The Stylish Van Speyk Courage

Classical dress watches never go out of style, and can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and levels of complexity. Generally, the more complex a watch becomes, the more expensive it will be. But, every now and then, something comes along that gives you a bit more than just the running time, without going nuts on pricing. Dutch family-owned watch company Van Speyk delivers just that with its Courage collection: a stylish mechanical watch with classy looks, some extra complexity to make things interesting, and a price just below EUR 1,000! 

The stainless steel case, which can also be finished with a yellow or rose gold plating, stands firm at 41mm across and 14mm in height. It would have been nice if Van Speyk had managed to shave off a millimetre or two, but it’s still quite wearable. The bowl-shaped crown with the Van Speyk monogram is a nice detail, and there are sapphire crystals on both sides of the watch. The corrector in the bottom right lug is to adjust the moon phase. The finishing is primarily polished, with a matte brushing on the lugs. At 50m water-resistance, it will survive the occasional shower of rain or even an accidental splash in the pool. Not that you would want to take a dress watch on a leather strap swimming, but it’s reassuring to know it can take it.

The subtly sunray-brushed black dial remains clean despite the numerous indications. In addition to this combination, it’s also available in blue or in silvery-white with either steel-coloured or blued hands. On the outer edge, there’s a fine white printed minutes track. One step inwards are applied hour markers and numerals with a polished finish. The central leaf-shaped hour and minute hands are polished as well, and the sub-dials for the small seconds, moon phase and power reserve all have a snailed finish. Overall, it looks pretty classy, although it’s nothing unexpected either. We rarely see this pairing of indications in this segment of the industry, so it’s a welcome trait.

The automatic movement inside the Courage comes from STP, which makes it Swiss Made. The STP2-12-63 is one of the manufacturer’s more complicated calibres, as it not only indicates central hours and minutes, but puts the small seconds in a sub-dial at 9′, and adds a moon phase indication at 3′ and a retrograde power reserve display at 6′. The movement runs at a rate of 28,800vph and has a power reserve of 42 hours. It’s also fitted with a non-magnetic Nivaflex hairspring. The rotor is customised with the Van Speyk monogram and brand name.

This black dial Van Speyk Courage is available on either a brown or black leather strap, with an embossed alligator pattern, quick-release pushpins and a folding clasp. The collection retails for EUR 999, including taxes, which makes it quite a nice bang-for-buck watch, to be honest! It’s available, along with the brand’s other collections, directly from the Van Speyk website.

For more information, please visit VanSpeyk-Watches.com.