Guide
What to look for in a watch.
No jargon. Six lines you'll find on any spec sheet, and what each one changes in daily use. They work for judging any watch, not just ours, and for telling what makes a watch better from what merely makes it more expensive.
Sapphire crystal
Synthetic sapphire, 9 on the Mohs scale: keys, desk edges and shirt cuffs don't mark it in normal wear. Mineral glass does scratch, and the marks build up until you're reading the dial through them. Sapphire is what keeps the dial clear years later.
- On the Civis
- The Civis has it in both sizes.
Automatic movement
No battery: it winds from the motion of your wrist. The PT5000 is a mechanical caliber running at 28,800 vph, with a smooth sweeping seconds hand and hacking seconds, so the hand stops when you set the time. It follows the ETA 2824-2 architecture, one of the most widespread in the industry. Any watchmaker knows the layout, and parts aren't tied to a single brand. A quartz module, when it fails, gets replaced whole rather than repaired.
- On the Civis
- The Civis runs a PT5000 automatic, and each unit's rate is measured before it ships.
100 m and a screw-down crown
100 meters of water resistance, which covers swimming and snorkeling. Water resistance is a system: gaskets, crystal, caseback and crown. The screw-down crown seals the point where water gets in most easily, and we pressure-test every case on the bench before the dial goes in.
- On the Civis
- The Civis is rated to 100 m with a screw-down crown, and every case is bench-tested before the dial goes in.
Power reserve
It's how long the watch keeps running at rest, untouched. The PT5000 runs around 38 hours: take it off on Friday night and it's still running on Sunday morning. We measure it on every unit, because a weak reserve gives away a faulty mainspring or barrel.
- On the Civis
- On the Civis it is measured one at a time, and the value is noted in its Vindex Record.
316L steel
It's surgical-grade steel. Compared with lower grades, 316L contains molybdenum, so it handles sweat and salt water better and releases less nickel, which is what triggers contact allergies.
- On the Civis
- The Civis case is 316L steel in both sizes.
39 mm or 36 mm? Go by your wrist
The Civis case comes in 39 mm and 36 mm, with the same movement and the same specs. There is no men's size or women's size: there is wrist size. As a rule of thumb, below about 17 cm around, the 36 mm sits better; above that, both work and it comes down to taste: the 39 mm fills more of the wrist and the 36 mm disappears under a shirt cuff. Measure yours with a tailor's tape before you choose.
- On the Civis
- The Civis comes in 39 and 36 mm: the same piece in two proportions.
All six, in one watch.
The Civis has a sapphire crystal, a PT5000 caliber with a 38 h power reserve, 100 m with a screw-down crown and a 316L steel case in 39 mm and 36 mm.