Jamie Weiss
Often, when we talk about watches, both our enthusiasts and the brands we are obsessed with prefer to indulge in romantic national stereotypes. Passionate Italian design. Strict German engineering. That kind of thing. I’m also happy to do it at Transylvanian Brand Peren. Previously, he had previously experienced a vampire fang-shaped logo and a proper Gothic design. Peren’s latest collection of watches, the Resia Eclipse Range, reflects its Transylvanian origins more philosophically, abandoning the tusk logo and instead draws inspiration from the Salmisé Vesa Regia Calendar, an ancient calendar system used by the Transylvanian Dasians. The result is a watch that aims to be enduringly charm, retaining hints of monochromatic spooky eccentricity.
case
The Peren Regia Eclipse Collection includes three variations: Lunar eclipse with matte black DLC bezel insert. And the latest addition to the range, the lunar eclipse is completely DLC-treated. All three are hand-in-hand in Switzerland. The brand may be Transylvanian, but here it is just 100% Swiss watchmaking.
The two exposed steel variants use case flanks with bezels with vertical and radial brushing to show off a pleasant array of brushes, bead blasts and hand polished finishes. But the totally murdered lunar eclipse darkness is the most impressive (and most vampire) of the three, with Matt DLC taking over the case surface and one radially brushed lip on the bezel.
This is a very minimalist and functional case design. The slightly cone-shaped bezel has a noticeable serration for grip, making it easier to operate. The bezels differ from previous versions of Resia, which had more traditional timing bezels, and only feature a single deleted dot and other timing markings. The Regia Eclipse is a genuine dive watch with a large screw-down crown and a water resistance rating of 200 meters, but this peeled back bezel is not the most effective diving timer you’ve found in watchmaking. Anything. It looks very cool and suits the watch’s suppressed aesthetics. It has a more refined case form and a prominent bezel/crown, but it evokes some of the Unimatic Dive Watch Designs (real composure, I might add).
Dial
The ancient Transylvanian calendar may inspire the eclipse of Resia, but its dial is very modern. Rather than using an applied or filled room plot, this Peren has a 3D block of Super Luminova in the index. This is a feature that can only be seen in the significantly more expensive watches and rare items in the microbrand space. This not only provides an appetizing dimension to the dial on this watch, but also feels very premium and futuristic.
Otherwise, the dial is free of details, rich dial focus, with a minute track, a robust Lume-filled pencil handset, modified Peren logo and minimal dial text. Quite a few, the date window can be found at 12:00. I’m a big fan personally as this is more visually interesting than the 3 or 6 o’clock location while maintaining dial symmetry. Overall, it’s a very easy-to-read, aesthetically fun watch, and telling time.
strap
The Peren Regia Eclipse is attached to a thick FKM rubber strap with an outer texture of the ribs and a smooth inner surface. The thick steel pin buckle remains secured to the wearer’s wrist. There’s not much to complain about here. It is very comfortable and has a modern and minimal strap design suitable for such a tool watch. Peren also offers a Resia Eclipse on fabric straps (though this strap does not exist online at the time of publication).
Movement
Under the hood of the Peren Regia Eclipse is the proven Sellita SW200-1, in this case regulated by Peren. Sellita’s ubiquitous ETA 2824-2 version, SW200-1, is the simplest thing to do with such a watch, offering a 38-hour power reserve, 4 Hz beat rate, and hacking seconds. The screw-down caseback covers this movement as would be expected from a watch with aquatic intentions (though the fun fact is, both Transylvania and Switzerland are inland.
Peren Regia Eclipse Pricing and Availability
The Peren Regia Eclipse Collection is available directly from Peren’s online store. Price: CHF 750 (sunlight, lunar eclipse), CHF 777 (lunar eclipse dark)
Brand Peren Model Resia Eclipse Case Dimensions 39mm(d) x 12.8mm
It was created in collaboration with Peren. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with the editorial policy.
