The list of carbon fiber watches that we are carrying our store keeps getting bigger. The latest addition is the Torgoen T16302, which is from Torgoen’s T16 series of watches. The first question we need to ask is who is Torgoen?
The company was founded by a group of aviation enthusiasts that decided to start a watch company to provide watches similar enthusiasts. The company’s tag line is “Professional Pilot Watches”. In fact, they have something called the Torgoen Academy, where you go out in Pitts S2-B aircraft’s and learn aerobatic maneuvers. Sounds serious.
One of the cool things that Torgoen does when developing each watch, and this is where the pilot background comes into play, is they put them into extreme quality control tests. These include temperature variation, dust, humidity, impact and vibration…all ensuring precision, water resistance and endurance.
Enter The Torgoen T16302 Carbon Fiber Watch
Torgoen’s background and company mission is impressive, but once we got our hands on their watch, we were even more impressed. The T16302 is Torgoen’s first watch which uses carbon fiber, which of course we had to look at.
Now we all know that big watches are the in thing today. While not monstrous, the T16302 does have a 45mm case (which is 14mm thick)…big enough for people to notice. With that gorgeous carbon fiber dial and the large numbers in a modern font, why wouldn’t you want to show it off? For better reference, here’s a picture with it on my arm:
As you can see the case is black, which is made from stainless steel, and works quite well with the carbon fiber. To offset all the black, the numbers are a very light green, and are luminescent, which means they glow in the dark. The band is made from polyurethane and has the words “Tor” and “Goen” chiseled into it. It honestly sounds a bit cheesy, but in person it comes off as very sporty. The sportiness matches well with the modern font that’s used, and cutting off the 6 at the bottom with the seconds dial is a nice touch. The back side of the case has a neat looking embossment, better explained through picture:
The watch has Swiss quartz chronograph movement, meaning it uses a battery. Quartz movements are extremely accurate and reliable, just what you would want from a watch. It’s also water resistant down to 300ft. Whether you’re displaying the watch, or giving it as a gift, you’ll be good to know that it comes in a nice black box/case which has a suede-like interior. It’s definitely a nice addition to the package.
My first guess is the watch would be in the $500-$700 range, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it retailed for $350 (though there were some talks about that moving up slight, but still being lower than $400). I think that makes for a great deal on a great looking watch that has a big carbon fiber face to display for all to see. If you’re interested in purchasing one, we have them for sale on our store. We also put together a little video that gives you some better looks at the watch and shows you some angles you just can’t see with pictures: