The A-11 Origin from Praesidus
If you know me, you know that I really like field and military watches. When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a soldier. Although I still like all their equipment and tools, now I wouldn’t choose this profession.
Praesidus is a new brand from the United States, and they are making authentic World War II-inspired watches. The original A-11 is a simple but respectable timepiece from the war times.
The guys at Praesidus are reviving this watch with the same design.
On their website, you can read about their ambassadors who are American veterans of WWII. They have their special edition watches, and you can get to know their stories as well on the site.
I got the A-11 Origin model, which came with a quartz movement. But the Tom Rice Edition A-11 comes with a real workhorse, the NH35 Seiko movement. Two case size options, 38 and 42mm, and you can also choose if you want a double-domed mineral crystal or a double-domed sapphire crystal.
The price is pretty good, it’s 249 US dollars.
You can check out their website here.
The Vince Speranza edition is also similar, but there were two options for the movement, the NH35, and a Swiss movement. It was available on Kickstarter, I guess it will be also available on their website later.
Here I have to mention that they just launched the new A-11 Combat 32mm edition, which is the original size they used in World War ll. You can reserve one here.
It also comes with a Ronda Quartz movement like the Origin, but with a double-domed K1 mineral crystal. The other specifications are the same.
So, let’s get back to my watch.
I was really happy when I got an A-11 from the States. The watch came in a nice and simple cardboard box. It looks exactly how I imagine a watch box from the WWll if they got any.
The warranty card is really imaginative, it is a dog tag with a QR code.
Here you can watch my unboxing video as well.
There are 3 different strap options: leather, canvas, and nylon. I got the nylon one, it feels quite strong, and I think it would survive a bombing. It is a quick-release strap, which is a good choice, but I would imagine a NATO strap instead of this.
The strap is comfortable, but there are just 6 adjustment holes, and it’s either tight a bit or loose. The holes should be more frequent.
There are also 2 dial options, a creamy white and a black one. I got the black.
The case feels high quality. The diameter of the case is 40mm and its thickness is 12.5mm. The lug width is 20mm. Simple but comfortable sizes. The material of the case is surgical stainless steel, and it is sandblasted, although the top of the lugs and the crown is polished. It has a simple push-pull crown with a 7mm diameter. The case back is screw-down, only here you can see the Praesidus logo and a „Type A-11” sign. It is assembled in the USA as you can see on the back.
The case is good quality, I can’t feel any sharp edges.
The dial is simple, but I really like it. It has dot hour markers and numerals as well. The minutes are also shown next to the hour markers. The dots are faded yellow-colored. The beautiful „cathedral” hands are also giving back this faded yellow patina, like a nicely aged color. The numerals are fresh green colored. It has central second hands; the hacking feature was important for ease of synchronization and precise timing back in the day.
It is really easy to read the time, the dial has great visibility.
The lume is pretty strong, the numerals have a green glow, and the dots and the hands are glowing yellowish (but you can’t see that yellowish color on the picture). The numerals are actually stronger than the hands themselves, which is visible when the lume is not fully loaded.
There is no logo or writing on the dial, which makes it pretty clean and authentic. Although if Praesidus continues to make military watches with another design, I hope they will put their logo on the dial to make it more recognizable.
The Origin has a double-domed acrylic crystal, and a 50m water resistance. The WR is good for a field watch, although I would choose a mineral crystal instead of acrylic, and it should fit at this price.
It has a Swiss Ronda 763 movement, which is a good choice from the quartz option. It has 40 months battery life, and it is also hacking, so it gives back the needed feature.
The price is really good for this watch, 129 US dollars! I could say this price is a theft! The automatic version with the 249 USD price is also a bargain.
I am totally recommending this piece, I hope Praesidus will continue producing great field watches in the future!
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