Helgray is a young watch company that was founded a couple of years ago after its sister company, Makara’s great success. The Silverstone is their fourth release.
It was funded through a kickstarter campaign that was extremely successful with 3 stretch marks unlocked. So it is really safe to say that this was a highly anticipated watch.
I was following the campaign closely from its day one, and I was really impressed with the amount of updates sent to backers by emails, and through their dedicated page on WUS.
I was also impressed with how accurate the time plan was followed, and the watches were delivered only a couple of weeks later than anticipated. This is really amazing keeping in mind how things go south sometimes with successfully funded campaigns, I got other backed projects that were months or even years delayed. I would really raise my hat to Nadim the founder of Helgray for his excellent poject management skills.
And now to the watch!
There were 4 colours’ options for this watch, Green, blue and black with silver subdials, also a white version with black subdials.
I opted for the green dial, as I don’t have any green watches in my current collection.
The watch was shipped in a nice travel pouch with a small spring bar tool along with an extra leather band, on top of the stainless steel bracelet already installed on the watch.
I was impressed with the quality of the watch, although the green color in real life was a bit lighter than expected, but when I went back to the pre-order pages, I found that it is almost the same as the one in the picture, so it was a sort of false anticipation at my end.
My wife was very impressed with the looks of the watch, she was claiming that this is the most beautiful watch she ever saw!
I would say after the second day with this watch on my wrist I felt that for sure it is a keeper and not going anywhere soon; we started to bond!
The watch really started to grow on me big time! The dial design, colors and texture really made this watch pop out from the crowd.
The watch has a perfect rounded case with a a very symmetric dial with 2 subdials for the chronograph function, and the date window at 6 which really resulted into a very well balanced dial design.
The case size is 40mm, and lug to lug is 47 mm, so it is a very nce moderate size.
The case is mixed between brushed and polished finishes, both are executed flawlessly.
The case profile is a bit strange, where the lugs bend with a sharp acute angle towards the wirst.
For my wrist which is 6.7″ it really sits very well and hugs my wrist tightly. It might be a concern for larger wristed guys, although on WUS people were saying that it sits fine with larger wrists, but it is a point to consider for sure.
The sapphire crystal is slightly domed with nice AR coating to it, it really feels and looks good.
The signed crown is nicely finished and has a good grip; the pushers as well are nicely polished and easy to use.
I would have preferred a screw down crow with increased WR, but at this price point, I’m not complaining at all. Also keeping in mind that this is a racing-theme watch and not a diving one, but I like swimming with all my watches, and probably won’t risk this one in the water.
The bracelet is very well finished with solid end links and all brushed surfaces.
The end links sit very well among the lugs with zero gap or play, very well finished.
The clasp though feels a bit cheap, I would have preferred a more solid one, but it secures the watch very well, and it is extremely comfortable.
I’m not a bracelet guy anyways, so I put it on its leather strap almost immediately.
The leather strap is nicely done, soft real leather with a deployment clasp, it is very well made with excellent materials, specially at this price point.
This beauty is powered by the Seiko mecaquartz chronograph, with no running second hand subdial.
It is a very accurate and solid movement that a lot of boutique brands are adopting at the moment, it has the quartz accuracy and grab-n-go pros.
It kinda feel like an automatic with its main second hand ticks smoothly during the chronograph function, it sweeps like a high beat automatic movement.
To sum it up, this is a brilliant watch for a great value, I love mine and will not let go it any time soon;
It really makes an excellent summer time watch.
And now some more shots!
