RENZO Swiss Made Chronograph Watch Review

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Packaging

Case

The New Renzo chronographs are housed in solid 316L stainless steel polished cases with a decent set of dimensions for your average modern man. The iteration shown here ( Royale Brown/White ) is finished in an ION plated rose gold color with a mirror like high polish - though there are numerous options of finishing and dial colors available on the Renzo website. In terms of overall dimensions we are looking at 42MM wide x 11MM thick. I really like this size as a chronograph should show a little more wrist presence considering we have a function to read off the dial, as well as normal time. Another thing I do like is the rounded piston head style pushers which function with ease for the chronograph stop/start/reset and show zero signs of wiggle room. Our crown is a pull/push and allows this watch to have a 50M water resistance rating. Now by no means take this into the water...but if you happen to get caught in a rainstorm or wash your hands you will be OK. Small details include the signed “R” crown and a nice screw down ( real screws ) caseback with a fine brushed center. Overall, I like the dimensions and how it fits on my 6.5” wrist and do not see any issues here for this simple and practical modern piece.

Dial

The white dial is quite elegant with a Matt Lacqeured finish and definitely pops compared to other colors I have seen. The applied indexes are very neat and match the case finishing as well. If we head over to the 4:00 position a nice matching date wheel is exposed , and doesn’t really get in the way of things - but is legibile. The long chronograph hand paired with bold fence style hands match the aesthetic just fine. Now some brands are horrible when it comes to matching hands and markers , but they did it very proportionately and it looks the part for sure. One thing I did not mention which is extremely important is the fact that this watch is indeed Swiss Made and Assembled in Switzerland ( Swiss Made is Marked below 6:00 ). The sub dials themselves are placed beatly and feature an off white circular pattern which looks nice and helps defer itself from the off white dial. As you can see from the photo, we do get a functional 12 Hour chronograph ( increments of 30 Minutes ) and a separate seconds subdial. Lastly, on this affordable piece at $275 they have gone ahead and placed a nice anti reflective coated Sapphire crystal for increased durability and legibility.

Movement

The Swiss Quartz Ronda 5030D is a movement I have experience with, and can stand by it. It does run on a battery and has some
nice features including elapsed time measurement, and pinpoint accuracy of a couple seconds a month. These
movements are indeed thin which allows the Royalé to stand only 11MM thin - making it extremely comfortable and allowing the end user to easily slide this under a cuff.

Leather Band Supplied

This model came equipped on a 22MM brown Full Grain Genuine Leather embossed band which also features quick-release straps. The nice part about this feature is the easy on the go “swapability” to alter the appearance of your watch by changing straps without a tool in seconds. Straight out of the box the strap really conformed nicely to my wrist and there really is no break in period needed for this one. I also think this model would look stellar on a straight black non embosssd band, if you happen to have one. The buckle is signed quite neatly as you can see in the macro shot and matches the case color just fine.

Conclusion

So, what do I think? All in all , it is a good standard everyday chronograph for a simple man. This watch can be suitable for someone who wants a well made reliable swiss watch but does not want to spend a ton of money. If this watch were to be automatic - you would be looking at a pricepoint of around $1000 USD. The movement is decent for the price as is the case cut and finish. I like the overall classic design, and feel something like this can last quite a long time in ones’ treasure chest without issues. Thanks for taking the time to read and please do check out the full hands-on YouTube video of the Renzo chronograph.