BWC Mach1C
Manufacturer: Bangalore Watch Company | Price: $680 USD (€610 EUR, £530 GBP approx)
I get quite a few companies reaching out to me wanting me to review their watches and to be honest, some of them are just monstrosities and I usually follow with an out-loud comment along the lines of, “what the actual F**K were you thinking of? Nobody in their right mind would buy that piece of sh*t!!” Obviously, I’d love to say that in my replies to them but that’s not very professional is it, so I just usually politely decline. You might be wondering where I’m going with this… Well, I’d say 1 out of maybe 20 emails, something will catch my eye. Let me introduce you to the Bangalore Watch Company Mach1-Civilian pilot watch. *Spoiler* It’s friggin’ AWESOME!! Let me explain…
Specifications
- Dimensions: Case Diameter – 41.6mm, Thickness – 10.9mm, Lug to Lug – 47.5mm, Lug Width – 22mm
- Movement: Sellita SW220-1 Automatic, 28,800vph (4Hz), Hackable, Self Winding, Day/Date Complication
- Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Accents
- Strap: Seatbelt Textile, Leather Lining, Quick-Release, Brushed Stainless Steel Milled & Signed Buckle
- Crystal: Flat Sapphire, Triple Anti-Reflective Coatings (Inner)
- Bezel: Fixed, Polished Accent Extras: Custom BWC Pelican Case
- Water Resistance: 10ATM / 100m / 330ft
- Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® C3
- Crown: Signed, Screw Down Caseback: Screw Down, MiG21 Type77 Etching
- Warranty: 2 Years Where to Buy: Bangalore Watch Company
- Options: Case: Stainless Steel, Black PVD | Dial: Aviation(60min), Civilian(12hr), Materials from MiG21 Type77
Bangalore Watch Company
Bangalore Watch Company are a husband and wife team; Nirupesh Joshi and Mercy Amalraj, that have called Bangalore home for over fifteen years. Fascinated by the world of fine watchmaking, during their time spent in parts of Asia, they returned home leaving behind their tech careers in Hong Kong to start an Indian origin fine watch brand in early 2017. With a combined two decades of technology experience spanning sales, quality assurance, solutions design, and strategy along with a high attention to detail allowed them to quickly pivot into the microbrand watch industry. They are essentially industry outsiders, but they’re proud of the fact. After over a year of learning the trade, scouting for the best suppliers, design & prototyping, they launched their debut timepiece, the Renaissance Automatic back in early 2018.
Case & Crown
The BWC Mach1C has a water resistance rating of 100m / 10 ATM, although I reckon this could easily be 150m or maybe even more thanks to the screw down caseback & crown. The proportions of the watch, in my opinion, are spot on for my 7″ wrist and doesn’t look like a dinner plate on wrist, like some other pilot watches I won’t mention. Yes, I know pilot watches are typically large, but I think this 42mm size is perfect. The Mach1C wears just so well on wrist and it’s extremely comfortable especially when fitted to one of my Nick Mankey Designs hook straps. The screw down crown is also superb with absolutely zero wobble when the crown is at its fully extended position. I also love the design, taking inspiration from an afterburner nozzle. See what I mean, the Mach1C is just dripping with great attention to detail!
Strap
The strap that’s fitted to the Mach1C is probably the weakest part of the watch for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautifully made and the fully milled & signed buckle is great. I just find the strap a little uncomfortable as it’s a little stiff. I suppose it’d be fine after the breaking-in period of a couple of weeks or so. As I’m impatient and wanted to enjoy the watch while it’s still here, I fitted a Nick Mankey Designs hook strap to the watch, and oh boy, what a difference!
Movement
Dial, Bezel & Lume
As you can see in the images, the hour and minute hands are of a pencil style and very nice they are too, matching the overall aesthetic brilliantly. The seconds hand is great too, being totally black to match the dial with just its orange arrow tip reaching out to the minute track as it sweeps smoothly around the dial. The lume used on the Mach1C is Super Luminova® C3. The lume was probably the biggest shock for me with this watch, I was expecting it to be, if I’m honest, just crap, but it certainly isn’t! It’s had a very healthy application of lume right across the arabics and hands. It’s very bright and it does last right throughout the night.
Conclusion
The Mach1 Civilian in stainless steel from Bangalore Watch Company is the option I’d go for. The watch is extremely legible, super comfy on wrist and very well made indeed! It’s the small details that really sets it apart from everything else. I’ve had a few pilot watches over the years from various different companies and none of them were as good as this!
The Mach1C might be a pilots watch, but I would go as far to label it as an ‘everyday watch’. It might be a bit too big for those with a wrist size of 6½” and below, but for me it’s perfect. I know I say this now & again, but I’d definitely love to add this one to my collection. Maybe BWC will let me buy this review sample as I’ll be gutted if this has to go back.
NJ @ Bangalore Watch Company – Brilliant. You’ve totally nailed it. One of my favourite watches of 2019!
At $1000 US as of March 2024 maybe not such great value anymore . . . . YMMV.
I couldn’t agree more! $1k USD is too much. That’s a huge increase from when I reviewed it.