Company: Mondaine

Background:

Mondaine Helvetica
Originally known as Haas Grotesk, Helvetica® was created at the Haas Type Foundry near Basel in 1957 by Swiss graphic artist Max Miedinger and Haas business manager Eduard Hoffmann. Their goal was to design a typeface that was “well conceived, discreet enough and tempered, matter of fact, soft and flowing with harmonious and logically structured forms.”

Official Swiss Railways Watch
The simple design, the unmistakable easy-to-read face, distinctive hands and the famous red seconds hand have made the Mondaine collection successful the world over. Ingenuity and simplicity are the elements, which often distinguish an attractive piece of design from a truly iconic design classic.

Model: Evo Big

From the Website:

Evo Big
A132.30348.11SBB
Generous both in terms of design and functionality, the Automatic of the Mondaine Official Swiss Railways Watch unites tradition and design.The rounded case made of polished stainless steel is 40 mm in diameter. The transparent case back allows to see the movement which will delight all watch enthusiasts. A discretely integrated yet easy-to-see date and day display is just one of the features of the model.

Model number A132.30348.11SBB
Function DayDate
Movement (manufacture. Ref.) SW220-1
Movement (type) Mechanical
Case size/diameter (mm) 40.00
Case material Stainless Steel polished
Case back See Through Caseback
Crown Regular Gasket
Crystal/Glass material Hardened Mineral
Water resistance (m/ft/atm) 30 / 100 / 3
Strap/Bracelet material Genuine Leather
Strap width at lug (mm) 20.00
Origin Swiss Made

THE PACKAGING:

The packaging is simple and elegant, refined and perfectly accents the overall theme of the Evo Big. The watch comes is a pretty cool souvenir bag which I really think was a nice touch to the typical packaging we see with most watches. The bag features an image of the Mondaine watch face on one side and on the other is labeled Swiss Souvenir. Inside the cloth bag is the watch box labeled with the Mondaine name and Swiss Watch, all done in the color theme of the Evo Big watch. Everything matches and complements each other extremely well, nicely done Mondaine!

THE WATCH OUT OF THE BOX:

There is something magical about the simplicity of the Evo Big that instantly drew me in from first glance. The colors of the watch seem to mysteriously dance off of one another. The big, and beautiful white dial is so clean that the black hour and minute markers just pop off of the dial. The lollipop style red second hand is bold, but refined at the same time. The black hour and minuted hands feature square tips which I am a huge fan of. I think they are bold and accent the dial perfectly. There’s nothing that bothers me more than a watch that hands are too small for the rest of the design of the watch, Mondaine got it right. Well done indeed Mondaine. The dial features the text MONDAINE SBB CFF FFS just under the 12 o’clock marker and the text Automatic right above the 6 o’clock marker, and right at the 6 o’clock marker is Swiss Made. There is a day/date window at the 3 o’clock position featuring black text on a white date wheel. The dial can be perfectly viewed thanks to the hardened mineral crystal.

The case polished stainless steel which is in a generous 40mm diameter. I have become pretty fond of 40mm cases as of late. I used to think my sweet spot for case sizes was 44mm, but I am finding myself loving 40mm. I have 7 1/2″ wrists and 40mm just seems to hug my wrist perfectly. The rounded, curved lugs also add to the comfortable wearability of the Evo Big. A design element of the case that I really love is how the case sides are rounded out. This adds to the overall look of the watch, and allows the watch to wear a bit bigger than 40mm. The crown is a pull out style and is nicely signed with a M outlined in red. This is a really awesome detail, simple yet full of expression. I think all crowns on watches should be signed with some sort of decoration whether it be the companies logo, or name or a simple letter, it just a simple detail that can truly add to the overall look of a watch. The crown is easy to grip and operates flawlessly, very smooth to operate and navigate to set the time and date.

The caseback features an exhibition style crystal to view the watches movement. The rotor for the self winding mechanism is signed in black text Mondaine and 26 Jewels Swiss Movement adding detail to the movement without overcrowding it. It’s a very nice and pleasing to look at movement. I go back and forth on display case backs, I sometimes like them and sometimes I don’t. It comes down to my thought, is this the right style of watch for a display case back. In terms of this watch I say 100% yes. If this were a dive style watch, I would say absolutely not.

The Swiss made movement inside the watch is SW220-1. It’s an alternative to the ETA movements, and my experience with the Sellita movements are they hold their own against ETA. It’s an accurate movement and keeps great time. It’s a very suitable movement for the EVO Big.

WRIST SHOT:

reference my wrist is 7 1/2″ wrist.

THE STRAP:

The strap is genuine leather and in stamped with the Mondaine name, as is the tang style buckle. The strap is simple, smooth and very comfortable to wear. Keeping true to its design elements the strap nicely accents the watch. It’s not overally padded and the smooth exterior of the band matches the black of the hour markers.

OVERALL THOUGHT AND CONCLUSION:

The Evo Big is a great watch, that is simple in design, yet it is packed with personality and style. It keeps accurate time and is very comfortable to wear. There isn’t one thing that I can find wrong or nit pick about on this watch. It’s well designed, affordable, and reliable. If anything, I guess I would like to see a screw down crown and the only reason for that is my own personal preference. If your looking for a throwback style watch to the Railroad watches of yesteryear with a modern touch, well the Evo Big is the watch for you. I would definitely recommend this watch to my friends.

A special thanks to Mondaine for this oppurtunity to do this review. It was a true honor.

ADDITIONAL PICTURES: