company offers watches with a sporty-chic design and integrated bracelet, at least for all its latest models, with a technical sheet that ticks a lot of the right boxes and a rather interesting price/quality ratio. For your pleasure, and ours, we spent a day with their flagship model: the M3W in Black Rubber version.
Dwiss: sport-chic design on the move
The brainchild of Brazilian designer Rafael MirandaThis brand, whose name is a stylized acronym for “Design Watch Independent Switzerland”, was launched at the end of 2011. Its first model, named Emme, was inspired by major brands such as Hublot, Audemars Piguet and Linde-Werdelin. While refining his style, Dwiss evolved to find his own, and in a rather unique way: by creating the first Watch Design Club, which included 100 members, having together conceived the M3 collection. First with a display reversing the hour/minute hands and a circular date (as on the Nomos Tangente Update), then with a “wandering hour”, also known as “wandering hours”.to the design of the M3W to celebrate the brand’s tenth anniversary. Its design won a Good Design Award and then a European Product Design Award. Let’s take a closer look at this watch.
Case
It’s immediately obvious when a case is the work of a founder-designer. This one has been very carefully crafted and is the result of letting go of traditional watchmaking codes. Admittedly, it’s hard to reinvent the wheel, and there are bound to be similarities here and there, but when you look at the case middle, the difference becomes clearer. The hollowed-out horns coupled with a sandblasted finish surrounded by polishing create a surprising effect, and further enhance its ears, which are reminiscent of a certain Nautilus, as is its bezel, but boosted with steroids for an ultra-masculine rendering. Her crown is surrounded by silicone for a soft, grippy grip, and a surprising design: even when screwed in, it doesn’t stick to the case. Despite its 200-meter water resistanceDwiss has wisely opted for a transparent caseback, allowing the watch’s caliber to be observed. The design is very accomplishedIt’s also very well finished, and its dimensions are quite pleasing: 42mm wide, with a contained thickness of 11.7mm. The lack of length at the lugs, thanks to its integrated design, reduces its appearance on the wrist, which will delight those who, like us, are relatively thin (17.5cm in the photos).
Dial
This is one of the main attractions of this watch, even if Dwiss has taken care to balance the watch’s strengths on all levels. The dial is devoid of hands in the traditional sense. The central satellite with 3 discs rotates at 12 o’clock, while the disks in question perform a quarter rotation as they flirt with the bottom of the dial, to come to align themselves opposite the corresponding minutes on the upper part of the dial. In the photo below, for example, the hour reads 4:55. Once the 60th minute has been reached, the 5th hour will take over at point 00 and the disc at the bottom of the dial will change from 3 to 6. This concept known as “wandering hour was invented in the 17th century by the Campanus brothers for Pope Alexander VII. Here, Dwiss has chosen not to insert a second hand, so as not to pollute the dial’s kinematics, but also to skeletonize the dial to offer an additional view of the movement. Another noteworthy detail is that the hour/minute markings are covered with a layer of SuperLumiNova BGW9with a blue photoluminescent effect in low-light conditions.
Movement
The movement that powers this watch is a Swiss classic, we have named the calibre Sellita SW-200modified for the occasion to accommodate a module for complication of wandering hours. Equipped with an Incabloc shock absorber, this movement oscillates at 28,800 vibrations per hour, is fitted with 25 synthetic jewels and offers a power reserve of around 38 hours. The latter is theoretically unaffected by the presence of the module. From the finishes, it would appear that this Sellita caliber is in the Standard version, deviating daily by -12/+12 seconds. As for the oscillating weight, it has simply been laser-engraved to house the logo and brand name. Dwiss doesn’t try to show off, and gets straight to the point.
Bracelet
While the M3W is also available with a steel bracelet, we have opted for the black silicone strap. Soft and supple to the touch, it comes around the central linka true extension of the casing housing the pump holes, but also slides underneath to cover and protect the quick-release fastener system. For the time being, you won’t be able to use a standard bracelet, but you will be able to buy additional bracelets, with some leather options, on the official Dwiss website. Thanks to two small pull tabs, you can press with your fingernails to change bracelets in just a few seconds. As for the silicone strap, it features reinforcements at the fasteners to prevent it from breaking, a close-fitting cut measuring 20mm towards the bucklean embossed finish, and features a butterfly folding clasp in brushed stainless steel. A small drawback that will only concern smaller wrists, but the strap widens and thickens as it moves towards the lugs, this extra bulk being felt on the last two perforations and making it difficult to close the buckle completely. But it doesn’t get in the way, and is barely noticeable when worn.
Case
The watch is delivered in a rigid matte black caseand finish traditional designThe watch itself comes in a cardboard box of the same color. The watch is attached to a black synthetic leather pad, under which is a matte black warranty card in credit-card format. Nothing specific to report, it’s clean and does the job.
Our opinion on this Dwiss watch
It’s not a watch for everyone, that’s clear, but that’s not the debate of the day. This Dwiss M3W offers a interesting alternative for sport-chic watch lovers in search of singularity. It clearly meets the needs of the more creative among you who can’t opt for exorbitantly priced timepieces. And it does it well. Whether in terms of construction, finish, display or mechanics, it ticks all the right boxes. At the same time, it makes the vagabond hour complication much more affordableespecially for a watch with the Swiss made label, previously reserved for the elite. You’ll have to reckon with 1,990 on silicone and $2,190 on steel bracelet (exclusive of tax, as shipping is from Lugano, Switzerland) to acquire it.
Watch Dwiss M3W Black Rubber / Features
- Case : 316L stainless steel / Polished & brushed finish
- Width : 42mm
- Thickness : 14.7mm
- Photoluminescence : Yes / SuperLumiNova BGW9
- Glass type : Domed sapphire crystal / Anti-reflective treatment
- Case back : Transparent
- Movement: Automatic / Sellita SW-200 base
- Power reserve : 38 hours
- Bracelet : Black silicone
- Buckle : Butterfly deployant
- Water resistance : 20 ATM / 200 meters
- Warranty : 2 years
