Hands-On Bravur Scandinavia Review

When one thinks of a style the world associates with Germany, Bauhaus comes to mind. In architecture, furniture design or watchmaking Bauhaus was, and to some extent still is, the most prominent influence for many. The clean lines, simple shapes and the heavy usage of monochrome all became the trademarks of this era. Not too far for Germany, just across their northern border lies Scandinavia. The territory that consists of a handful of countries also has a history with design. Ikea, the affordable and stylish furniture conglomerate from Sweden is one of the most known brands out here.  Bang & Olufsen from Denmark is another name many are familiar with. Just like in every other area of design, the Scandinavians brought a fresh new way to watchmaking and watch design. This article will deal with one of these brands; the Bravur Scandinavia. A very Scandinavian brand (no pun intended) in many ways.

Bravur Scandinavia

The brand comes from Sweden and prides itself in being 100% Scandinavian. Their approach, the watches even the look of their website are all indeed very “northern”. Bravur has a number of watches already on the market. One can choose between quartz models or automatics. You will find 3 models in each category and number of different dial variations on every model page. Other than watches, Bravur also offers beautiful Italian leather straps on the site.  This time though, we will look at the Bravur Scandinavia Jet Black watch. One of 3 different alterations within the Scandinavia model line. The Scandinavia Jet Black is probably also the most low-key of the three. This has to do a lot with the deep black dial and the simple silver indices. But let’s start at the beginning and look at the watch case first.

Swedish Steel

The Scandinavia’s case is Swedish-made, steel with 39mm in diameter not including the crown. As it is below 40mm, it does not play into the large-case trend that seems to sweep across most brands these days. It is round with short lugs if we look it from the dial side. When you turn the watch over you can see however that the case narrows towards the center and the lugs are actually long. The finishing is the usual; polished on the top and bottom and brushed on the sides of the case and the lugs. No beveled edges just straight geometrical lines. The case back is full and has 6 screws in it that hold the back to the case. The center of the case back sports the Bravur name and logo while around the side you can read the basic information about the Scandinavia.

Swedish Soul/Swiss Made

Moving on from the housing of the Bravur Scandinavia to the dial the one thing that catches our attention is the small index scale that is in the middle. The 60-seconds scale is not around the rim of the dial but halfway in the middle. The hands, however, are long reaching all the way to the edge of the black dial. Outside of the second’s scale, you find the thin and long silver, curved, applied indexes. They are polished just like the hands. Speaking of which, the hour and minute hands look like vintage watch hands where the lume has fallen out. This is intentional, as the openings in the middle of them also help to optically thin them. The small round date window is at 6 o’clock and below is the statement that tells everything about the moto of the Bravur Scandinavia; Swedish Soul – Swiss Made.

Automatic

The word automatic also has a spot on the dial. As we all know this refers to the heart of the Bravur Scandinavia; the movement inside. Bravur uses Sellita’s trusty SW300-1 a 25-Jewel automatic movement with 42 hours of power reserve. At 28800 A/h the SW300-1 is almost a high-beat movement (actually already one, if you are Seiko) hence very accurate. Many small and micro brand these days choose Sellita over other movement manufacturers. The quality Sellita provides is outstanding, the movements are easy to service (even for an ETA trained watchmaker) and the parts are readily available. As a matter of fact, the Sellita SW300-1 is the brand’s alternative to the legendary ETA 2892. The usage of these movement allows small brands like Bravur to be cost-effective while offering their watches for a very competitive price.

Conclusion

The Bravur Scandinavia takes a 20mm strap. You can choose from a number of different options from black to brown or light tan. All colors work well with the black dial. Our watch came on a black strap the most elegant of them all. Every strap comes with a deployant buckle and quick removing spring bars. Alternatively, you can get it on a Milanese bracelet. The watch ships in a nice leather zip case that doubles as a travel pouch. For all of this, you have to pay €950/$995 (on the leather strap) which falls into the affordable category. Surely you could find cheaper watches from bigger names (like Certina or Tissot) but those companies play in a different league. Small but passionate brands like Bravur are here to stay. If you are into Swedish design the Bravur Scandinavia might just be the watch for you.

If you wish to check out Bravur, please visit their site. Click here.