Dubey & Schaldenbrand is quite unique from most other Swiss brands out there, and in my opinion, seems to derive much of it’s inspiration from Chronoswiss (or is it vice versa?). According to the website, D & S is also the only Swiss Watchmaking house to have a woman in charge, Cinette Robert.
I’ve always loved Dubey & Schaldenbrand with their tonneau shaped cases and hidden lugs. They are reminiscent of Franck Muller’s cintree curvex, but still able to create their own identity. I purchased the Aerodyn Date, as the roman numeral dial really called to me. I wish I had bought this watch on a bracelet, as I grew tired of the strap.
The dial is beautifully guilloche finished, which is typical of many of D&S designs. The dials are almost always beautifully textured, and this one is no exception. The deep blue dial is easy to match up, and is a nice relief from the usual white and black dials. This one has no lume, but the Romain numerals are painted on, as are the logo and other markings.
The big date movement in the Aerodyn Big Date is the ETA 2892-A2 with Big Date module. This is a great choice for the watch as it places the big date at the 12 o’clock position instead of the 3 o’clock position that is had with the ETA 2826-2.
One thing I did not like about the Aerodyn Date, and is likely the case with many D&S models is the laser-etched logo on the crown. I would think for this price range a machined logo in the crown is minimum. Ther laser-etched logo is more in-line with watches in the $500 range found in lower-end department stores such as Guess and Fossil.
The back, unlike the crown, is nicely and deeply machined with the logo, model and the serial number. The back is screwed in with 7 screws, and flat satin finished, just like Franck Muller watches. The watch is mounted on a Blue, Crocodile-embossed leather strap with an aftermarket deployant. The Original band is a blue genuine alligator strap, on a D&S Deployany, but I found the original deployant uncomfortable for my smaller wrists. The deployant is positioned slightly too far over on smaller wrists.
Here is a shot of the 33 x 44 mm case on my 6 3/4″ wrist. As you can see, its a beautiful watch and wears wonderfully. You can see the Double-AR coated and curved Sapphire crystal shows the dial beautifully, as does the organically curved stainless steel case. Hope you guys enjoyed the review!
