Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective Review

Just over a year ago Australian watch brand Bausele teamed up with French artist Romaric Andre, better known as seconde/seconde/, to release their collaboration watch called the Perspective. While collaborations are becoming more and more common in the watch industry, it's not that common when two of my favorite people in the industry get together to create a watch.

Bausele was founded by Christophe Hoppe in Sydney in 2011 and has become the most respected watch brand operating in Australia. Christophe is a veteran of the watch industry in both Europe and Australia and after falling in love with his adopted home of Australia started Bausele there. The main goal of Bausele was to encompass all of Australia with their watches. I'd say Christophe and Bausele have accomplished their mission and their watches even contain sand and soil from Australian locations in their crowns.



Romaric Andre found his way into the watch industry after initially working in finance when he formed a start up that put a tourbillon inside of a cell phone. The start up even had Richard Mille on their board but the high price of the phone ended up causing the project to not move forward. After this endeavor Romaric was a bit lost and it's at this time his wife suggested that Romaric take vintage watches and modify them using his artistic sense and resell them. He did just that and seconde/seconde/ was started.

Initially Romaric added a bit of color to vintage watches and then moved on to swapping the OEM second hands out for more interesting hands he designed. Many of these swapped out second hands were stylized after 8-bit graphics you would see on an original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). For the collaboration between Bausele and seconde/seconde/ this is exactly the path that was taken, with the most obvious change to the watch being the swapped out seconds hand. I'll get into the changes Romaric and Christophe made to the existing Bausele Sydney Diver here in a bit, but first let's go over my initial impressions of the watch.





Initial Thoughts

I had missed the original release of the Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective by about a month and was really bummed out that I wouldn't have the chance to review the piece. Over the last few months I've been speaking more and more with Christophe and one day decided to ask him if he still had any Perspectives left that we could review. Much to my surprise Christophe said he did indeed have one and he would send it right out to me.

When the watch arrived the first thing I really took notice of was the bright blue fabric strap. The blue used on the strap matches the blue of the hour markers on the dial perfectly. What really caught my attention was the fastener on the strap. The Perspective uses a system similar to what you see on some Richard Mille watches where one side of the strap has a steel loop and the other end loops through and uses Velcro to fasten the strap. The blue and black of the strap just fit the watch so well and really makes for one of my favorite straps I've seen in a while. The endless adjustability of the Velcro strap also means that you always get a perfect fit.



The second thing I noticed during my initial time with the Perspective was the fully luminous dial. The watch was released in a limited edition of 50 pieces with a white dial and 50 pieces with a black dial. The Perspective Christophe sent us was the white dial which when hit with UV light or in low light is fully lumed. The dial glows a bright green and contrasts nicely with the sandwich style hour markers that glow a bit more bluish green. The hour and minute hands also glow a slightly different color green which distinguishes them from the dial. I had no idea the dial of the Perspective was fully luminous, so it was a truly unexpected surprise.

The last thing that grabbed my attention on the Perspective was its signature seconds hand. When the watch first launched and I looked at press release pictures of the watch I just assumed the seconds hand was an 8-bit shark fin. Well I guess I was half right and should have paid more attention to the press release. In person the most visible part of the seconds hand is the long blue hand that extends the full diameter of the dial. The "fin" is mounted in the center of this line and depending on what second the watch is on shows a completely different picture. Half of the time the fin represents a shark fin protruding out of the water Jaws style. The other half of the time the fin looks like a surfboard's fin submerged just beneath the surface. This difference in appearance is why the watch is called "Perspective", depending on your viewpoint the fin can be one of two things.

Technical Specifications

Now that we've gone over my initial thoughts of the Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective let's take a look at the technical specifications of the watch. The watch is crafted out of black IP stainless steel and has a case diameter of 39.8 mm with a lug to lug length of 47.5 mm. On the blue fabric strap the watch weighs in at 94 grams and at its thickest point the Perspective is 13.1 mm thick.



The Perspective has a double domed sapphire crystal with five layers of anti-reflective coating. Underneath the crystal clear sapphire is the stark white dial surrounded by a black minutes track with white printed markers. The dial is made in a sandwich style with the hour markers cut out of the dial and being the blue color of the lower dial. A triangle is used for 12 o'clock and stick markers are cut out for 3, 6, and 9. Round markers are then cut out for 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11. In the dark as mentioned previously the entire white dial glows green with the hour markers glowing a more bluish tint of green to contrast from the main dial.

The large hour and minute hands are outlined in the same blue as the hour markers and filled completely with white Super-Luminova that glows a slightly different green from the dial in low light. The seconds hand spans the length of the dial and is once again done in matching blue to the other hands and hour markers. The center of the seconds hand is where you find the 8 bit fin design. The fin is made up of around 18 pixels varying from dark blue to white that form the distinctive shark fin shape. While the fin is pointing upwards (towards 12) the fin looks like that of a shark. On the other hand when the fin is pointing downwards (towards 6) the fin looks like that of a surfboard.



Finishing off the dial is the Bausele branding at 12 o'clock and "Swiss Made" text at 6 o'clock. Instead of finding the traditional water resistance also at 6, Romaric had a bit of fun here and just listed the depth rating as "deep!" The true water resistance is 200 meters and being honest anything over 50 meters is probably more than any non-professional diver is going to see, so "deep!" is more than satisfactory. Moving on from the dial the Perspective is fitted with a 60 click unidirectional bezel. The bezel is done in the same black as the case and its indices are covered in white Super-Luminova that glows green in low light. The watch has a fairly traditional dive scale with Arabic numerals for 15, 30 and 45 and a large triangle at 0/60. The bezel operates with a nice action which creates satisfying clicks and there is very little back play.



The entirety of the case is IP coated back stainless steel with a satin finish. No parts of the case have a polished finish to them really indicating that the Perspective is a tool first dive watch. Looking at the profile of the case you can see that the case slopes down to contour to your wrist. This means the Perspective should be able to be worn by a wide variety of wrist sizes with no issue.



On the right hand side of the watch you find the steel screw down crown which is nicely scalloped to provide excellent grip. The crown is topped with a visible window where you can see into the crown. The crown is actually filled with red earth from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This is a fun nod often seen in other Bausele watches that really tie the watches back into their homeland. Unscrewing the crown allows you to wind the automatic movement in its resting position. Pulling the crown out to the first and only position stops the seconds hand and allows you to set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand and screwing the crown down requires no extra care to get the crown to align and catch. The screw down crown aids in the Perspective's 200 meter water resistance as well.



Flipping the watch over shows off the solid screwed in steel caseback. The case back has an engraving for the Bausele branding along with "Limited Edition One of 50". Along with these engravings the watch also has a bit of fun engraved on the back showing this is a seconde/seconde/ collaboration. The top of the case back is covered by two more engravings which say "Does that fin belong on a surfboard or a shark?" and "Perspective is a collaborative piece by Bausele & seconde/seconde/".

Underneath the case back beats the Swiss Made Sellita SW200 automatic movement. The SW200 beats away at 28,800 vph (4Hz) and has a power reserve of around 38 hours. We have typically found SW200 and SW300 movements to be extremely accurate and the SW200 found in the Perspective is no different showing an accuracy of -1 seconds per day when averaged over several positions.



The Perspective has a lug with of 22 mm and comes with two straps. One is a traditional black Tropic style rubber strap with a black pin buckle and the other is the blue fabric strap with a Velcro fastener. While I do love rubber straps, I just found the blue fabric strap much more interesting. I really feel this strap completes the watch. The strap has no taper to it and loops the Velcro closure around a polished steel loop to adjust strap sizing. Like I mentioned earlier the strap has unlimited positions where it can be sized to and is extremely comfortable.



On The Wrist

Since I have been looking forward to getting some hands on time with the Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective for a year I really tried to wear the watch every chance I had. The watch is truly just stunning on wrist when you combine the white dial with blue accents with the matching blue strap. The legibility of the dial is also extremely good, easily passing my time telling at a glance while driving legibility test. The contrast between the white dial and blue hour markings really surprised me since I initially didn't think the contrast would be as great as it was.



I typically prefer watches over 50 mm in lug to lug to cover my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area so I was a little worried that the Perspective would feel small. To my surprise with even just a 47.5 mm lug to lug length the watch wore nicely on my wrist. Now the trends are definitely going towards smaller watches, so my sizing concerns are definitely dated and most people will think the sizing of the Perspective is just perfect. Truth be told for a daily watch, which the Perspective could definitely be, the sizing and weight is more in line with what I might desire to wear for long stretches at a time.

The Perspective was just a treat on the wrist and for the most part disappeared during its time being worn. The ability to precisely size the watch with the Velcro strap is just a dream and I seem to wear the only personal watch I have on a Velcro strap more than any other of my watches for this exactl reason. Even on the hotter days that we are starting to experience here in Austin I was quickly able to size the strap down or out just a bit to relieve any wrist swell and contraction.



The blacked out case and white dial went perfectly with my normal dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers as well. The Perspective accompanied me on boring trips to the grocery store, FedEx as well as to nights out to dinner and drinks. In all these scenarios the watch was a perfect companion. I could really imagine the Perspective being an amazing watch for summer time as well as a great vacation companion. Sadly by the time summer arrives the watch will be back in Australia with Christophe.

When wearing the Perspective out the watch attracts a lot of attention. I wasn't too surprised given the bright aqua blue strap, on the black rubber strap the watch would definitively be much more subtle and blend in a lot more. Also if you had the black dial variant the watch would be completely stealth on the black rubber strap. Most people I showed the watch to along with the friends I let handle the watch really loved the playfulness of the fin on the dial. I would say most people initially saw the shark fin like I did and when I pointed out it could also be the fin on a surfboard were hit with that ah-ha moment. Overall everyone only had nice things to say about the watch and once again the strap was a conversation point receiving many compliments.





Value and Position in the Market

When the Perspective launched a year ago the retail price was $1,400. Not coming as too much of a shock the watch sold out extremely fast and Bausele has setup an email sign up that allows interested customers to be notified if more come in stock. I also did a bit of digging and it looks like there might be one authorized Bausele dealer that still has one in stock. I didn't go the extra mile and actually contact the dealer, but the Perspective was able to be added to cart on their site. For the price I feel the Perspective is a good value, you are getting a solid everyday dive watch in the Sydney Diver that has been expertly re-imagined through the eyes of seconde/seconde/. I'm firmly from the Nintendo generation and a huge sucker for 8 bit graphics and who doesn't love a shark? Either way, now would be a good time to see how the Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective does against some other collaboration watches with similar specs.

First up we have a bit more of a down to earth collaboration between Tudor and Alinghi Red Bull Racing in the Pelagos FXD. The watch is crafted out of carbon composite and has a 42 mm case diameter. Red Bull brings in their signature blue and red color scheme to the dial and strap and also has their logo as well as the Alinghi logo on the solid case back. The Pelagos FXD has the same water resistance of the Perspective but runs a manufacture movement with 70 hours of power reserve. The Tudor is also a good deal more expensive than the Bausele at $4,000.



Next is an unexpected collaboration between Doxa and Clive Cussler in the Sub 300T Clive Cussler. Cussler has featured DOXA dive watches in his novels, so the collaboration isn't completely out of nowhere but you don't often see a deceased author collaborate with a watch brand. The Sub 300T is crafted out of aged stainless steel and has a case diameter of 42.5 mm. The dial has a compass rose and looks like something straight out of one of Cussler's novels. The Sub 300T does have a bit more water resistance than the Tudor and Bausele at 300 meters and runs on an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement similar to the SW200 found in the Perspective. The Sub 300T is also a good deal more expensive than the Perspective at $2,790.

Moving on is the Bremont Bamford Aurora which is crafted out of DLC coated stainless steel and has a case diameter of 43 mm. Bamford completely transformed the Bremont Supermarine by fully blacking out the watch and applying healthy doses of green Super-Luminova to the dial and bezel giving the watch an otherworldly glow. The watch runs on a modified ETA movement and offers a lot of extra water resistance at 500 meters. The Aurora goes for a lot more than the Bausele at 4,900 British pounds.



Finally we have the Oris x The Muppets ProPilot X Kermit edition which is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 39 mm. The watch uses Kermit's signature green skin tone for the dial and replaces one date on the date wheel with an image of said frog. The ProPilot X only has 100 meters of water resistance but does run on an in-house caliber with 120 hours of power reserve. Like the other watches we've compared the Perspective to, the Oris is also much more expensive at $4,900.

As you can see from the four watches listed above the Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective shows great value for the money by being by far the least expensive of the bunch. It also offers specs right in line with most of the other watches and was designed by the most in-demand watch artist around in Romaric Andre.





Closing Thoughts

So in the end is the Perspective for me? I'd say that is really is. There are a handful of people I speak to fairly regularly in the watch industry and Christopher (Bausele) and Romaric (seconde/seconde/) are two of those people. They are just genuinely nice people and them coming together on a collaboration watch is just awesome. Even before I had spoken to either one, I was a fan of the Perspective though. Being an 80s kid I just love all things having to do with the decade including 8 bit graphics, my wife is the biggest Jaws fan as well, so combining those two in a watch is the recipe for success in my book. I'm also a huge fan of sandwich dials and I hadn't seen one done before with a white (luminous) upper dial and a blue base dial. The blue fabric Velcro strap really put the watch over the edge for me in terms of looks and comfort as well.

Typically things like stainless steel construction and under 50 mm lug to lug lengths would be a deterrent to me but really didn't bother me at all with the Perspective. The black IP coating on the case really serves as nice contrast to the white dial and makes me forget the watch is done in stainless. Also not being a large watch the weight penalties of stainless steel (when compared to titanium / carbon / ceramic) aren't really seen here. Finally the watch wears well and doesn't seem small at all on the wrist. The Perspective never seemed to favor either side of my wrist which is something I can't stand on watches that don't cover my wrist fully. The case's downward slope really helps with that as done the form fitting fabric strap.



Here is the hard part, while I would love to recommend the Bausele x seconde/seconde/ Perspective to those reading this review looking for an everyday diver that doesn't take itself too seriously… I can't. The reason being that the watch is long sold out. Like I mentioned earlier there might be a chance that Bausele locates one if you sign up for their email notification and an authorized Bausele dealer might have one or two left, but in reality they are all gone. Bausele does over a range of non-collaboration Sydney Divers that are practically the same watch minus the seconde/seconde/ touches though.

In the end I'd really like to thank Christophe for sending us this Perspective to review. I honestly thought I'd never get the chance to handle the watch in person much less wear it for a few weeks. It now has to take its long trek back to Australia unfortunately. The Perspective was really everything I thought it would be and more (luminous dial / surfboard fin) and I'm leaving my time with it a bigger fan of both Bausele and seconde/seconde/.



For more information about the Perspective please visit : Bausele

Technical Specifications

Retail Price: $1,400

Case Size: 39.8 mm

Lug to Lug: 47.5 mm

Thickness: 13.1 mm

Weight: 94 Grams

Case Material: Black IP Coated Stainless Steel

Bezel: Black IP Coated Stainless Steel

Strap: Blue Fabric Strap with Velcro / Black Tropic Rubber Strap with Pin Buckle

Movement: Sellita SW200 Swiss Made Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds

Power Reserve: 38 Hours

Water Resistance: 200 Meters