18 articles found
Time+Tide
One of our colleagues presents an innovative dive watch as his second release, and Oris tastefully brings back an icon of the past.The post New releases from Armin Strom, VPC, Oris and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Worn & Wound
Regular readers might remember our coverage of the debut watch from VPC almost two years ago. This was a special project as it comes from Thomas van Straaten, whose byline many of you may have seen over at his main gig, as a writer at Fratello. The Type 37HW, the debut release from VPC, was conceived as something as the ultimate enthusiast’s watch, with special attention paid to the small details that serious watch lovers are particularly attuned to. In practice, that means you end up with a watch that is very subtle, with lots of things that are special about it but perhaps don’t advertise themselves in big bold colors. VPC, after all, is an acronym for a Latin phrase that translates to “beauty through restraint,” and if that isn’t a mission statement of enthusiast focused watch culture, I don’t know what is. For the second VPC release, the brand is back with a watch that builds on the design language of the Type 37HW but shifts it specifically into the realm of the dive watch. The Type 39VM is, according to the brand, the thinnest 200 meter water resistant automatic dive watch on the market, which is a bold claim but seems to be backed up by a cursory review of the data. The case height is listed at 9.34mm, which is quite thin indeed for a watch like this. In keeping with VPC’s design principles, van Stratten set out to create a watch that was purely functional but also didn’t sacrifice ergonomics or aesthetics. Through an exploration of figuring out wh...
Monochrome
Young, independent Dutch brand VPC (Venustas Per Constantiam) returns with its next release, the Type 39VM, following its debut model, the Type 37HW. Founded by Thomas van Straaten, watch journalist at Fratello, collector, and now the founder of the design-driven microbrand, VPC was created around a beauty-through-restraint approach. After setting a standard with its hand-wound […]
Fratello
It has been nothing but an enjoyable experience to watch Fratello’s Thomas van Straaten build his watch brand. I greatly respect the passion and determination that Thomas puts into VPC Watch Co. Today, VPC launches its second model, the Type 39VM. This new dive watch is nothing short of impressive. The fact that the Type […] Visit Introducing: The Impressive VPC Type 39VM to read the full article.
Fratello
Time flies when you’re having fun! It has been a full two years since I set off on an adventure to build my dream watch, the VPC Type 37HW. Fratello offered me the fantastic opportunity to chronicle and share the journey with you all. Today, after having fulfilled all preorders, I would like to finish […] Visit Building A Watch Brand Episode 15: Looking Back On The First Two Years Of VPC to read the full article.
Fratello
Another Friday, another list! After a little Olympic break last week, we continue our quest for the best watches released in the first half of 2024. This week, we will be discussing the best new GADA watches. Most of you will be familiar with the concept of a Go Anywhere, Do Anything watch, but what […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 GADA Watches Of The First Half Of 2024-From Omega, Tudor, VPC, And More to read the full article.
Fratello
It has been a while since the last episode of Building A Watch Brand. In fact, that was a full month before the big launch, which took place on March 7th. As you may have gathered elsewhere, the VPC Type 37HW presale was a success, meeting the threshold number of sales over the first weekend. […] Visit Building A Watch Brand Episode 14: An Update On The Production And Presale Of The VPC Type 37HW to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
VPC is a new brand founded by Thomas van Straaten, who may be familiar to some readers as a longtime writer at Fratello. The first watch from his new endeavor, the Type37HW, feels very much like the type of thing that someone fully engaged in this community would bring to life as a passion project. It has many of the hallmarks of an enthusiast focused watch, with lots of little details that get people in the business of writing about these things excited. Most of all, it feels foundational, like the beginning of a platform for future expansion. If there’s one thing watch writers can’t abide, it’s a watch that feels like a one off, vanity project, and, unsurprisingly, VPC doesn’t even have a whiff of that sentiment. The VPC acronym that gives the brand its name stands for “Venustas Per Constantiam,” which equates to “charm through restraint,” and if you look at the overall presentation of the Type37HW you can really feel the restraint. The watch is sober but doesn’t feel boring, and each individual component part seems to be well considered and thought through. Whether you like the design or not is of course subjective, but I don’t think anyone could reasonably argue that the watch doesn’t have a coherent aesthetic. The broad conceit here is that the Type37HW is a “go anywhere, do anything” style watch, and the specs reflect that. It’s 37.5mm in diameter and measures 9.8mm tall (including the crystal). The stainless steel case and bracelet ha...
Time+Tide
With all the little nitpicks us reviewers pick up on, this has to be the ultimate WIS watch, right?The post The VPC Type 37HW shows that watch reviewers make great watch designers appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Fratello
After many months in the making, the VPC Type 37HW is here, and I have the distinct pleasure of penning this hands-on introduction. We often ask ourselves, “Is it impossible to be original when endeavoring to design a new watch? Have all paths in crafting this functional object truly been taken? Have we seen it […] Visit Introducing: The VPC Type 37HW to read the full article.
SJX Watches
Founded last year by Thomas van Straaten, VPC is a Dutch micro brand making its debut with the Type 37HW. Mr van Straaten, who formerly works for an Amsterdam-based watch dealer and now writes for media platform Fratello, started VPC with the goal of creating the “ultimate” everyday watch in his words. VPC is short for Venustas Per Constantiam, Latin that translates as either “beauty through constancy” or “charm through restraint.” Featuring numerous clever details, the Type 37HW is the result of Mr van Straaten’s own experience owning, and later growing bored with, numerous watches that, in his view, featured compromised designs. He appears to have approached this problem forensically, considering everything from the bracelet end-links to the typography on the dial. Initial Thoughts The Type 37HW is an impressive debut that manages to stand out in a crowded segment of the watch market thanks to several interesting details. The central premise of the Type 37HW is that it is a “go anywhere, do anything”, or GADA, watch. Almost every aspect of the watch appears to have been designed with this use case in mind. The Type 37HW offers goldilocks proportions, and is unusually slim at just 9.8 mm thick (including 2 mm for the domed sapphire crystal). The svelte profile is likely possible thanks to the use of a manually wound Sellita SW216-1. Unfortunately, the combination of a screw-down crown and a manually wound movement – one with a relatively short 45...
Monochrome
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 […]
Fratello
After well over a year, we are finally approaching the moment I can launch my VPC Type 37H. I have published many articles about the development of the watch itself, but today, I want to get into the logistics and commercial side of launching my debut watch. It is another side of the project that […] Visit Building A Watch Brand Episode 13: The Logistics Of Bringing A Watch To Market to read the full article.
Fratello
Picking what I consider the best watches under €5,000 is a tough task. We did the same exercise last year, and it’s interesting to see how our choices have evolved. Has my perspective changed? Are there a lot of new possible options? As it turns out, there have been some changes compared to last year. […] Visit Fratello Favorites: The Best Watches Under €5,000 - Jorg’s Picks From Tudor, Fortis, And VPC to read the full article.
Fratello
When Morgan accidentally started the #fivewatchcollection trend on Instagram, I wasn’t planning on sharing mine. Until the concept crossed over to Fratello, that is. You can gauge my social media trendiness by my tardiness to this game, but here I am nonetheless! These are the five watches in my collection that currently form its backbone. […] Visit Fratello Editors Share Their Five-Watch Collections: Thomas’s Picks From Rolex, Omega, Panerai, And VPC to read the full article.
Hodinkee
The enthusiast-driven brand introduces its second design in an ultra-thin diver.
Hodinkee
The initial offering from a new enthusiast-driven brand looks to perfect the everyday sports watch.
Hodinkee
When a watch writer creates their dream watch...
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