Slow Round 02

A well made and a solid feeling Swiss watch, designed for those who like something different and unique. There are 24 hours in a day, so a 24 hour watch, rather than a conventional 12 hour one, makes sense...

I purchased my first watch from Slow in 2014, and have been sufficiently impressed by the styling, quality and the overall vision of the company that I've added two other models from their range since then. The latest, the Slow Round 02, is the subject of this review. Slow Round has a round stainless steel case 40 mm wide (not counting the crown) and 8.25 mm thick. Unlike earlier models which had a brushed finish, Slow Round has a soft matte finish which is non-reflective. The case is beveled top and bottom which gives a narrow tapering bezel which surrounds the flat sapphire crystal (most earlier models had hardened K1 glass). Like all Slow watches, the dial is unbranded, as part of their minimalistic design ethic. The back is flat and retained by four machine screws, which makes home battery replacements easier (provided one has the correct screwdriver). The Slow logo is displayed on the back (the crown is also signed with their trademark). Four narrow tapered and curved lugs provide attachment for the 20 mm leather strap. All leather straps on Slow watches feature a stainless steel buckle with a shape which mimics the octagonal shape of their first watch, the Slow Jo. When worn, the Slow Round sits comfortably on the wrist, with a low center of gravity. The narrow bezel and short tapered lugs make it appear almost "all dial". The matte finish gives a very understated presence, less noticeable than either of the earlier models. I find that, when I'm wearing any of these watches, I often just glance at them and judge time by the approximate angle of the hand similar to how I read the speedometer on my car, rather than looking at which particular number the hand is pointing towards. If I do look a second longer, time can be determined to within a few minutes, but that is missing the whole point of these watches. They encourage an "it's about 2 pm" attitude toward time, rather than "it's 2:06:33". Thinking of time in this way can be refreshing or relaxing, especially on weekends or vacations. People who spend time regulating their mechanical watches and then tracking it's performance every day with an electronic tracker may have difficulty understanding this point of view. The Ronda quartz movement is very accurate day to day, or even over many months, but a single-hand watch cannot be read to the same precision as a watch with two or three hands. What this means is that, once set, the Slow watch will not need to be set again until daylight-savings time requires a change every six months or so. If you ignore daylight-savings time and just mentally add or subtract the hour, the Slow watch can literally run for years without adjustment, since the tiny amount of accumulated seconds gained or lost cannot be read on the dial anyway. I enjoy all of my Slow watches quite a lot. They are very nicely made from quality materials with excellent workmanship. They are sufficiently unique that I've never met anyone else wearing one. Their unusual look does attract attention sometimes and people do sometimes ask questions about them.