This piece is available from novae.com for 576 euro in three color options: the blue color version we’re looking at here and also silver and black respectively. So, with regards to the nove brand name, it’s interesting nove means new in latin, and that is apt because it is a relatively new swiss. Microbrand novo was founded in 2018. So, firstly, let’s. Look at the box that the watch comes in and then i’ll talk you through the other items. One gets with a piece, so the november automatic comes this matte black outer protective watch box, and this is the watch case itself, which is a hard shell, travel case style watch case and, as you can see, the zip is branded with the nove brand emblem. Nice contrast to the red, zip and the black card, shell one opens it, and the watch sits on a piece of foam inside a foam cut out panel. So it does suffice in protecting the watch and shipping there’s. Also, a lycra elasticated strip, which holds the warranty card, booklet and owner’s instruction manual, so useful travel case and i think, a credible alternative to using a wooden watch box or, alternatively, a plastic watch box with regards to other items. This is the rubber tag that comes with the medina automatic and on the reverse, we have the reference number for the blue version. This is the user manual and warranty booklet and it has a diagram with the three crown setting positions and also instructions for the time setting and setting the date complication.
It also details the specifications of the movement used in the piece and on the reverse. We have a plastic warranty card now, i’m pleased to report that the novae medina automatic comes with a two year, international warranty, which is very reassuring. And if you purchase this piece from novae.com, the warranty card will be stamped dated and filled in with the reference number and the serial number of your medina automatic one also gets two cards. One of the cards is blank, but on the bottom it has the instagram handle at nove watch and this card thanks you for your purchase and it says, welcome to the novice life, and it also invites you to share pictures of your watch at instagram at nove. Watch, lastly, one also gets this nov8 branded microfiber polishing cloth. I always think it’s a nice touch, irrespective of the price point of a piece to get a branded microfiber polishing cloth. So, with regards to the specifications of the medina automatic, it is a large piece at 44 millimeters, but it has a relatively short 48 millimeters lug to lug measurement and a relatively low profile, 12.6 millimeters thickness, including the double dome sapphire crystal, which has ar coating on The underside 24 millimeter lug width, which is large but however, bearing in mind it’s at 44 millimeter case diameter, the 24 millimeter lug width and 24 millimeter bracelet does balance the head of the piece. Well, the bracelet has geometric links and the bracelet is straight and parallel, rather than being tapered down to the two button, push deploying clasp the two button push clasp is signed with the silver brand emblem and that’s a nice contrast to the blue electroplated finish the two Triggers to the deployance have a nice spring loaded action, good, firm resistance, solid stainless steel, milled interior, which is made from 316 cell grade.
So the bracelet, the head of the piece and also the clasp off fully made from 316l, which is either mirror polished or brushed. Satin finish, and then electroplated blue throughout the quality of the electrode plating is absolutely flawless, as you can see, and the links are nicely electro plated with mirror polished center links, which contrast well with the brush satin finish outer links, so they’ve done a good job to The head of the piece in terms of finishing, and also with regards to the bracelet finishing absolutely flawless throughout one feature i like about the medina automatic, is the automotive influences. It has vented lugs, which are quite unusual, to see on a mid tier piece and that really does carry through the automotive influence, as does the heat sink textured dial. So the heatsink texture dial is meant to replicate the heat sink on an engine and it does add interest because it’s also graduated. It has a silver white tone to the center section which graduates to the blue outer circumference, and that does contrast very well with this silver dot, applied indices and also the silver framing of the date. Complication at three baton style, hands which are beveled and they also have arrowhead points and the baton. Hands are highly reflective, but they are easy to read against the graduated dial, which has that engine heatsink finish to it. I, like the contrasting red text of automatic at six o’clock, and i like the fact that dial is an over brand with text or unnecessary specification.
Clearly legible and the double dome sapphire crystal is enhanced in performance by having ar coating on the underside the brush. Satin finish, bezel is well executed and they’ve done a very good job of electroplating it throughout, and i really like the design of it it’s something unique this isn’t on a mars to any other watch. The medina automatic is a completely original design. So i’ll give you a wrist shot and you can see how it fits on mating’s wrist. Now i haven’t sized the watch i’ve simply taken it out of the watch box and put it on wrist and i’m pleased to report that it will fit up to an eight and a half inch wrist with no difficulties. As you can see, i have an eight inch wrist and i can easily slide an index finger underneath the two button push deploying clasp at all times, so you’ll have no problems if you have a large wrist, but, however, a word of caution, if you’re a collector With a smaller wrist of six to seven inches, you may find the 44 millimeter case to be too large, with too much wrist presence to wear for comfort for long periods of time. So this really is a piece for collectors with a larger wrist of seven to eight inches, because it does have heft it’s 175 grams, with all the links in the geometric bracelet, so it’s a good heavy bracelet, and it does feel well balanced.
Bearing in mind that it’s 24 millimeters and it’s straight it’s parallel, it doesn’t taper down to the two button, push the point clasp as i’ve discussed, but i think they’ve got the proportions correct because at 44 millimeters it really does need a wide 24 meter. Lug width to balance the head of the piece, the benefit of the rather short 46 millimeter lug to lug measurement is it does fit very snugly and close to the wrist and at only 12.6 millimeters, including the double dome sapphire crystal. It is a surprisingly low profile and comfortable piece, so yes it’s heavy and yes, it is large, but it is also comfortable to wear for long periods of time if you are a collector, with a seven to eight inch wrist. The 175 grams of heft isn’t particularly noticeable because of the balance between the bracelet and the head of the piece, so i think no, they deserve full credit for getting the balance right now. With regards to the case back screw down exhibition case back made from 316l grade stainless steel center section is glazed with sapphire crystal and no, they deserve full credit for not cutting corners. With regards to the specification, they could have cut corners by using mineral crystal, but they’ve used sapphire crystal on both the front and the reverse of the piece, and i think that is a good point. So very well executed screw down exhibition case back 200 meters of hermetic seal and the signed screw down.
Knurled stainless steel crown also provides a 200 meter. Hermitic seal silky, smooth thread and it’s got an interesting feel because it’s got the ronda caliber r150 movement it’s got more resistance. One can feel the manual the resistance building up in the mainspring more when one manually winds it to its maximum 40 hour power zone. So it’s got a heavier feel than a selita, sw200 1 or alternatively, an eta 2824 2, which you might be familiar with. But i, like that characteristic firm resistance of the caliber r150. I like to feel the tension building up in the mainspring in terms of the interface between the internal thread of the solid stainless steel crown and the external thread of the stainless steel crown tube they mesh very well. The interface is very good there’s, a good pickup between the threads and it is silky smooth to screw back down the crown and reinstate that 200 meters of hermetic seal. So i like it, the crown is very well finished. The plating to it is very good, and the threading is also very good nice that they’ve signed it with the novo brand emblem and, on the left hand, flank. We have a contrasting silver button, which also is signed with the novo brand emblem. So it’s an interesting design. One thing i like about it is they’ve used solid, stainless steel screws in the vented lugs rather than using spring bars, which are the more conventional option so it’s clear that the build quality and also the design execution are done to a very high standard.
Now, one minor criticism is the use of push pins in the bracelet links at this price point, which is 576 euro. It is a mid tier piece i would prefer to see screw pins used rather than push pins, but, however, this is subjective. Some collectors actually prefer push pins because they make resizing the braces easy. I personally like to use a screwdriver and screw pins, but it’s personal taste, so let’s do a loom test and we’ll see how the loom performs when it’s charged up to its absolute peak performance. So, as always, i’m going to use my hundred uv led torch to charge it up to its absolute peak, now, there’s no loom on the applied indices. But, however, we do have super luminova on the baton style, hands right, so the loom on the hands is super. Luminous and we can clearly see it’s c3 super luminous, nice thick layers of c3 super luminous. The baton hands are glowing very brightly and they’re also continuing to glow for a good length of time. So this is top quality. C3 super it’s clear that no, they haven’t cut any corners with regards to the quality of the loom. However, i would prefer to see larger, applied indices and them to loom the indices rather than not loom them, because i think that would add to the specification of the medina automatic but on the hands. They’Ve done a good job and one can clearly read the time in the dark, which is the purpose of the c3 super luminova, so good, they haven’t cut any corners with regards to specification now with regards to the movement.
This is something interesting about the piece because it uses a rather unusual movement, usually with mid tier swiss pieces, the salita sw 200 1 or alternatively, the eta 2824 2. Are the two default options for chinese made pieces. One usually expects to see a seiko nh35a which we’re all familiar with, so this uses the ronda caliber r150, which is a relatively new movement, ronda, released it at baselworld in 2016 and it’s, a compromise between the nh35a and the sw 200 1, the ronda caliber r150. Really sits between the two it’s, a level above the nh35a in quality, but a level below the sw 200 1 and the eta 2824 2 respectively, similar specifications to the eta 2824 2. In that it has 24 25 joules, and it runs at the same 28. 800 vibrations per hour and four hertz now as you’ll know from my previous reviews. One thing i like about four hertz movements is they give a characteristic smooth sweep. To the second hand, i personally prefer the four hertz sweep to the three hertz sweep of seiko movements, which run at twenty one thousand six hundred vibrations per hour. The twenty eight thousand eight hundred vibrations per hour of this four hertz movement to give a smoother sweep and that’s something i really like about it. So the r150, although it’s a relatively new movement because it’s only been in use since 2016., it is reliable, well proven and a good, solid, workhorse movement, and it really is a good choice for a micro brand like novae.
I can understand why they’ve chosen it over the sw 200 1 because for the simple reason it’s possible to buy, render movements in smaller quantities with salita and eta respectively. They have larger moqs minimum order quantities and often for a new microbrand and bear in mind that novae was founded in only 2018. without large capital. It is hard for them to purchase large moqs of sw or 200 1828 from salita or eta respectively, with ronda. They can purchase smaller quantities such as this calibre r150, so it makes it easier for them to produce watches, and i think that the r150 is a sensible choice. It is a level above the nh35a in build quality. Now, with regards to the accuracy it’s stated, as plus or minus 12 seconds per day, however, i’m pleased to report that this one is well regulated and it’s running at plus six seconds per day, which is very good. So i think the r150 is a reliable, well proven solid, workhorse movement, and i prefer to see it than an nh35a. However, at 576 euro i would personally prefer to see an sw 200 1. So, lastly, i’ll surmise the piece. What do i think of it overall? Well, when i’m, considering reviewing a watch on my channel, the watch should meet two criteria. It should be both excellent quality and excellent value at the respective price point. So the price point of this piece is 576 euro. Yes, i consider it to be good quality and, yes, i consider it to be good value.
I would like to see loom apply to the indices and the proportions of the indices scaled up, because that would improve the performance, and i would also like to see a higher grade of movement such as the salita sw, 200, 1, but other than that. This specification is strong double dome, sapphire crystal with ar coating c3 super luminova it’s swiss made, and we do have a good quality swiss made ronda caliber r150, which is a respectable movement. 200 meters of water resistance again is strong specification, so i think the value is there and also the quality. Is there so i’m going to recommend it to you for your consideration? I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of the nove medina automatic reference. H003. 02. Please feel free to post your own comments below the video.aiXisqZ6ED4
