Featuring elegant nuances and excellent attention to detail throughout, the Ophion OPH 786 Vélos Blue Guilloché watch demonstrates the design finesse and confidence of this youthful independent watchmaking company. Featuring an impressive dial aesthetic with a multi-level arrangement, the watch has the perfect proportions and styling of a classical dress watch, yet it is crafted using a blend of modernistic manufacturing processes and traditional watchmaking methods.

Founded in Madrid in 2015, Ophion are relative newcomers to the watchmaking landscape, yet they have already carved a new niche for themselves and have caught the attention of connoisseurs of horology throughout the world. By offering a  contemporary prospective on how to achieve the finishing aesthetic one would expect to find at the upper echelon of the watchmaking scale, the company has engendered a collection of superb timepieces which are brimming with fine detailing and retro styling cues. Not limited to its impressive dial arrangement, the Ophion OPH 786 Vélos Blue Guilloché model is powered by a custom Swiss mechanical movement boasting a resolutely vintage pocketwatch character.

Exhibiting perfect wristwatch proportions, the watch carries a stainless steel case sized at  39mm across and 10.4mm high . Evoking the form of a gently rounded pebble, it has been given a  polished finish which showcases its curves, contours and its curvaceous tear drop lugs, which have each been individually welded into position. Expertly manufactured by independent legend Kari Voutilainen’s Cattin company, the case is beautifully constructed and as a final flourish, is set with a flattened and fluted crown.

Beneath the gently domed sapphire crystal which features anti-reflective coating on both sides, lies a resplendent blue dial enhanced with a cross-weave guilloché motif, rendered by CNC. With deep textured nuances, the surface is no less detailed than a hand-crafted example, and its mesmerising pattern gives instant refinement to this superb façade. Complementing the richness of the dial tone, rhodiumed Breguet style Arabic numerals, each individually applied add further interest, while an applied minute track and inner dial ring, add a sense of depth to the display. From the centre, the trio of steel, rhodiumed hands are exquisite. Featuring a petite hammer tip, the slender seconds hand is elongated and it is paired with an equally refined minutes hand. Joining them, the sleek, open-worked form of the hour hand is not simply delightful, it also gives the collection its name - Vélos, the Classical Greek name for arrow.

Viewable through a sapphire caseback, the manual winding movement which has been manufactured by MHVJ and Soprod in Switzerland has a unique architecture. Disassembled in the Ophion atelier, the base calibre has been transformed,  replacing the original main plate with custom made bridges. Reminiscent of the finishing found on fine old pocket watch movements, the bridges have surfaces which are finished by hand with a hammered effect, providing contrast to the machine polished chamfering around their edges. The pared back bridge design reveals the balance wheel which oscillates at a brisk 28,800 vib/h (4hz), and the two barrels, which deliver an impressive five day (120 hour) power reserve.

An excellent proposition, which demonstrates the youthful confidence of an exciting independent watchmaking company, the Ophion OPH 786 Vélos Blue  Guilloché watch is presented on a blue leather strap featuring a steel pin buckle.