I can?t recall seeing a watch like this in person before. I?ve seen wooden watches ? where the case and bracelet are also wooden, usually fitted with a cheap quartz movement and sold for novelty value alone. There?s also the ?Teak? dial of the Omega Aqua Terra line which takes its moniker from the mimicking of a yacht?s Teak decking. A quick Google also shows dials of glorious polished wood in several pieces from Universal Geneve, Movado/Zenith and of course Rolex. These were mostly produced in the 1960s and 1970s and?as gorgeous as they are?look very much of that era. Even those watches are fairly uncommon and there?s no recent trend towards a re-emergence of that look.
On its own, the Walnut dial of the Batavi seems strange. As part of the new Architect series it makes a little more sense. Three dials representing the building materials Copper, Steel and Wood are each housed in the same sporty and angular stainless steel case. I find the Walnut variant to be the most unusual of the three, so that?s what I?m looking at today.
$420

Hands-On With The Batavi Architect

Case
Stainless Steel

Movement
Miyota 9039

Dial
Walnut

Lume
Super Lumi-Nova

Lens
Sapphire with AR coating

Strap
Integrated bracelet / brown leather

Water Resistance
100m

Dimensions
39 x 47mm

Thickness
10.6mm

Lug Width
20mm

Crown
Screw down

Warranty
2 years

Price
$420

Case

It?s easy to think that the Batavi Architect is all about the dial, but after a ...