Something I?m fairly outspoken about when it comes to my preferences in watch design is that I lean strongly toward modern looks, and away from a reliance on heritage cues. You could say I?m more Sinn U50 than Black Bay Fifty-Eight. There are exceptions, of course, and I?ll praise solid fit and finish and a cohesive design all day, vintage inspired or not, but in general I like my contemporary watches to look, well, contemporary. 
In that spirit, I love hearing about new projects with distinctive designs that are very much their own thing, particularly when they?re aimed at new collectors with competitive price points. The Reise Resolute, with an introductory price of $299, falls into that camp nicely. Here we have a watch that?s designed to be durable and tough, with tried and true components, that doesn?t obviously trade on any particular watch or style from the past. You get the sense that it?s a pure representation of the creator?s vision, which we always like to see. 
Reise tells us that the Resolute?s angular design was inspired by stealth vehicles, and I think that looking at the timepiece from multiple angles it?s easy to see how that initial germ of design inspiration trickled down into the finished product. There are plenty of sharp angles at the outside of the case, but the dial and bezel have a traditional circular shape that lends coherence to the design. ?Balance? is a term that?s perhaps overused in discussing the way a watch looks, but I think it...