Raymond Weil is a relatively new company, as far as Swiss watchmakers go, but in its short tenure has secured quite the reputation for producing great timepieces at exceptional value for money. The company was founded by M. Raymond Weil and is now run by his son-in-law and his two grandsons, making the brand a member of a very elite group of watchmakers that are still family owned.
The Freelancer is an ode to Weil’s desire and achievement of remaining independent in an industry saturated with luxury groups such as Richemont, Swatch, and LVMH to name but a few.
This model is made from hypoallergenic stainless steel and boasts case dimensions of 42mm for the diameter and a 13.7mm case thickness categorizing this model as just under oversized. The case, fixed bezel, chronograph pushers, and main crown are all highly polished, whereas, the 5 piece bracelet features alternating rows of brushed and polished finishes. The main crown is ridged and pulls out to set the day, date, and time. The main crown also features the RW logo in relief.
On the black dial are apertures for the day and date at 3 o’clock with the aperture for the date showing three at a time with a red arrow revealing today’s date. The chronograph totalizers are located at the 12 and 6 positions counting the minutes and hours respectively. The chronograph seconds hand is red as, indeed, are the other chronograph hands making for effortless readouts of this complication. The continuous seconds subdial occupies the 9 o’clock position on this timepiece. The Freelancer uses silver toned hands and indexes making for a good contrast against the dial. The flange is shared by a conservative minute track with white demarcations and a tachometric scale using red demarcations.
The case back is screwed in and has a sapphire crystal showing off the Swiss made mechanical automatic chronograph movement. A sapphire crystal is also used for the dial window; however, this one is glare proofed allowing for perfect readability. This model from the Freelancer collection is water resistant up to 100 meters (330 feet and is backed by a two year international guarantee. This model retails for UD$2,995 and is available worldwide.
TAGS: Automatic Watches, Chronographs, Date, Day, Exhibition Case Back, Leather, Mechanical Watches, Men's Watches, Retrograde, Sapphire Crystal, Stainless Steel, Swiss Made, Water Resistant