Rotary have been around as a watch company since 1895. UK-based, their watches are British-designed and made in China, which means that they combine quality and value. The new Regent models are mechanical watches that are priced the same as many quartz watches, but offer all the style and fascination that a watch strapped to your wrist that's powered by a little motor offers over its battery-powered cousins.
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| The Rotary Regent watch |
I was recently sent a Rotary Regent watch to try. They come with either a closed dial (like mine) or a skeleton dial which shows the Miyota movement from the front. Both have a display back showing the movement at the back of the watch. They come on either a leather strap or a robust steel bracelet. The integrated nature of the attachment to the case means that the choice of strap is restricted but the design is attractively different.
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| Rotary Regent: A lot of mechanical watch for £249 (bottom left, prices vary) |
In many ways the watch owes its look to those gorgeous - and many times more pricey - watches designed by the legendary watch designer Gérald Genta such as the Audemars Piguet and Patek Phillipe Nautilus. There's nothing wrong with that; there are few watches of any price that don't owe elements of their design to other brands.
The Regent has a 40mm case water resistant to 100m, has a date function and comes with blue, black or skeleton dials. Prices start at £249 for the model here to £329 for the skeleton dial with steel bracelet. For the money this is an attractive, robust and stylish watch and it's good to find that good mechanical wristwatches are available at this price point. See Rotary for more information.
I was sent a sample of the Rotary Regent to review. All views are mine alone.