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The must-have Macro Loupe for all watch lovers

I really like the shape of this case, which is somewhere between a square and a circle. Its straight lugs give it an even more dynamic feel. The faceted gold and red hands and hour markers against a dark brown background contribute to this impression of raw energy, even though the Tchaika brand from the Uglich Watch Factory is known for its refined and delicate timepieces.

To get a general idea of Tchaika watches, you can watch Alexander Brodnikovsky's presentation of his entire collection outdoors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxylHXQ7GI4. These are all watches designed for a Soviet female audience.

The steel case back is screwed down with a six-pronged ring. The movement is a 17-jewel Tchaika 2609N. Produced by the Uglich factory, it is in fact identical to the Moscow 2609N movement. The caliber is marked with the Tchaïka brand logo (a X depicted within a shield).

The song I would associate with it is "L'enterrement de la guerre" by DDT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2cdzL1jH48

When Power Rhymes with Elegance

I quite like this unassuming little watch; it's rather quirky. It has a kind of cheap, 80s feel to it. The tachymeter is a complication designed more to spark the imagination than to be truly useful. Who, after all, uses that scale to measure the time it takes to travel a kilometer? And thus deduce the speed of an object? Perhaps bus passengers, bored on a long journey, watching the kilometer markers tick by outside their window. Or maybe the driver of a vehicle whose roadworthiness certificate is long overdue and whose speedometer is malfunctioning?
It reminds me of the anecdote about the new owner of a used car at a ridiculously low price who proudly shows off his new ride to a friend who asks him how he manages if the speedometer doesn't work at all. "It's very simple: when I'm driving at 30 km/h, the rearview mirror vibrates; when I go 60 km/h, the steering wheel shakes; and when I go 80 km/h, my teeth chatter!"

So, pushing the speedometer to 1,000 km/h is taking logic to the extreme. What vehicle can reach 1,000 km/h while measuring the time between two kilometer markers with a watch on its wrist? (That represents 3 seconds on the scale.) Even the speedometer on Neil Armstrong's watch stopped at 500. 1,000 km/h is as absurd as a child's dream. And perhaps that's the meaning of this watch: the dream of a child bored in the back of a car on an endless journey.

The date window is positioned at 4:30 for discretion and originality. It's a rather good choice. The stainless steel case is 40mm in diameter and 14mm thick. The bezel is fixed. The movement is automatic, a Seagull ST1612. It has a hacking seconds function for easy and precise time setting, and also a quick-set date function. The blue dial complements the orange hour markers, numerals, and strap. The luminescent material is insufficient as it fades very quickly.

This isn't a precious or precise watch; it's more of a fun watch that allows you to dream on a limited budget, as is typical of the Kelton brand. As they say, "If you change your style, change your Kelton."

The music I would associate with this watch, as the brand suggests, is the soundtrack from Mission Impossible 5: Rogue Nation https://youtu.be/PZmL630oQQ8?si=S75uankSwN3u35D0&t=315

The Kelton mile, a completely impossible mission

This Poljot automatic export version is luminous; the case, the dial, the hands, and the hour markers all contribute to making it dazzling, the queen of the day.

It features a faceted case, type 1721, from Moscow's first watch factory, secured by a steel case back with a six-prong clasp. The case measures 37 mm wide and 13 mm thick.
The movement inside is a Poljot 2616.2H automatic, with 23 jewels. It's a very comfortable watch on the wrist and dazzling to behold.
The soundtrack I would associate with this standout watch is Blondie's "Atomic," or rather, its more modern version performed by Sleeper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaLMFRt9few

The dazzling morning sun

This late 1980s model, the 4168731, breaks the mold in several ways: the date is at 12 o'clock, and the black dial is gridded with horizontal lines that connect the hour markers in pairs according to a vertical symmetry. It looks as if a physicist on the phone, obsessed with symmetry, is sketching symmetries between the markers on the dial.

The brass case is circular, 35mm in diameter, with a simple snap-on steel case back. I really like the dauphine hands because they are very legible and elegant against the black dial. They resonate with the rounded edge of the dial.

The movement is a 19-jewel R2614, a derivative of the 2609H with a date function.

The soundtrack I would associate with this watch would be "L'homme et le chat" by Nol, a rock classic from the same era. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jaL79kDUzPM

Symmetry in the deepest night

Piotr Winiarski began making watches out of passion, to create pieces very different from what is usually found and to revive vintage movements. He makes many "marriage" models, combining a new open-back case with a restored vintage movement and dials that fulfill his clients' wildest desires. At one point, to acquire new equipment, he launched a Kickstarter campaign offering to create a completely bespoke watch.

I find this to be a very good exercise because it allows you to see what you have in mind and how well you can explain it to a Polish artist so that it corresponds to what he is capable of creating. And so that the final result is more or less in line with what you dream of.

What populates my imagination isn't Big Ben, nor the chimes of plush drawing rooms, or the opulent wristwatches of organized crime bosses, the horological extravagances of elite athletes, or the financial rewards of social media influencers. No, it's sundials under the sun of the Alps of Haute-Provence, the Alpilles, or the Luberon. It's the pastel colors on the wall and their philosophical motto. It's the powerful sun bringing out the intense colors, like in Van Gogh's paintings in the Arles region. The slow movement of the gnomon's shadow in a trigonometric direction—counterclockwise. It's the hour moving silently across the dial and disappearing with the clouds or the night. This is the local time and the time of day, to which must be added the mean time correction based on the sun's figure-eight curve, and the correction of local time relative to German time, which governs our time, and possibly the adjustment for daylight saving time.

So, of course, I have watches that follow this solar rhythm. I have the fantastic Louis Jensol by Jean Louis Moulard, and the inimitable Yes Watch V7 by Bjørn Kartomten. But I dreamed of something less of a "tool watch" and more artistic, where you could almost smell the lavender, hear the cicadas singing, or expect to see butterflies fluttering on thyme blossoms in the hills, lizards scurrying across the rocks, the wind rustling the poppies. In short, something more impressionistic.

My brief was precisely that: to evoke the feeling of Provençal sunshine. I initially envisioned a 24-hour movement with a divided dial: the lower half for daytime, perhaps an old olive tree in the hills or a field of sunflowers in bloom under the sun, and the upper half a deep sky with the Milky Way (the Camino de Santiago, as they say). The idea was to separate the day and night zones, using the extreme sunrise and sunset times for the city of Arles, and create an intermediate zone to represent the difference between summer and winter. Then, to simplify the project, we opted for a GMT movement and cut the division at 6-6 o'clock. The idea of the deep sky evolved into a last crescent moon at dawn, a reference to Van Gogh's painting of the starry sky over the city and the cypress trees, removing the depressing city and cypresses and replacing them with daytime suns. Suns reflecting the stars of the night, and sunflowers bathed in light, turning almost poppy red. It was completely wild. I loved it. The GMT hand, representing the sun, traverses this fantastical landscape throughout the day with long rays. To match this sunlit atmosphere, the case is bronze and measures 43mm without the crown. The hands are very legible despite the colorful dial. Overall, it's quite well done. The case back isn't open because it houses a contemporary Japanese movement, not a vintage one, to achieve the GMT function. Instead, a sundial motto, "Carpe lucis horas" (Seize the day), is engraved on the back. The watch comes on a thick leather strap, but I often wear it on a Vario NATO strap when it's warm.

It arrives in a practical branded gift box and is packaged in a bag reproducing the Van Gogh painting that inspired the dial. A thoughtful touch for a watch that took much longer than expected to complete.

I highly recommend the work of Piotr Winiarski, who creates watches that inspire dreams when you wear them, but especially when you imagine them and discuss each design choice with him. He sometimes launches Kickstarter campaigns. Participate; the result is unlike anything you find in stores.

The music I would associate with this watch is "Le soleil" by Elysium. Because this watch truly is a ray of sunshine on your wrist, reminding you of the Provençal sun wherever you are, even in the grayness or the blues. Even in the depths of gloom, in times of failure, when nothing seems to be going right, you can bounce back, rediscover your enthusiasm, and then you'll see the Milky Way under a clear Provençal sky, or the sun illuminating the colors like never before.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7ft0gDemaHg

A ray of sunshine from Provence on your wrist

I don't often wear this 1950s watch. While it's perfectly legible and evokes a bygone era, it seems a bit fragile, and the syringe-like hands make the Geiger counter click.
The Pobeda logo appears to be fading with age, while the numerals and minute track remain clearly visible. Moreover, the 6, below the small seconds subdial, is perfectly legible, whereas on many models it's hidden to make more room for the seconds hand.

It was produced by the first watch factory in Moscow, at a time when numerous factories across the country were manufacturing watches under the Pobeda brand. This isn't indicated on the dial but on the movement. The case is chrome-plated brass with a simple snap-on case back. The movement is a 32TchéN, produced in the third quarter of 1953 in Moscow, and has 15 jewels. This watch reminds me of a masterful interpretation of Rachmaninoff: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5gyXRp6XV9s

Pobeda 1st Moscow Factory with luminous syringe needles

<p><strong>ZRC</strong> est une maison horlog&egrave;re fond&eacute;e en <strong>1904</strong> &agrave; Gen&egrave;ve (Suisse) par Edmond Zuccolo et Joseph Rochet. N&eacute;e dans l&rsquo;univers des cha&icirc;nes de gousset puis des bracelets m&eacute;talliques extensibles, la marque s&rsquo;adresse aujourd&rsquo;hui aux amateurs de plongeuses-outils iconiques, rendue c&eacute;l&egrave;bre par sa Grands Fonds d&eacute;velopp&eacute;e pour la Marine nationale &agrave; partir des ann&eacute;es 1960.</p>
<h3>Couronne &agrave; 6 h, bo&icirc;tier monobloc et esprit Marine nationale</h3>
<p>Con&ccedil;ue pour r&eacute;pondre aux contraintes op&eacute;rationnelles des plongeurs-d&eacute;mineurs fran&ccedil;ais, la Grands Fonds adopte la couronne &agrave; 6 h, un bo&icirc;tier monobloc et des solutions maison comme l&rsquo;ECS (Easy Clean System) et le CPS (Crown Protection System). <strong>Dans la pratique, la couronne &agrave; 6 h et le CPS emp&ecirc;chent de porter la montre si la couronne n&rsquo;est pas parfaitement viss&eacute;e</strong>, limitant ainsi les risques d&rsquo;erreur avant immersion ; l&rsquo;ECS facilite le rin&ccedil;age pour &eacute;viter la cristallisation du sel sous la lunette.</p>
<h3>Grands Fonds et d&eacute;clinaisons contemporaines</h3>
<p>La collection actuelle d&eacute;cline l&rsquo;ADN historique (lisibilit&eacute;, ergonomie de terrain, silhouette &laquo; outil &raquo;) en plusieurs tailles et niveaux de performance. <strong>Quel que soit le mod&egrave;le, l&rsquo;architecture et la signature &agrave; 6 h rendent la lecture imm&eacute;diate et l&rsquo;identit&eacute; instantan&eacute;ment reconnaissable</strong>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>ZRC Grands Fonds MN64 </strong>&mdash; Hommage aux sp&eacute;cifications Marine nationale, codes historiques de cadran et de lunette.</li>
<li><strong>ZRC Grands Fonds Heritage</strong>&nbsp;&mdash; Gabarit plus contenu (38 mm) conservant la signature de couronne &agrave; 6 h pour les poignets fins.</li>
<li><strong>ZRC Securicode</strong> &mdash; R&eacute;interpr&eacute;tation d&rsquo;un th&egrave;me de la fin des ann&eacute;es 1950/1960, avec &eacute;l&eacute;ments de style historiques.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Positionnement : outil pro, prix et distribution</h3>
<p>La marque revendique un positionnement &laquo; instrument de plong&eacute;e &raquo; au sein de l&rsquo;horlogerie ind&eacute;pendante suisse, avec volumes de production <em>non communiqu&eacute;</em> et diffusion s&eacute;lective (d&eacute;taillants sp&eacute;cialis&eacute;s et vente directe). <strong>&Agrave; titre indicatif, de nombreuses r&eacute;f&eacute;rences acier se situent autour de 2 500&ndash;3 000 &euro;, tandis que des versions techniques en titane d&eacute;passent 4 000 &euro;</strong> ; certaines &eacute;ditions sp&eacute;ciales ou m&eacute;taux nobles s&rsquo;&eacute;tablissent nettement au-del&agrave;. Pr&eacute;sence confirm&eacute;e en France avec des &eacute;taillants comme <a href="https://www.bijouterie-clouzeau.fr/fr/marques/zrc-1904">Clouzeau</a> ou <a href="https://www.berenger.fr/fr/horlogerie-berenger/marques/zrc-1904">Berenger</a>, et sur quelques march&eacute;s Asie/Moyen-Orient via un r&eacute;seau resserr&eacute;.</p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p><strong>ZRC s&rsquo;adresse aux amateurs de montres-outils au style imm&eacute;diatement identifiable</strong>, qui privil&eacute;gient la fonctionnalit&eacute;, la lisibilit&eacute; et une signature de design forte. Le choix se fera entre un usage polyvalent quotidien (Grands Fonds 300/38), une filiation historique appuy&eacute;e (MN64, Securicode) ou une approche plus technique et extr&ecirc;me (Grands Fonds 3000 Titanium). Les acheteurs sensibles &agrave; l&rsquo;ergonomie appr&eacute;cieront la couronne &agrave; 6 h et la s&eacute;curit&eacute; du CPS ; les puristes salueront la coh&eacute;rence d&rsquo;ensemble. Pour &eacute;clairer votre d&eacute;cision au-del&agrave; de la fiche technique, fiez-vous&nbsp;<strong>aux avis clients Dialicious</strong>, utiles pour comprendre confort, lisibilit&eacute; r&eacute;elle et ressenti au port&eacute;.</p>
<p>(Mise &agrave; jour Ao&ucirc;t 2025)</p>

<p><strong>ZRC</strong> is a watch brand founded in <strong>1904</strong> in Geneva, Switzerland, by Edmond Zuccolo and Joseph Rochet. Born in the field of pocket-watch chains and later expandable metal bracelets, the brand now caters to enthusiasts of iconic tool divers, made famous by its Grands Fonds developed for the French Navy from the 1960s onward.</p>
<h3>6 o&rsquo;clock crown, monobloc case and French Navy spirit</h3>
<p>Engineered to meet the operational demands of French Navy mine-clearance divers, the Grands Fonds features a 6 o&rsquo;clock crown, a monobloc case and in-house solutions such as ECS (Easy Clean System) and CPS (Crown Protection System). <strong>In practice, the 6 o&rsquo;clock crown and CPS prevent the watch from being worn unless the crown is fully screwed down</strong>, reducing user error prior to immersion; ECS helps flush out salt to prevent crystallization under the bezel.</p>
<h3>Grands Fonds and contemporary variants</h3>
<p>The current collection translates the historical DNA (legibility, field ergonomics, tool-watch silhouette) into multiple sizes and performance levels. <strong>Whichever the model, the 6 o&rsquo;clock signature ensures instant readability and an immediately recognisable identity</strong>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>ZRC Grands Fonds MN64</strong> &mdash; Core diver inspired by 1964, 300 m, bold legibility for versatile daily wear.</li>
<li><strong>ZRC Grands Fonds Hertiage</strong> &mdash; Smaller 38 mm option retaining the 6 o&rsquo;clock crown signature for slimmer wrists.</li>
<li><strong>ZRC Securicode</strong> &mdash; Reinterpretation of a late-1950s/1960s theme with historical design elements.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Positioning: pro tool, pricing and distribution</h3>
<p>The brand&rsquo;s stance is that of an independent Swiss &ldquo;diving instrument,&rdquo; with production volumes <em>not disclosed</em> and selective distribution (specialist retailers and direct sales). <strong>As a guide, many steel references sit around &euro;2,500&ndash;3,000, while technical titanium pieces exceed &euro;4,000</strong>; special editions or precious-metal variants are significantly higher. Presence is established in Europe such as <a href="https://www.soprana.com/zrc-1904/?lang=en">Soprana</a> in Italy or <a href="https://junod-lausanne.ch/fr/collections/zrc">Junod</a> in Switzerland, and selected Asian/Middle-Eastern markets through a tight retail network.</p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>ZRC speaks to those who value immediately recognisable tool-watch design with functional clarity and a strong signature. Your choice will likely fall between versatile daily wear (Grands Fonds 300/38), an emphatic historical link (MN64, Securicode), or a more technical, extreme approach (Grands Fonds 3000 Titanium). Ergonomics benefit from the 6 o&rsquo;clock crown and CPS safety; purists will appreciate the overall coherence. To refine your decision beyond the spec sheet, rely on <strong>Dialicious customer reviews</strong> to understand comfort, real-world legibility and on-wrist feel.</p>
<p>(Updated August 2025)</p>

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