It’s tough to escape the magnetic pull of The Armoury. Founded by the ever-dapper Mark Cho and Alan See in 2010, the Hong Kong and New York-based retailer is a haven for menswear junkies — and a particular favorite of the horological set. Indeed, go to enough watch events, and you’re bound to encounter their Safari Jacket in one material or another.
Beyond being an encyclopedia of menswear knowledge, Cho is likewise a longtime watch collector of considerable renown; focusing particularly on sub-38mm dress watches, he can often be found with a delightful vintage piece from the mid-20th century on his wrist. After many years of collaborating with brands such as Paulin, Unimatic and Ressence on special editions, The Armoury is finally debuting its own in-house watch brand: Temporal Works. It’s a partnership between Cho and Elliot Hammer, whose creative direction and photography can be found throughout The Armoury’s collaborative timepieces.
The debut model from Temporal Works, dubbed the Series A, is a dressy 37mm watch available in three colorways — one with a red lacquer dial, and two with classic sector dials in grey or blue. Based upon a monobloc case with a screw-down caseback and a height of just 10mm (including its sapphire crystal), it offers a highly polished silhouette somewhat reminiscent of vintage Grand Seiko designs.
“The idea of the Series A is that we wanted to make the ‘navy blazer’ of watches,” Cho said in an explanatory video. “We wanted to make something that was easy, versatile, wearable, appealing to a lot of people — something that’s hopefully iconic, but definitely very important in a person’s visual repertoire.”
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The final batch of the year includes a streetwear-styled Carrera, a Ressence made with Marc Newson and a Vantablack beaut from H. Moser & Cie.To that end, the highly sculpted Series A is meant to hug the wrist just so, its Zaratsu-polished surfaces reflecting light in a pleasing, architectural way and conveying a sense of dynamism. (A brushed midcase helps in this regard, as does a brushed bevel on the smooth bezel.) The first dial option, a bright red “Fortune” lacquer that fades to a darker hue at the edges, stands out for the relative rarity of such colors within the dress and everyday watch space. Devoid of indices or any scales, the dial is finished with what Temporal Works refers to as “pen nib” hands — one can easily discern why — that consist of two sloped side facets with a matte facet through which is cut a rectangular hole. With nothing to detract from the bright red background (with the exception of the Temporal Works wordmark and logo), this makes for a highly legible design that lets the watch’s case architecture do the talking.
The two sector-dial watches — Zaratsu polishing aside — are perhaps even more in the vein of classic mid-century dress watches. Offered in grey or blue, they feature a two-tone design with matching quadrants situated opposite one another, while an outer minute track and an inner hour track provide balance. (Look carefully at the hour track and you’ll notice that the indices protruding from the center give it the aspect of a watch movement’s balance wheel…at least they do to this writer’s eye!) Balanced and clean, the sector-dial pieces leave out the Temporal Works wordmark and only feature the logo, offering a minimalist look that vintage lovers will appreciate.
Powered by the Swiss-made Sellita SW210-1 automatic movement with a 18 jewels, a 28,800 vph beat rate and a power reserve of 42 hours, the Series A is paired with a bespoke Jean Rousseau leather strap in a complementary color, which is finished with a custom buckle reminiscent of those on vintage dress watches from the likes of Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. Also available is a custom stainless steel mesh bracelet by German marque Staib — measuring 19mm at the lugs and tapering slightly for a dressy look, it’s available separately for $250.
With 50m of water resistance and an automatic movement, the Temporal Works Series A makes for an ideal office watch, especially for those who appreciate both Swiss and Japanese case designs. At $2,500, it’s certainly pricier than much of the microbrand fare that many collectors will be used to. But for fans of The Armoury and its high-end menswear, such pricing will certainly feel reasonable. Designed with an eye toward timelessness, the Series A seems like the type of watch one could easily pass down to the next (well-dressed) generation.
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