Launching From the Netherlands, this is the VPC Type 37HW

Many watch enthusiasts and collectors will undoubtedly dream of creating their own watch at some point, but few actually set out to do it. And from those that do embark on the Herculean undertaking of launching a brand, even fewer eventually make it and bring an actual finished product to the table. It’s by no means an easy thing to do as you have to find inspiration for a design, suppliers and manufacturers for parts, partners for assembly and distribution, and not in the least; people who want to buy one! Thomas van Straaten, an editor for our friends of Fratello Watches with a background in vintage watches has been chronicling his experience in developing the perfect ‘GADA’ watch over the past year or so, and the outcome is the very impressive VPC Type 37HW.

No compromise

One of things the Thomas was adamant about from very early on in this incredible journey was taking no compromises whatsoever. No cutting corners for the sake of making things easier, no reduction in quality to keep the price down as much as possible, but doing everything that’s possible to land the perfect watch. And that’s to Thomas’ standards and vision of course, which I can tell you right now are quite high but not unreasonable. His quest could be followed over the course of more than a year since announcing his plans and coming to final prototypes and production-ready watches. Trials such as getting a foot in the door with suppliers, developing a tailor-made bracelet, quality issues in prototypes and so on are all well documented in the series over at Fratello (recommended to read!).

So what do we end up with, and has it all been worth it? Well, I’ll address that in my final conclusion as I’d like to start at the basics first. Thomas’ brand is called VPC, which stands for Venustas Per Constantiam, or Beauty through Restraint in Latin. And there’s certainly something to be said about that, as the Type 37HW that makes its debut now is not an over-the-top timepiece but a carefully thought-out everyday type of watch with tons of details to be discovered. From the custom typography to the proportions of the case, the way the bracelet is integrated into it, and even the colours on the dial, it’s the result of accepting no less than the best.

the devil in the details

From the outside, the case is machined from 316L stainless steel which is then coated to achieve a hardness of no less than 1,800 Vickers, which comes close to the hardness rating for sapphire crystals (2,000 Vickers). Size-wise it’s a very pleasant watch to handle, coming in at just 37.5mm in width and 9.8mm in height (including the crystal, or 7.8mm without it). With a lug-to-lug size of 45mm in total, it’s also not overly long and thus will fit many wrists perfectly. And even for me, a 2.01m tall Dutchman with wrists of roughly 19cm in circumference, the Type 37HW felt right at home and perfectly balanced.

The design is rather attractive, as it has distinctly shaped lugs, a broad top plane on the bezel and alternating brushed & polished finishes. It has a very appealing curvature to it, with a nicely stepped profile when viewing it from the side. This is in part thanks to the bezel, but also the domed sapphire crystal. The crown screws down and has an uncoupling system built into it for hand-winding. Pushing in the crown once you wound the movement disengages the stem and prevents over-winding of the barrel, as other watches can wind it a bit more as you screw the crown back in place.

A good ‘Go Anywhere, Do Anything‘ or ‘GADA’ watch comes with a bit of versatility in the dial design without overdoing it, and the Type 37HW does that surprisingly well too. The finely frosted dial comes in three colours; Dove Grey, Forest Green and Delft Blue. It has a two-layer construction with a contrasting subdial for the small seconds (either grey or white). Legibility is key in any watch, and solid lumeblock indices paired with Dauphine-style hands with Super-LumiNova inserts do the job for the Type 37HW. There’s a compelling sense of depth, and playing around with it in the light gives it a degree of life as well. Note that the hands are placed very close to the dial and crystal, to achieve Thomas’ goal in thinness. Did I mention he didn’t take shortcuts?

reliability and precision are key

Powering the Type 37HW is a top-grade Sellita SW216-1, a manually wound movement with a solid reputation and ease of serviceability. Again, in line with Thomas’ vision of what a worry-free watch should be. It runs at a rate of 21,600vph and offers 42 hours of power reserve. At some point, I’d love to see Sellita lengthen that running time, but that’s something out of Thomas’ control of course. The movement is also rather precise as comes with COSC Chronometer certification.

One of the most challenging elements in any watch is what you put it on, and especially a bracelet is notoriously challenging to develop. Thomas wanted his VPC Type 37HW to have the best possible solution in both design and comfort, however, so he designed one from the ground up. His idea was to find a neater way for the case and bracelet to meet, without oddly shaped or hollow end links that can throw off the overall experience of a watch. The solution was to extend the bezel over the end of the bracelet and make the end link on both ends a true multi-piece link. It also comes with quick-release pushers on the back so you can exchange it for something else if you want. The folding clasp also has an integrated on-the-go micro-adjustable folding clasp, which is always a nice plus.

The Type 37HW, VPC’s debut piece, has a price of EUR 2,479 excl. VAT, keeping it just under the 3k mark in most countries. While that certainly is quite a bit of cash, from my experience, the value is all there. The first batch of 300 pieces will be individually numbered to a limit of 100 pieces per colour, after which it will be permanently available directly from the VPC website. Deliveries are scheduled to be within 7 to 10 months time.

Well worth it

I promised you a conclusion and a conclusion I shall deliver. I have followed Thomas’ journey to this point quite closely, regularly meeting and talking to him during events we were both invited to and by checking his progress in his columns from time to time. This has convinced me of a couple of things, most importantly the fact that Thomas knows what he’s doing and his philosophy of watchmaking makes absolute sense.

The VPC Type 37HW is an extremely impressive watch, especially considering the fact it’s a first-ever watch by someone with no watchmaking or engineering background. It’s versatile, extremely comfortable, solidly built, nicely finished and distinctive enough to deserve every bit of attention it can get. Also, addressing the price, a debut watch from an unknown brand shouldn’t equate to “affordable” or even “cheap” as long as it delivers on its promises. For me, the Type 37HW genuinely does and is about as convincing as a debut can get.

I do have to mention that the very late-stage prototype watches we shot for this story are susceptive to a few changes, being;

• The case flank will echo the shape of the crown a bit better, forming a very shallow crown guard
• The crown feel will be improved to prevent wobbling under winding and setting
• The C3 lumeblock markers for the Forest Green dial will be fully opaque, as they are on the Dove Grey and Delft Blue dials
• The wiggle-room in the links for the bracelet will be further reduced
• Two more sizable links on either side of the folding clasp will be implemented
• The sharpness of the lug tips will be reduced slightly

I appreciate how open Thomas has been about everything in his journey, including these final few changes to make it even better than it already was when I handled it. Nicely done Thomas, very nicely done!

For more information, and to put down a pre-order, please visit VPCWatch.com.