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Old 7 April 2022, 07:27 AM   #1
Stan Cooper
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Vario "1918 Trench Watch"; a faithful homage

In several recent TRF posts I've included photos of my 1915 Rolex trench watch. I feel privileged to own it and spent a couple of months restoring the dial, replacing the hands, and polishing the tarnished sterling silver case. I love the look and the fact that after 107 years it still keeps great time. It's not a daily wearer as it isn't water resistant or shock resistant (Incabloc wasn't invented until 1934), so I only wear it on special occasions to avoid risk of damage.

Enter a relatively new entry into the WW1 trench watch replica market: the Vario 1918 Trench watch available in either 37mm or 40mm case size. My original Rolex trench watch has a 35mm case, and after reading the Vario reviews I decided to purchase the 40mm version. The retail price for either size is US$368 including shipping from Singapore.

The case is 316L stainless steel and has wire lugs (18mm width for the 37mm case; 20mm width for the 40mm case), and the crystal is domed sapphire with inner AR. Lume is C3. The watch has a screw down crown and 100 meters water resistance. The dial is enamel and comes with several choices of color, lume color, and numeral styles.

The movement is the popular Miyota 82S5 gilt automatic, and the watch comes with a choice of leather straps with either a bund pad or single pass in a variety of colors. I chose the bund pad in camel dyed leather.

I'm thrilled with the quality and look of this watch and think it's a great value. So far it's running ~ 8s/d fast, which is much better than my expectation.

https://vario.sg/collections/1918-trench-medic

Pictures:

The Vario 40mm "1918 Trench Watch" on my 79 year old wrist:


Lume:


On the bund pad strap:


Caseback engraving with a Doughboy, poppies, and barbed wire. Homage to WW1 trench soldiers:


The Miyota 82S5 gilt automatic movement:


The 107 year old 35mm Rolex beside the 2022 40mm Vario:
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♛16710 GMT-Master II, ♛1915 Rolex WW1 Trench Watch, Zelos Thresher 500m GMT Meteorite, Zelos Swordfish 40 200m Ti Blood Moon Meteorite, Hamilton Pilot Chronograph, Ball Roadmaster Pilot GMT COSC Chronometer, Zelos Mako 300M True GMT Meteorite
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Old 7 April 2022, 05:12 PM   #2
Old Expat Beast
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Looks very nice Stan. Checked the site and they have some interesting options there. It's good to see a Singapore company doing this. Singapore was one of the first Far East outposts for Rolex sales back in the 1920s, and then more substantially in the 30s when they got a dedicated AD with Swiss-trained staff. There's a thread about that here if you're interested: www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=483355
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Old 8 April 2022, 01:18 AM   #3
Stan Cooper
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Thanks, Adam. Yesterday, I ordered one of their sapphire exhibition casebacks for the watch for a paltry US$30 including airmail shipping; that gilt movement is too pretty to keep it hidden beneath a steel caseback, even one as interesting as the engraved one that came with the watch.

I, too, was impressed with the variety of options. The 37mm version with white dial and orange lume would have been much closer in appearance to my 1915 Rolex.

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♛16710 GMT-Master II, ♛1915 Rolex WW1 Trench Watch, Zelos Thresher 500m GMT Meteorite, Zelos Swordfish 40 200m Ti Blood Moon Meteorite, Hamilton Pilot Chronograph, Ball Roadmaster Pilot GMT COSC Chronometer, Zelos Mako 300M True GMT Meteorite
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- Stan
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Old 9 April 2022, 01:40 AM   #4
Stan Cooper
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Adam, I just read the 2016 thread you linked to. What an interesting history of Rolex and Gammeter in Singapore.

Thanks!
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♛16710 GMT-Master II, ♛1915 Rolex WW1 Trench Watch, Zelos Thresher 500m GMT Meteorite, Zelos Swordfish 40 200m Ti Blood Moon Meteorite, Hamilton Pilot Chronograph, Ball Roadmaster Pilot GMT COSC Chronometer, Zelos Mako 300M True GMT Meteorite
It's weird being the same age as old people.

- Stan
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Old 9 April 2022, 08:47 AM   #5
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Thanks Stan, glad you liked it
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Old 15 April 2022, 08:44 AM   #6
Stan Cooper
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I received my 37mm Vario with orange lume today, and ordered it with the exhibition caseback. This is going to spend a lot of time on my wrist in rotation with my GMT II.

I just took this picture of the 37mm Vario and my 35mm 1915 Rolex trench watch.


Here's the Miyota automatic movement through the exhibition caseback. It's the same movement as in the 40mm version reviewed above.
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♛16710 GMT-Master II, ♛1915 Rolex WW1 Trench Watch, Zelos Thresher 500m GMT Meteorite, Zelos Swordfish 40 200m Ti Blood Moon Meteorite, Hamilton Pilot Chronograph, Ball Roadmaster Pilot GMT COSC Chronometer, Zelos Mako 300M True GMT Meteorite
It's weird being the same age as old people.

- Stan
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