Manufacturer: Spectre Time | Price: $680 USD (£560 GBP, €605 EUR approx)
Spectre Time originally burst onto the microbrand scene with their original Phantom which I thought was an extremely great looking watch however, it wasn’t perfect. Cue the A-Team theme music and what do you know, here we have the new Phantom II. Did Murdock, Faceman, B.A. Baracus and Hannibal make a total hash of it? Lets find out…
Specifications
- Dimensions: Case Diameter – 39.2mm, Thickness – 11.3mm, Lug to Lug – 47.6mm, Lug Width – 23mm
- Movement: Swiss STP1-11 Automatic, 28,800vph (4Hz), Hackable, Self Winding, 44hr Power Reserve
- Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Accents
- Bracelet: Stainless Steel, 23mm Tapering to 18mm, Double Folding Butterfly Clasp
- Crystal: Sapphire, AR Coating
- Bezel: Fixed Extras: Genuine Leather Fitted Strap with Butterfly Clasp, Strap / Bracelet Tool
- Water Resistance: 10ATM / 100m / 330ft
- Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® C1
- Crown: Signed, Screw Down Caseback: Sapphire Display
- Warranty: 2 Years Where to Buy: Spectre Time
- Options: Dial Colour: Black, Blue | Dial Finish: Sunburst, Cushion
Spectre Time - The Company
Spectre Time, a Singaporean microbrand was founded by Gulshan in 2015. Gulshan was working as a flight attendant at the time, for the world-famous Singapore Airlines. Flying all over the world visiting different cities, meeting people from all walks of life and learning about new cultures opened Gulshans eyes and broadened his thinking and knowledge.
After saving for quite some time, he decided to invest in an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak – his first Swiss luxury wristwatch. Inspired by his purchase, he decided to take his passion a step further by designing, prototyping his own timepiece, a watch totally unique, just for his own personal enjoyment. After getting numerous compliments and purchase requests, Gulshan eventually decided to put the watch (which became the previously mentioned Phantom) into mass production and start his own watch label, that being of course, Spectre Time.
Gulshan also owns the watch brand, Velthor. Unfortunately, it never really took off as much as Spectre Time has. Gulshan does have plans to start promoting the brand again in the near future and promote their S1 Concept. I have spoken to Gulshan regarding this and we’ve both agreed that one will be sent out for me to do a review on it.
The Case
The Phantom II has a water resistance rating of 100m / 10 ATM, thanks to the screw-down caseback & crown. The finish of the case is superb, with it being brushed stainless steel with polished accents running along the side of the case and down over the edge of the lugs. The transition between the brushing and the polishing is flawless. The proportions of the watch are, in my opinion, great for my 7″ wrist. I initially throught the watch would be a little small but it wears great with the lug to lug distance of just under 48mm.
Bracelet
The Phantom II comes equipped with one of the nicest bracelets I’ve ever seen fitted to any microbrand watch. It is extremely well made with solid end links and each link is extremely smooth so I can guarantee you that it’s not one of those hair nippers. The finishing on the bracelet is brushed with what appears to be some kind of satin effect. I’m not sure if it has some sort of hardening coating or not, either way, it is very nice. The bracelet also features a nice chamfered edge which has been polished to match the finish of the case. The only negative I have is, there are no half links to ensure a perfect fit.
The bracelet tapers from 23mm at the lugs to 18mm at the clasp. The clasp itself is of the butterfly variety. As previously stated, the whole bracelet is of fantastic quality. Sized up for my 7-inch wrist I had to remove 4 links, which was easy enough to do with the screw pins for adjusting & re-sizing. Spectre Time also supply a screwdriver to do the job and it isn’t some crap 3 quid job from eBay either, it’s actually very nice and up there with the tools from Bergeon. High praise indeed!
Movement
While the original Phantom used the horrid (sounds like a basket of kittens in a tumble dryer) 8215 Miyota movement, the chosen movement for the Phantom II is a massive upgrade. A natural upgrade path would have been the Miyota 9015 (a great movement by the way) but no, Spectre Time opted for a very nicely decorated Swiss STP1-11 movement. Various finishing included are perlage (circular graining) finishing and geneva striping on the custom rotor. A very nice touch.
This movement from the Fossil group is a 28,800vph, 4Hz movement with self winding and of course hacking. Checking the accuracy after running the Phantom II for over a couple of weeks, mainly on my wrist and occasionally in my Barrington Watch Winder, I thought the accuracy was outstanding with it showing an average of +2.3 spd. Fantastic result!
Dial & Bezel
The dial has very neatly applied indices all round with a neat cut out for the date complication at the 6 o’clock position. The logo is just printed and the text above the 6 o’clock position is neatly done, very legible, although I don’t think their choice of font is very good, it looks like the standard font used in Microsoft Word. A small niggle I know, but worth mentioning in my opinion. I would have preferred to have seen a much more original looking font being used.
The hour and minute hands are perfectly in proportion to the dial and actually suit the sports watch aesthetic extremely well. The seconds hand is quite thin for my tastes but does reach out all the way to the minute track. The lume used on the Phantom II is Super Luminova® C1. A big upgrade over the mediocre lume used on the original. This dial version (sunburst) of the Phantom II that I have here would be my only choice, either in black or blue. The cushion dial style does nothing for me personally, but I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.