Brathwait Automatic Minimalist Watch: Buy It

The Brathwait Automatic
Minimalist. Photo from Brathwait.

I don’t care if you wear only Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin and think that anything that costs less than $5,000 is simply not worth considering. You should consider the Brathwait Automatic Minimalist Watch, even if it costs only $355.

Or especially because it costs only $359.

I’ll get back to the price of this watch in a moment. But first, let me tell you a little about how it looks. It is minimalist and bold. It is an elegant dress watch, but one that doesn’t look like every other gold or silver dress watch sneaking out from under a sleeve. The balance between the cherry red second hand and the formal white face works perfectly. This is the watch to wear if you’re the kind of person who looks good in a gray Versace suit, white shirt, and red tie.

Only the second hand is red, a relatively small amount of real estate on the entire watch. Your eyes enjoy following the red second hand as it travels around the watch face, and the feeling of formality and elegance that the rest of the watch presents is in perfect balance with that second hand. Like the red tie you’re wearing with your suit.


The Brathwait face’s other features are treats, too: Simple, thin black lines serve as minute markers, with the five-minute points set apart with small, silver balls that have white-line indentations extending outward, giving texture to the watch face. The hands are silver-colored, too, as is the inside of the watch case. The anti-reflective sapphire crystal is domed, which adds a touch of vintage noblesse.

The logo of the Brathwait Automatic Minimalist is just the company’s name and is in the same font as the minute markers. I like a watch whose logo doesn’t try to steal the show away from the rest of the wristwatch.

The watch is 40 mm in diameter, and with its small lugs, it fits comfortably on wrists as thin as 16 cm—and larger wrists, of course.

In short, when you put this watch on, you feel like it should cost several times the price. And many watchmakers would charge $1,000 or more for this watch.

Brathwait’s watches are powered by a Miyota Automatic Caliber 9015, a hacking 24-jewel movement with a frequency of 28,800 bph. The watch is water resistant to 100 meters, so if you get caught in the rain at your best friend’s wedding, your suit may be ruined, but your watch will be fine.

A cat getting a close up look at the Brathwait Automatic
Minimalist Watch, which fits well on a 6 ¼ inch wrist. 

The Brathwait Automatic Minimalist Watch is available with a leather or metal mesh band.

Brathwait keeps its prices in check by selling only online. Avoiding the considerable markup that stores charge goes a long way toward making this watch one of the best—and I hate this term but it does help describe things—values for a watch. But really, forget the value thing. Go plunk down $359 and get one. It’s a beautiful watch at any price.